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.
There is the famous Tshuvas HaRosh who says how the ksavim of different places differ and that they are all kasher. Also see the first tshuva in Shu"t Mishnas R' Aharon (Kotler). Also see R' Moshe Shternbuch who discusses a ksav Ari sefer for those who are normally noheig to use ksav Beis Yosef, both in Tshuvos v'Hanhagos and in Hilchos haGr"a uMinhagav.
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing these Teshuvas out. The one from the Rosh is definitely a famous one and a point I often say over. I'm in particular interested in the Teshuvas that discuss the Ashkanazi/Sephardi issue. I know there are a few from the more "famous" and often quoted achronim (Chasam Sofer? Noda B'Yehuda? Others...?) I'm however not sure exactly thus why I am asking...
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ReplyDeletehttp://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=9708&st=&pgnum=26
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ReplyDeleteRav Shternbuch has a detailed section in Stam Kehilchasan on this and is really a must read to understand the history and halacha of Velish, Ari and Bais Yosef.
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