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...
Yes, you have to redo the sirtut. It is done with what I think is called in English an "awl". See picture here. Of course you can use anything similar.
ReplyDeleteיישר כחך
ReplyDeleteI use a rose thorn glued to a piece of dowling - nice and natural and not too sharp that it would tear the k'laf. You must have sirtut if it erased - see Keset Hasofer 3:5 and R. Ganzfired says that they should be re-ruled lishmah (though based on Pri M'gadim this isn't necessary). The B'ney Yonah states that even for one letter there should be a rule but most others say three. I am assuming here that this erasure is such that you are still writing the mezuzah k'sidran.
ReplyDeleteMordechai,
DeleteIs a perennial blackberry thorn okay to use? The only rose bushes I have available have very small soft thorns. I also currently use and all-metal awl "angled correctly".
(I don't currently write any STa''M, just learning.)
Elad ben Avraham/Dale Edmons
just a tip when using an awl it should be not pointed straight down because then it might make a hole in the klaf the trick is to hold it on a slant almost flat some people use a stone to make it not so sharp but this is unnecessary if you hold it like that and also then you can decide how big of a sirtut you want and how wide by pressure you put and the angle you hold it(by pressure it will just bend the metal a little) and you can also decide to which derection you want the sirtut to go its hard to explain in words without showing someone
ReplyDeletethanks all the tzadikim!
ReplyDeleteFor years I use a very small screwdriver, the corners originally dulled by scraping against stone or concrete.
ReplyDelete