--- title: German Sofer Robot Can Write the Torah description: A testament to the power of machinery canonical: https://time.com/2983053/introducing-the-worlds-first-torah-writing-robot/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-14T21:15:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:11:40.282Z og:title: This Is the World's First Torah-Writing Robot og:description: A testament to the power of machinery og:url: https://time.com/2983053/introducing-the-worlds-first-torah-writing-robot/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3d7c96e97d4cbaf/69869bacf983e7ffb204ece5/451961936.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2790 og:image:height: 1569 og:image:alt: Robot Begins Writing Torah og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is the World's First Torah-Writing Robot twitter:description: A testament to the power of machinery twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd3d7c96e97d4cbaf/69869bacf983e7ffb204ece5/451961936.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Introducing the World's First Torah-Writing Robot > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jul 14, 2014 9:15 PM UTC  An industrial robot, an installation work called 'bios \[torah\]' by the artist group robotlab, begins writing a Torah on July 10, 2014 in the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany. An industrial robot, an installation work called 'bios \[torah\]' by the artist group robotlab, begins writing a Torah on July 10, 2014 in the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany. Adam Berry—Getty Images by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jul 14, 2014 9:15 PM UTC On display now at Berlin’s Jewish Museum is a robot that acts as a _sofer_, a.k.a a specially trained scribe who very carefully writes the words on the scrolls of a Torah. This technological scribe is the brainchild of of the German artists’ group robotlab. It takes three months to complete the 260-foot long scroll, compared to the full year it takes for a human to finish the job, the Associated Press [reports](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/10/torah-robot-berlin-jewish-museum%5Fn%5F5574936.html). “While the Sofer guarantees the sanctity of the Scripture, the installation highlights its industrial reproducibility,” the museum [explains ](http://www.jmberlin.de/main/EN/01-Exhibitions/02-Special-Exhibitions/2014/bios%5Ftorah.php)on its website. “It simulates a centuries-old cultural technique that has long since been overtaken by media developments.” No matter how authentic the robot’s work may _seem_, though, its scrolls cannot be used in a synagogue. “In order for the Torah to be holy, it has to be written with a goose feather on parchment, the process has to be filled with meaning and I’m saying prayers while I’m writing it,” Reuven Yaacobov, a rabbi and sofer, told the AP. 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