The Jerusalem Post, among many other news outlets, reported on the filling in of one of the final letters in a new Torah Scroll here in Jerusalem by the famous Haredi woman who is a civil court judge in New York. They wrote:

     "The New York Haredi judge also wrote a letter in the Book of the Torah of the People of Israel: Haredi judge from the United States Ruhi Freer and her husband Rabbi David Freer were honored to write a letter in the Book of the Torah of the People of Israel, initiated by Rabbi David Avraham Pressman, as part of the desire to create a connection and union with the people of Israel."

    This is just not true! If a woman, no matter how famous and righteous she might be, would write a letter in a Torah scroll, that Torah scroll would be posul (invalid). Her husband filled in the letter, but the news outlets would not have had a news item by reporting that a rabbi filled in a letter, so they included the lady judge too.

     How do I know? Her son-in-law, Josh, helps out at the tefillin stand and he was there when it happened. He told me.

     A religious Jewish woman knows not to write a letter in a Sefer Torah (scroll). To report that she did is motzi shem ra (slander) and if she wanted, she could sue them for defamation.