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.
A very cheap mezuza, the word uvechol is problematic. I hesitate to accept the beis, the caf, and there is an unexplained [and unnecessary] space between the caf and lamed.
The Beis seems kosher to me. It certainly isnt a Chof or other letter. it has the basic elements of a Beis. The Chof is certainly a bit narrow on the top, but it looks like he makes all of chofs and beises a bit narrow in this ksav. It doesnt look like a nun because the top is wider than the bottom.
Seems to me you could extend the bottom and top of the chof a bit and solve the problem of the space, while making the chof lechatchila.
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...
The Beis seems kosher to me. It certainly isnt a Chof or other letter. it has the basic elements of a Beis. The Chof is certainly a bit narrow on the top, but it looks like he makes all of chofs and beises a bit narrow in this ksav. It doesnt look like a nun because the top is wider than the bottom.
ReplyDeleteSeems to me you could extend the bottom and top of the chof a bit and solve the problem of the space, while making the chof lechatchila.
Beis if kosher
ReplyDeleteChof is shailos tinnok
Spacing is also ok (lifi what I've seen by R' Shammai in the past -- he's pretty makil in this relatively speaking.) Perhaps to make the chof longer