A place for English speaking sofrim (scribes), magihim (examiners), rabbis and vendors of Stam (Torah, Tefillin and Mezuzah scrolls) from around the world to communicate, share ideas, ask questions and offer support and advice.
What do you think of the kuf of "umilkosh"? do you think its just a fat tag or he wrote another lamed and was too lazy to erase it and turned it into a kuf without erasing the rosh?
"do you think its just a fat tag or he wrote another lamed and was too lazy to erase it and turned it into a kuf without erasing the rosh?"
Does it matter what he meant? Is there a difference between a case that he intend it to be a lamed, and changed his mind and turned it into a kuf [I understand from your wording that this is a type of "csiva b'pisul"], and the case that he intended to write a kuf but the tag came out fat?
Please clarify the issue - because I am not sure I understood you correctly.
Perhaps I phrased it wrong. I was asking if you think it is pasul or if a sheelat tinok would help in this situation? to me, it looks pasul, but I wanted other Sofrim's opinions on the matter.
I showed this to R' Shammai Gross this morning. He said to me as it is he said it's kosher. If the tag would come out that thick and be all the way at the end (on the left side) it'd be pasul.
I received this question via email. I am not really a klaf expert, I was wondering if anyone could answer this question: Dear Rabbi Gutnick, I am writing to you because a good friend of mine has put the idea into my head that the klaf in my tefillin were not really tanned and therefore are not kosher. He referred me to Megilla 19a re diftera. From the research that I have done so far, it seems that the klaf that is used today is tanned only with a lime wash. On all of the tanning websites I’ve seen so far, they say that the lime doesn’t accomplish tanning but only the removal of the hair and some other pre-tanning effects. Would you be able to explain to me or refer me to a website that explains how the tanning process that is used today takes the hide out of the category of diftera? Thank you very much.
Last week I posted some thoughts in response to a public lecture given by Rabbi Reuvain Mendlowitz regarding Ksav Chabad (the Alter Rebbe's ksav). I felt he did not represent the issue fairly, and since I had received questions about it from a number of people I felt it made sense to write a general response. After I posted my response on this forum, Rabbi Mendlowitz reached out to me by email and we ended up having a respectful and productive email exchange regarding the relevant issues surrounding Ksav Chabad. His position is a lot clearer to me now, and I think he also took certain things on board that I clarified with him. The purpose of the Stam Forum (at least back in it's heyday before all the whats app groups took over) was to connect sofrim from around the world, to promote achdus and build bridges, as well as to offer support and advice. In that spirit, I felt I should write a follow up post, to clarify some of the issues and misconception...
"do you think its just a fat tag or he wrote another lamed and was too lazy to erase it and turned it into a kuf without erasing the rosh?"
ReplyDeleteDoes it matter what he meant? Is there a difference between a case that he intend it to be a lamed, and changed his mind and turned it into a kuf [I understand from your wording that this is a type of "csiva b'pisul"], and the case that he intended to write a kuf but the tag came out fat?
Please clarify the issue - because I am not sure I understood you correctly.
Perhaps I phrased it wrong. I was asking if you think it is pasul or if a sheelat tinok would help in this situation? to me, it looks pasul, but I wanted other Sofrim's opinions on the matter.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a shaylas tinok.
ReplyDeleteI showed this to R' Shammai Gross this morning. He said to me as it is he said it's kosher. If the tag would come out that thick and be all the way at the end (on the left side) it'd be pasul.
ReplyDeleteI agree it makes no difference what the sofer's intentions were. I also would have said like Rav Shamai.
ReplyDelete