Sofer

[4] The hardest part about learning to be a sofer is not the calligraphy, but, rather, remembering the thousands of laws that apply to sifrei Torah, tefillin, mezuzot, and all the other texts that are written on parchment.

Some people who want to become ritual scribes learn at the Vaad Mishmereth STaM, an international organization whose goal is to protect the halachic and artistic integrity of the scribal arts, located in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak in Israel, as well as in Brooklyn, New York, United States; studying comes with the option of receiving a certificate, though certification of this sort is not a halachic requirement, nor does it necessarily guarantee the quality of a particular sofer's work.

This process does, however, ensure that a certified sofer has received the proper education and is a recognized expert in the field of sofrut.

The main texts from which Ashkenaz soferim learn the scribal art include the Keset Ha-Sofer, Chasdey David, Mishnah Berurah (24-45), Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Tefillin u'Mezuzah v'Sefer Torah, Hilchot Tzitzit), Mishnat Hasofer, Mishnat Sofrim, and the Likkut Sifrey Stam.

[7] Forming the basis for the discussion of women becoming soferim, Talmud Gittin 45b states, "Sifrei Torah, tefillin and mezuzot written by a heretic, a star-worshipper, a slave, a woman, a minor, a Cuthean, or an apostate Jew, are unfit for ritual use.

[9] However, today, virtually all Orthodox (both Modern and Ultra) authorities contest the permissibility of a woman's writing a sefer Torah.

[17] The Ashkenazi, Sefardi, Chabad (Lubavitch), and Mizrahi Jews each have their own script for forming the letters, though the same rules apply throughout the text.