Is this Mem Stuma Kosher?

By -
I am currently checking a bunch of Mezuzahs written by the same sofer. He consistently makes the Mem Stuma with a line sticking down on the bottom right.

Here is a picture of one of the more egregious instances.

 

Is this a shinuy tzurah lifsol? If it is not passul, should I leave it alone or add ink to the bottom to make it square? I would appreciate any insight since I am not finding anything on this in the sefarim I have.


Comments

  1. moshe weinerOctober 18, 2012 at 8:41 AM

    I think you may ask a tinok on several of them - once you understand the tinoks reading of this type, you may move on.
    If he pasels them or some [some he calls a mem and some a samech, or anything else incorrect] you must ask on all these mems.
    If you see the tinok recognizes them as a mem, then you know they are kosher, and you should fix them by filling in the zavis.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aaron ShaffierOctober 18, 2012 at 10:39 AM

    Thanks Rav Moshe!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aaron ShaffierOctober 18, 2012 at 10:48 AM

    I just went through this with my six year old daughter. I showed her five or six of the most distorted instances (interspersed with many other letters so as not to establish a pattern). She read them all correctly as mem sofit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yerachmiel AskotzkyOctober 18, 2012 at 5:38 PM

    There is no shaila of a Samech. The question would be a shinui tzura. I'd say if the line was any longer that in the example above I'd ask a shailas chacham.

    If this mezuzah was of decent quality the round corner of the Bais should be fixed as well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Rabbi Eli GutnickOctober 18, 2012 at 10:33 PM

    I think there is a teshuvah from the shevet halevi regarding this exact case, where he is machshir. Hopefully if I have time over shabbos I will try and find it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beis HastamOctober 21, 2012 at 2:32 PM

    yes the rabanim are machshir based on shevet haleivi, although as an i always had a problem understanding it. What makes it closer to a mem sofit with a tail than to a fei sofit that got connected.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beis HastamOctober 21, 2012 at 2:32 PM

    yes the rabanim are machshir based on shevet haleivi, although as an i always had a problem understanding it. What makes it closer to a mem sofit with a tail than to a fei sofit that got connected.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ink, Kosher vs. non-Kosher

By -
We all know that there is no ancient source that requires ink to be מן המותר בפיך . Possibly, as said here before, because in the olden days ink was always  מן המותר בפיך and the question was never raised. It was probably self-evident. Nowadays, no decent Rav will approve an ink which is not מן המותר בפיך  . Who was the first one to raise this question? Was it raised because of animal ingredients or because of non-kosher wine?
Read more

The forum is back online...for reference and research purposes.

By -
 Dear Readers and Members, The forum has been down for over 6 months because the domain name (www.stamforum.com) lapsed and it is no longer available to re purchase. Although this forum is now defunct (it has morphed into several whatsapp groups), I have had many requests to put it back online because it contains so much information (over 1,800 posts and thousands of comments in the discussions, on a wide range of topics related to STa"M). I have therefore put the forum back online at blogger, so the address is www.stamforum.blogspot.com. The forum lasted for a decade...not a bad effort! It was pretty popular back in the days before whatsapp and managed to receive over a million hits in it's short life. It was one of the only organised forums in the  STa"M world and definitely the largest in it's heyday. I would like to thank all those who cobtributed over the years, particularly the early members who helped build it up. Thanking you all, Eli
Read more