The International STa"M Forum

I tried to find a common denominator to all the Machlokot on the subject of ink composition and properties. Here is what I came up with. Comments and suggestions will be appreciated. כל מה שכתבו חכמים בעניני דיו אפשר לחלק לארבע קבוצות:    א. הלכות מעכבות,  ב. הידורים,  ג. המלצות טכניות,  ד. סיפור מעשה או תאור מציאות טכנית או פגם טכני בסוג מסוים של דיו.  כשלומדים את הלכות הדיו צריך להזהר שלא לטעות ולא לערבב בין הקבוצות השונות.  הטעות הנפוצה ביותר היא פירוש דבר מקבוצה ב, ג, או ד, כאילו הוא הלכה מעכבת. בקונטרס תעלומות סופרים מסביר הסופר לוי יצחק מברדיטשוב את הסיבה לטעויות: "והסיבה לזה הוא מפני מיעוט בקיאות הסופרים בדברי הפוסקים ומיעוט בקיאות המחברים האחרונים דזמנינו בידיעת תכונות וטבע מיני הדיו."  (שאלה לט, א) יש בדיו רק מעט הלכות מעכבות, והן: שחור. לפחות שני מרכיבים, האחד משחיר והשני מדביק. מן המותר בפיך. לכתחילה צריך להיות שחור מעשן. בדיעבד, יש אומרים כשר ויש אומרים פסול אם בתחילת עשייתו אינו שחור, והשחרות מופיעה אח"כ מעצמ...

I have a PDF including 39 brief psakim of Rabbi Zalman Shimon on sta"m, put out by איגוד כותבי סת"ם קראון הייטס, תשמ"ה Since I can't (or don't know how to) download a PDF file on this site, anybody interested in this file, I will happily mail. moishebaz@gmail.com

Over the past few days I have received numerous emails and phone calls from panicked customers who are reading about this retzuah controversy on the Internet. I really think this whole thing is overrated. Here's why: 1) These retzuos are still mehudar according to many poskim such as Rav Moshe S. Klien. 2) It's not like the guy did something deliberately wrong to be machte es horabim, he simply made an honest error and did not choose the correct manufacturing procedure. If people are looking for scandals in Stam, then in my opinion, the following are far more scandalous: 1) Many  mezuzos and tefillin sold in Judaica shops around the world, many owned and run by by frum Yidden, are not written by sofrim with ksav kaballah. Based on my own research and experience, more than 50% of sofrim working in the "conveyor belt" safrus industry do not have ksav kaballah! 2) Many magihim operating both in Israel and the US do not have kaballa for "hagaha". Like i...

1. Is this hybrid between a tav and a hey kosher? does it have tzuras tav? 2. A vav or zayin that is too long and looks like a final nun, to be fixed does the whole letter need to be erased, or just the regel? (iow, m"m says to erase the whole letter (not because of the reda"ch), is that the halacha?)

If one added diyo to a mezuza and too much diyo came out so that the diyo is high in one spot may one draw out the extra ink through a napkin? I am referring when there is no shinui tzura but it might spread through time. On a bent tefillin corner may one add leather dust to fix it?

I always understood that to stretch letters of "Lehaderes" (Lamed, hay, daled, reish and tof) was acceptable lechitchillah. In the sefer torah above, the photo depicts some stretched letters of Lehaderes. Am I correct to assume that such a sefer, with the occasional stretched letter of "Lehaderes" is definitely kosher lechatchillah? Has anyone heard anything otherwise, and that the above sefer would not be kosher lechatchillah?

We know that many very small Mezuzot are very poorly and hastily written but the one below is possibly one of the worst examples I've ever seen where the letters forms are totally unacceptable in so many places - wierd pehs, tsadis that look like ayins, mems that look like chets (which is an amazing achievement - staggeringly bad!), k'shtey milim, negiot, no enlarged letters and more. The bottom two words are also right at the bottom of the parchment which has been trimmed very badly so that they are not mukaf g'vil.  I use it for demo purposes. Thought I'd share.

     Is this a kosher hei? The left regel is wide and rightwards; the akev from the bet makes a new regel .

What is the halacha about having Mezuzah cases of kids programs like Pokemon or Sesame street? Or having the logo of sport teams etc?(e.g having Elmo's face on the Mezuzah case) I have heard some Rabbonim say it's ok and some not..so whats the tachlis halacha?

http://www.vosizneias.com/112260/2012/08/23/new-york-the-tefillin-strap-retzuos-controversy There is a Hallachic difference between paint and ink. Paint צבע must soak into the leather. Ink דיו must stay on the surface and not soak in.

I was at someone's home yesterday putting up mezuzos and I came across a difficult shailah. There is a large opening between a kitchen and another room which has a mashkof on top and one doorpost on one side, which has a mezuzah. The other side does not really have a doorpost because the kitchen counter breaks it up (see pic), but there is part of a doorpost going up about one meter on the other side. Ideally the mezuzah should go on the side as one enters which would be on the right (yemin haknisah) since the front door is behind the photographer, but there is no full doorpost omn that side. chashivus is not really a factor here because both rooms are essentially the same and part of the kitchen. So practically the mezuzah was put up on the other side. Is this correct? Should it be changed, and if so, how or even taken off all together? Feedback appreciated.

