In today’s day and age, virtually every kosher product available to the consumer comes with a hechsher. By hechsher, I mean an official and recognised rabbinical body or agency that certifies the kashrus of a product, be it a food item or a religious article. Hechsherim play a vital role in providing consumer confidence, and something branded by a reputable kashrus agency will be considered more legitimate than a similar product that does not. The agency has rigid policies and protocols in place to ensure correct standards are met, and they are independent of the manufacturer so that there is no conflict of interest. As we have discussed on this forum previously, there is a distinct lack of official hechsherim on Sta”m products - Tefillin, Mezuzos and Sifrei Torah. Even the Vaad Mishmeres Sta”m, the oldest and most well- known rabbinic agency in the Sta”m world does not certify products. They test and ordain sofrim and magihim (examiners), offer a computer checking service (sp...
It just happend to me as I was writing a mezuza I found that the sirtut cut through the klaff
ReplyDelete,בספר משנת הסופר דף כג (ביאור הסופר ד"ה בלא) מכשיר בדיעבד, ודו"ק בדבריו. וכן כתב ביריעות שלמה פרק ב סעיף ו דהעיקר להתיר
ReplyDeleteRav Ovadiah held that AS LONG AS THE KSAV IS STRAIGHT then the entire mezuzah can be written below the sirtut as the purpose of the sirtut is make the ksav straight. If the ksav in wavy or angled then this is a problem.
ReplyDeleteRav Elyashiv held it is passul if, I believe, 3 letters in a row are below the sirtut. As far as I'm aware even if it is only slightly under the sirtut is a problem and certainly 1-2mm.
Dayan Fisher held that while pasul, it could be fixed to be bedieved.
Of course, you'd need to ask a shaila lemaaseh, but it seems that for low end Ashkenaz mezuzahs (bedieved) there is room to be lenient, particularly if it is fixed and for ksav Vellish, as long as it is straight, it is okay as is.