The Torah is the holiest object in Jewish life, and the writing of the Torah, an ancient and sacred undertaking. Unlike the Torah, which is still written as it was written more than 3000 years ago ­ by the hand of a specially trained scribe ­ Peoplešs Torah is being "written" collectively, by online and museum visitors. By re-casting the writing process as a communal act, People's Torah shifts the power of writing a Torah to people - to you.

Every Torah has exactly 304,805 Hebrew letters, and it said that each of these letters corresponds to a soul. So, too, People's Torah will have 304,805 Hebrew letters. Each letter will correspond to an individual and be rendered from (an image of) that individual's hand. Visitors are invited to become one of the letters in People's Torah by contributing an image of his or her hand, a symbol of individuality, expression, and connection. Their image will then be displayed publicly at the museum, on a touch screen table along with other contributors' hands.

As soon as a museum visitor "touches" the hand image, it will be transformed into the next available letter in the People's Torah. In this way, every letter represents a discrete connection between virtual and physical worlds. The letters, words, and verses of the People's Torah are fluid and responsive. As visitors interact with the work, the visual effects of their mouse movements are visible to other online visitors in real time.

People's Torah is a luminous universe of parts, always in a state of becoming whole. It is a visual meditation on immanence and transcendence, autonomy and community, figure and ground. A communal Torah for the 21st century.