I would like to hear some good eitzahs from the olam on fixing a warped titora tachtona (that is bending downwards) of pshutim mehudarim? Thank you

its a very small eikev and slightly round on the top and bottom of the eikev

Here is an excellent video explaining Sofrut and the importance of kavana. It was featured on Ha'aretz Online last week - which itself is a Kiddush Hashem. Yashar ko'ach Rabbi Rosenfeld!  http://bcove.me/iqyaswv7

Has anyone tried using dyo lonetzach for painting retzuos and would it be suitable or would it peel off?

What do you say on this yud? A thin long line extended down the regel with a thicker regel above it.

I wrote a series of educational posts about purchasing STAM on my own blog over a period of several months. The entire series has been edited, updated, and repackaged as a free ebook. The ebook is currently available in the following formats: Mobi for Kindle and Kindle apps. ePub for most other e-readers. PDF for printing or viewing on a PC, Mac, smartphone, or tablet computer. Before releasing it to the general public, I'd appreciate input from the members of this forum. Click the image above to go to the download page, and let me know what you think via the comments on this post. The ebook is free of charge for anyone to download, copy, and distribute without modification, subject to a Creative Commons license. For more details on usage, see the STAMink Press license . Since the ebook is very much a work-in-progress, please subscribe to be notified of updates. Looking forward to hearing from you…

We all know that in order to not be confused with a kaf, a bet shouldn't have a rounded corner and should have a pronounced heel (ideally with a little kots) but in older sifrey this isn't always the case. I've started restoring a Torah that was rescued from Germany just before Kristalnacht and throughout the bets are very rounded and the heel is not always that pronounced. When there is a kaf in the vicinity it is obvious which is which, but when there isn't a reader could very easily mistake this for a kaf (e.g. the middle ones) even with the light tag on the end. Above are some examples some with heels more pronounced than others. What do people think? I am adding ink to the heel where there is potential for confusion but am a bit loathe to square the corners since this is the style of the sofer and there is much history attached to this Torah.

I noticed the shape of the lamed on the page of this website, in which the vov is shaped like an icecream cone. So I've written a few words here on my thoughts concerning this shape. כתב המשנה ברורה וז"ל: ויהא חבור הוא"ו אל הכ"ף בדקות, כי תמונתו כתמונת וא"ו שעביו מתמעט והולך בסופו וכנ"ל בוא"ו. בזמננו ראיתי סופרים שסוברים דכוונת המשנה ברורה דצורת צוארה צריך להיות כזה עב מלמעלה והולך ומתמעט כעין משפך, וכן כתבו בליקוט ספרי סת"ם (מאת הסופר הרב צבי כהנא) והכתיבה תמה (שנדפס בשנת תשנ"ו, מאת הרה"ג אברהם הכהן זילביגער שליט"א) והבירור הלכה (מאת הרה"ג דוד בן הגאון הגדול רבי עובדיה יוסף שליט"א) דיש לעשות צוארה עב מלמעלה. אמנם לדעת הסופר הגדול הרה"ג מנחם דוידוביץ שליט"א אין זה כוונת המשנה ברורה וגם עדיף לא לעשות כן מטעם שאבאר בעז"ה, ונ"ל דרק בזמננו נולד הרעיון הזה מתוך שני דברים שהשתנו בין תקופת המשנה ברורה לתקופתינו. הנה בתקופת המשנה ברורה וגם בכל הדורות קודם לכן, כל סופרי סת"ם כתבו בדרך כתיבה דהי...

It was discussed in previous post the thing that one may find in some shuls where they have on display an old Sefer Torah from the Holocaust in a glass case. Today b'hashgacha pratis R' Shammai Gross told me the Beis Avi has a teshuva about displaying a Sefer Torah in a glass case inside of a Judaica Store. L'maseh his machmir and has an interesting discussion there in the teshuva (link to the teshuva ). R' Shammai said to me to look in the teshuva and see that his re'as are not re'as b'clal and l'maseh it's in fact muter  to put an old pasul Sefer Torah on display in a glass case if one wishes. He said it's not a bizion... Not sure if I agree yet completely but I thought it would be good to post this now since the post was recently made. Could be someone commented then with the Teshuva from Beis Avi -- I didn't look before writing this.

I posted earlier about a Torah that had major creases in and needed repair. I have another now which has about 4 serious creases through it (see below the worst one). However whilst the letters are obscured, they are there under the creases when you straighten them and they are not broken or damaged. Obviously the preference would be to try and flatten the k'laf, but if the letters are there and potentially the ba'al koreh or another congregant could pull on the k'laf whilst he is reading to reveal the intact letters would this be kasher for the bimah? Interested in any sources for opinions on this.

