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.
kavod harav but why? isn't this the classic textbook case brought in the mishnat sofrim that it's an inyan only of mukaf gvil and not chok tochot because the tzurah is nikkar? why can't this be fixed?
There are opinions (see Mishnat Hasofer 9:46) that consider 2 letters stuck the whole ovey hagagos, as forbidden to scrape because of chok tochos. Here 2 heads of the shin are the same, since the majority of their heads are stuck. I admit that in a very needed situation [consult a Rabbi] one can be meikal.
Yes. That is the classical negiya between 2 letters mentioned in poskim that can be scraped. If your question was in regard to the negiya between the heads of the shin, this is up to the whole issue of negiyas oketz smol of yud ha'alef to the guf.
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...
kavod harav but why?
ReplyDeleteisn't this the classic textbook case brought in the mishnat sofrim that it's an inyan only of mukaf gvil and not chok tochot because the tzurah is nikkar? why can't this be fixed?
There are opinions (see Mishnat Hasofer 9:46) that consider 2 letters stuck the whole ovey hagagos, as forbidden to scrape because of chok tochos. Here 2 heads of the shin are the same, since the majority of their heads are stuck.
ReplyDeleteI admit that in a very needed situation [consult a Rabbi] one can be meikal.
as long as only the minority of their heads are stuck together, there is no problem of chok tochos?
ReplyDeleteYes. That is the classical negiya between 2 letters mentioned in poskim that can be scraped.
DeleteIf your question was in regard to the negiya between the heads of the shin, this is up to the whole issue of negiyas oketz smol of yud ha'alef to the guf.