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.
were they opened or closed?
ReplyDeleteSpeculations are risky. Good kosher Tefillin are not placed in gnizah without a reason. He could have made a prohibited correction and later discovered that it was prohibited; he could have discovered something else wrong with them, that cannot be inspected (i.e. non-kosher klaf); and who knows what else.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Rabbi Groner personally told me that the Rebbe held that if the Tefillin are good according to the Chabad minhag, except for the Ktav being not Alter-Rebbe, then, the Tefillin should not be replaced.
it was closed
ReplyDeleteTefillin in a Genizah are Hefker. They have no owner. The fact that they are closed means that they were not invalidated after being checked.
ReplyDeleteYour friend can certainly have them checked. If they are good, by all means they should be put to good use.