Man Spends 8 Years Penning 304,805 letters of the Torah

Yahoo News - Man spends 8 years penning 304,805 letters of the Torah without a single error - Patience, consistency, dedication. Look up any of those words in the dictionary, and you could easily see a picture of Richard Epstein, amateur Torah scribe.

The member of the Chabad Shul of Potomac, Maryland, recently penned the entire Torah (that's 304,805 letters) by hand using a feather quill on parchment made from sheepskin, the Washington Post reported. It took Epstein about eight years from start to finish. A professional can pen a Torah in about a year.

Epstein's journey wasn't made completely alone. He trained as an apprentice for about a year, and began by writing other religious texts, including the Book of Esther, before he began on the Torah. He sent photocopied pages to a Rabbi who checked Epstein's work on a regular basis. As for why Epstein took on such a monumental task, he told the Washington Post, “I felt I wanted to be closer to God, and I felt, ‘What better way to be closer to God than the gift that he made to the Jewish people?'"

From the author of the video: "This is a documentary about writing the Torah. - Dr. Richard Epstein, a prominent psychiatrist in Washington DC, has spent the past 8 years writing the sacred scroll of Torah the same way Moses wrote it over 3,000 years ago. He is dedicating his work to the Chabad Shul of Potomac, in Maryland.

Many thanks to Dr. Epstein for letting me show his sacred writings and taking his time to talk about his beautiful journey of faith, dedication and deep love."