shiyur revach parsha in mezuza
Since B"h we are getting into mezuza laws, I would ask does anybody
know about a specific lubavitch custom in regard to the shiur parsha in mezuza.
The kuntres acharon of SA Harav [32:12] writes: ובמזוזה
אין צריך להיות הריוח רק כשיעור ג' יודין סוף פרשת שמע וכשיעור ג' יודין קודם
התחלת פ' והיה אם שמע.
It seems there is a printing error and it should be ט' יודין as the minimum shiyur (not ג' יודין). Meaning that the Alter Rebbe didn’t require
a full 3 x Asher in mezuza (as in tefilin). The difference the Alter Rebbe
makes between tfilin and mezuza, can easily be explained.
This was to my knowledge the custom followed by all lubavich sofrim that
I saw or heard – to leave at least 9 yudim [b'revach – well spaced] in the
mezuza both before vhaya, and after shma.
Lately I heard a suggestion that this isn't a mistake, rather the Alter
rebbe did instruct to leave less than a shiyur. I doubt this rumor has
any reliable source, (also it doesn’t fit with the wording אין צריך
להיות which means "it isn't
needed" – not that it shouldn’t be done) – Does anyone know/heard something
about this issue.
For pilpul the issue is quite interesting – but hoira'a l'maase
to be meikal against a simple psak in SA YD 288:13, and Shach there – we must have a
reliable source/psak. Note the Alter Rebbe's note in his Mare Makom on his SA
32:50 (in the new edition it is note תס) וכן משמע בגמ' ופוסקים גבי מזוזה which seems [b'pshat] to accept this as
halacha.
I have talked this over with rabbanei anash COUNTLESS times. No one seems to have it clear. Clearly three yudin on each side makes no sense and must be a printing mistake. As reb moshe says, he minhag in Chabad has become to leave 9 yudin berevach on each side but I don't know too many chabad poskim who would say to change a mezuzah because someone did it with less than nine yudin on each side. This as opposed to tefillin, where in Chabad, less then 9 yudin on each side (at the end of shema and beginning of vehoya im) is A BIG NO NO.
ReplyDeleteI sell mezuzos to followers of minhag Chabad even if there are 9 yudin not berevach ie 3-4 osiyos gedolos is OK. I don't know where the berevach comes from 5- 6 O"G.
To clarify: if I get twice the distance bein sirtut lesirtut (12 osiyios ketanos betzimzum) on each side, I am happy to Lechatchillah sell it as minhag Chabad. However I do not make an issue if it is less e.g. if I am checking a mezuzah belonging to a chabad family, since the whole thing is dubious anyway. the only time I would make an issue is if there was less than 9 yudin betziruf, something I have only seen once.
ReplyDeleteThanks Eli,
ReplyDeleteI obviously meant 9 yudim brevach as - aprox. 12 yudim btzimzum, because, leaving extra space between the 2 [as if] words ג"פ ג' יודין, and a slight extra space as hekef gvil between the yudim.
Bdieved 9 yudim mamash btzimzum is definitly kosher. {I am not speaking here about Taz bzeruf}.
I am interested [maybe some NY based sofrim know more on the issue] about this rumor that I heard of lately - in regard the chabad lechatchila custom.
I heard from a few sofrim in NY that if you leave 1.5 X the space between the sirtutim it is lechatchillah minhag chabad even though it is 9 yudin betzimtzum on each side
ReplyDeleteEli,
ReplyDeleteaccording to my theory published on a post above how to measure shiyur yud in regard to the width, then this is ok, since the yud in our csav is actualy 0.8 kulmus wide, so 9 kulmusim exactly is place for writing 9 yudim spacely (maybe without the extra revach the Bach holds of 2 extra yudim in between the words)
What is the reason that the minhag bepoal is to leave 9 osios ketanos when the simple halacha quoted (and virtually all of the poskim hold) that it should be lechatchila a stuma (according to shitas HaRambam based on shach and Keset hasofer).
ReplyDeleteAnd why would it need to be 9 osios brivach, when it does not even use that word birivach in the Kuntres Achron?
The first question is a good one (and that is what I hinted in the post "The difference the Alter Rebbe makes between tfilin and mezuza, can easily be explained.")
ReplyDeleteThe 9 yudim brevach is according to some that fix the lashon of the KA to read: ג"פ ג"י
3 times 3 yudin = 3 words of 3 yudim.
Even without this addition (which would add the revach between the 2 words) the measure of 9 oisios (small as yuds, or big as beisin) is to actualy write them in that revach parsha. In practice to write 9 actual letters - there must be a minimum space in between them.
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