I'm sure many in the industry are aware that Chabad are makpid that the batim shel rosh should be prudos legamri (no glue between the rosh batim). This is based primarily on the Shulchan Oruch Harav. I was discussing this issue with another sofer in NY over shabbos and we were discussing that while obviously when selling new tefillin to Chabad we should ensure that the batim are prudos (and check them as such), what would be the accepted practise when it comes to used tefillin that are brought in for checking? Is the checker chayyev to start sticking knives or other instruments between the batim, potentially damaging the persons tefillin, in order to check the prudos? By doing this is he going over and above what is required when someone brings him tefillin for checking? We were interested in Reb Moshe's opinion on this matter.

The Nun and Yud [in "eineichem"] have a small line touching [this occured after the original csiva of the letters] - a shyla rises maybe they resemble a Mem, so a shayla to a tinok is called for. But do we have to cover the tagim of the nun? I think you don't cover the tagim, and the tinok should be asked as seen here. Since, even if only because of the tagim of the Nun, they don't look like a mem, that is sufficient to machshir. In regard to covering tagim in another example, we find in Mikdash M'at [32:60] in the name of Da'as Kedoshim, that a Yud that was a bit long and a tinok is asked if it isn't a Vav, the tag and oketz of Rabenu Tam must be covered, otherwise it's possible the tinok could not recognize the letter [Yud] itself, and only recognized it because of the tagim. Below [right pic.] is a shayla on a long yud, and [left picture] after covering the tag and oiketz. The Mikdash M'at doubts this, and paskens that b...

A Sefer Torah that is Mashuach on the Back and Peeling. (Photo found via Google images, and appears to be from Rabbi Avraham Chaim Bloomenstiel.) It's quite common - an old Sefer Torah that is mashuach on the back, and the substance is peeling off, and perhaps covering or sticking to some letters. It would seem to make sense to remove the substance, if possible. I was thinking along the lines of perhaps (carefully) using an electric sander combined with an air compressor to blow everything away, starting first with a medium grade sand-paper, and then finishing it with an ultra-fine grade sand-paper to give it a nice, smooth texture. Does anyone have any experience with removing the coating, or any suggestions about how it could be done, or why it shouldn't be done? Would it perhaps make sense to instead clear-coat the coating with various clear-coats artists use to protect their paintings, so that the coating stops peeling?

I was checking an older sefer torah (probably about 60 - 80 years old) and noticed that whereas the Ksav is rather nicely written (aside from the missing Kotz Rabbeinu Tam), a significant amount of the taggin had faded. I assume the taggin were added later and with an inferior ink. 1) Upon closer inspection, it is clear that some of the taggin (mostly the left tag of the Shatnaz Gatz letters) never contacted the letters at all. When you have an entire sefer in which vast amounts of taggin were written this way, what is the best course of action to take? Computer designed illustration of a faded tag that misses the letter. 2) When attempting to darken light taggin, it's often difficult to be accurate. Sometimes when darkening a tag, the kulmos slightly misses the original tag. After writing the new tag, the old tag, in comparison, is not visible at all, yet clearly it must still be there. Is there any chashash that  it's a problem since the old tag was technically visibl...

In the recent years, double black retzuas has become rather popular. Apparently it answers to the problem of retzuas becoming posul through peeling paint etc... The Rambam writes that the noi of the Tefillin is to be completely black on all sides, although the Mishna Berura 33:21 writes that we are not nohag like the Rambam in this. The Shavet Halevi 9:16 writes that this is not even a hidur since the Gedoli Yisroel never wrote (or had for themselves)for the need of double black retzuas. He also brings that this is the opinion of The Shulchan Aruch HaRav by only mentioning that it should be black mibachutz. Although the shavet Halevi does conclude that if yechidim do it for themselves and not as a horah - tavo aleihem bracha. My questions are the following, when did the double black retzuas start most recently? Have the Rabbanim seemed to change their opinion on double black retzuas or is this recent trend have more to do with the market which not necessarily know much better? App...

1. If, while writing the gag of the alef , the top yud lost it's regel, then I wrote the bottom yud, but didn't connect it to the gag, is that considered kesivah bepsul , and i must erase and rewrite the bottom yud after i fix the rest of the alef? 2. according to those that hold (mikdash meat, tz"tz)  that i can fix the alef without erasing, but with adding a rosh, even if i connected the bottom yud is that kesiva bepsul, it wasn't possul it was a yerech, i just didn't write the rosh yet?

I travel to North America frequently, and when visiting shuls where they proudly display a "Holocaust" Torah - usually open and behind glass -  I'm not sure what to say. It seems to me that if the Torah is kosher, then place in ahron and should be in use. And if not kosher, then repair (if possible ) or burial. Suggestions? Thank you.

There is an issue by the magihim if the edge of a caf [or a nun pshuta] are touching the gag under it, since this may cause the letter to have changed to a bies [or in other cases to a caf, nun cfufa]. I think that here is no shayla, and scraping the negiya is permitted. a. the ngiya is minor, thinner than the foot, and not the whole width of the foot of the caf, so a clear distinction between the letters was always there. b. a simple assumption may be made that the sofer started the lamed from the vav protruding above, then continued doing the gag - so there never was a possibilty of it resembling a beis. c. another simple assumption [even if the sofer did the gag before the vav] that the sofer continued the gag and rounded it downward, so even if picking up the kulmus before finishing the other parts of the lamed, the caf could not have been a beis.