[NFBJ] Scribes interested in learning about blindness

Tue Aug 25 20:30:10 UTC 2026

Hi, Sarah,:

Thank you so much for your attempt to explain the trope systems to me. However, I still don't understand how these two systems work, who invented them, and who is promoting them.

Can you send me as attachments:
• BRF samples of the two trope systems; for instance, part of a Haftarah with each trope system, so I can read and try to evaluate them?
• Can you send me, for each system, a table of trope signs with their names? That would be most helpful for reference.

Many thanks again for the information. I truly appreciate it.

All the best,

Daveed Mandell

----- Original Message -----
From: Sarah LaRose via NFBJ <nfbj at nfbnet.org>
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2026 07:20 PM
To: NFB in Judaism <nfbj at nfbnet.org>
CC: sarah at sarahblakelarose.com
Subject: Re: [NFBJ] Scribes interested in learning about blindness

Shalom. I assisted the developer of the trope system that is described on Eric's web site. He began his work in 2010 due to his desire to read the scholarly edition of the Masoretic text. I was an independent braille transcriber at the time, and by the time he completed work on that system I was also teaching biblical Hebrew at a Christian seminary. My contributions to that system were to evaluate how the symbols were being transcribed within Duxbury and how they came across to me as a Hebrew reader and teacher.
All this background is to say that the following commentary is not from any perspective associated with JBI.
I have had opportunity to read in both systems. The two systems are similar in that the trope symbol is a two-cell sequence. The first cell is two dots in the right side of the cell that alert you that you will be seeing trope. The second symbol identifies the trope.
The right-hand cells and trope symbols are unique to each system. In that respect the two systems are very similar. A person could simply choose one or the other and learn it.
The two systems both have some weaknesses. These have to do with lack of translation rules. Trope symbols are transcribed by software exactly where they are typed.
This means that a trope symbol will interrupt the contraction of holem-vav or hireq-yod. It will also interrupt the general flow of a word as it will appear between the final vowel and the last letter or anywhere else in the word.
Braille readers tend to interpret things in the order that they are encountered, even when that is not how sighted readers handle them. If a trope symbol indicates that a pause occurs, in printed Hebrew it occurs over the syllable where the pause follows. In braille it doesn't make sense to place it literally before (or after) the vowel in the last syllable.
I could comment much further and illustrate the same principle regarding symbols that change the tone of the word, etc. Both systems have potential but need to be used and discussed further.
My last qualification should be that I am not Jewish. I am an academic scholar who is blind and who uses Hebrew in my regular work. I am also a braille transcriber both for JBI and for private clients. I am happy to see things happen that make Hebrew text more accessible. I also recognize that this looks different for each person. That is both challenging and enjoyable for me.

Sarah Blake LaRose, D.Min.
sarah at sarahblakelarose.com
http://www.sarahblakelarose.com
-----Original Message-----
From: NFBJ <nfbj-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Eric Harvey via NFBJ
Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2026 2:21 PM
To: NFB in Judaism <nfbj at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Eric Harvey <eric at blindscholar.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBJ] Scribes interested in learning about blindness
 hello,
In reference to the trope marks for chanting, I know of two systems that have been devised. One was designed by Rabbi.Sarko, while the other  was created by a team of Hebrew students and scholars. I have information on the braille code for the second system on my website, as well as information on how to access and use tables.
https://www.blindscholar.com/braille/
https://www.blindscholar.com/hebrew-braille/
Hope that's helpful,

On Tue, Aug 18, 2026 at 7:14 AM Daveed Mandell via NFBJ <nfbj at nfbnet.org>
wrote:
> Shalom:
> 
> This is very exciting! Torah reading is something I have longed to do
> all my life. I was just recently thinking about a Torah with both
> print and Braille. Wouldn't that be something? By the way, does anyone
> have information on Braille trope signs for both Torah and Haftarah chanting?
> 
> Kol tuv,
> 
> Daveed
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Aug 17, 2026, at 4:32 PM, Rachael D Hudson via NFBJ
> <nfbj at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> 
> Shalom y'all,
> A friend recently met a group of scribes at a maker space in
> Minnesota. He connected them with me in the hopes that I could pass them on to this group
> to help begin facilitating conversation.   It's my understanding that these
> are orthodox or ultra orthodox scribes who are inspired by Rabbi
> Lenny's approach to a braille Torres scroll, but want to create
> something with the traditionally prescribed in and so on.  It is their
> hope that we can also perhaps put together a call in which they can
> learn from users of Hebrew Braille… Obviously, sometime after the high holidays.
> 
> I agreed to send their message (below)
> 
> 
> A new project is exploring the creation of sacred Jewish texts that
> combine traditional handwritten Hebrew with Hebrew Braille, beginning
> with a prototype Megillat Esther and working towards a complete,
> kosher Torah scroll with Braille. The goal is to make communal ritual
> texts more accessible to blind Jews while preserving the rigorous
> requirements of Jewish scribal tradition. The project is feedback and
> suggestions from the blind community to help shape the work, which is
> being developed through the Kedusha Project:
> www.thekedushaproject.org< http://www.thekedushaproject.org>
> 
> -Rachael Everhart Hudson (She/Her)
> 267-268-5780
> "Do the hard things while they are still easy... The journey of a
> thousand miles begins with a single step."  -Lao Tzu
> _______________________________________________
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--
————————————
Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East
*
<https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/reading-creation-myths-economically-in-ancient-mesopotamia-and-israel/FB232A57D83E91577D25BD674343AB11?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=bookmark>*
*Reading Creation Myths Economically in Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel* (Cambridge Elements in Ancient and Premodern Economies, 2025).
<https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/reading-creation-myths-economically-in-ancient-mesopotamia-and-israel/FB232A57D83E91577D25BD674343AB11?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=bookmark>
Braille for Ancient Languages <https://www.blindscholar.com/braille/>
www.blindscholar.com
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