The net-based rendering transforms images of participants’ hands into individual Hebrew letters of the Torah. Since opening and going online, about 6,000 of the more than 300,000 letters of the Torah have been so formed – with participants from over 55 countries – and in this way the Five Books of Moses are being composed.

Form one of the letters in the People’s Torah by contributing an image of your hand – a symbol of individuality, expression and connection – and advance the composition. For details, go to www.peoplestorah.org.

“By participating, you are creating a community of people from around the world,” says Hillary Leone, one of the artists behind the project. “People’s Torah is a luminous universe of parts, always in a state of becoming whole. Every letter represents a discrete connection between virtual and physical worlds. It is a visual meditation on immanence and transcendence, autonomy and community, figure and ground. It is a communal Torah for the 21st century.”

People’s Torah was commissioned by the Contemporary Jewish Museum as part of As it is Written: Project 304, 805, an exhibition currently examining the Torah as a historical artifact, ritual object, scribal tradition, and contemporary muse. It was created by the New York-based interactive studios, Cabengo and Studio Media.