The International STa"M Forum

I have checked a number of mehudar pairs of tefillin recently where the shel yad has been written on more than one piece of klaf. My understanding based on the Mishnas Hasofer was that this is kosher lechatchila but not mehudar. Looking again at the Mishnas Hasofer (Siman Chof - Biur Hasofer - Vehaminhag ledovkom) he concludes - Therefore it would appear that parshiyos that are glued are kosher lechatchila without any doubt, however they are lacking in hidur and mitzva min hamuvchar. Searching the forum I came across the following post from Reb Moshe Weiner a couple of years ago. (July 17 2012) Question:   Are parshiyot of yad on klaf that was glued from 2 pieces, [the kadesh, vehaya and shma, where on the first klaf, and the last parsha vehaya im shamoa was written on another klaf, and later glued to the first], are they kosher lechatchila? Answer:   They are kosher lechatchila. Although it is a mitzva lechatchila to try to write all 4 parshiyot on 1 k...

THIS PAIR CAME IN TODAY the inside was divided into 4 equal square compartments with klaf

BlogSpot only allows 100 contributing authors. I reached that max already, so to make room for new ones, I dropped out some members who are not active. If I have dropped you out and you wish to re-join, please let me know. (Your name will remain on the Side Bar, you just cannot post or comment.) I also apologize, I have not updated the Side Bar with names for almost a year. I need to physically go through all the emails of new members and ascertain their full names and location. Hopefully I will have time for this soon. Apologies for neglecting this.

What does everyone think about תתן?

What does everyone think about עיניך?

This mezuzah is 6cm. Amazing ksav for that size, I think we can all agree. But look at chof pshutah in the word "baderech" at the end of the 4th line. He does a number of the chof pshutos in such a manner (too long across the top, and a shailo of looking like a large reish). My question for Reb Moshe (or anyone else) is two fold: 1) Most probably we do a shaylas tinok here, since the regel is still marginally longer. Do you agree? 2) Assuming you agree, do I cover the other letters or not (much greater chance of a child saying reish if I cover)?

A few times in the past the topic of the ראשי שיטין in תפילין came up, while almost everyone claimed that it is not important, "Bais Hastam" and I (and maybe others) claimed that in ARIZ"L Tefillin it is a "must". In one of the times Etan Katz said in name of Rabbi Friedlander " that if the buyer ordered tefilin in ksav arizal, the roshei hashitin *must* follow the order of the Arizal, and if not the sale is a mekach ta’os. " where Rabbi Gutnick asked " are you sure? ". So I decided to do the right thing and go and ask Rabbi Friedlander directly (he is very accessible, he answers in הלכות סת"ם three times a week in Yerushlaim and once a week in Bet Shemesh). I recorded with my cell phone and planed to transcribe the whole thing later, but apparently my Nokia c2-01 in a piece of junk and the recording came out very noisy and unclear, so I'll just write out the points from memory and what I managed to understand from the recordi...

I recently wrote an article in a communal publication on the new robotic device that writes Stam. Since everyone is talking about it, I felt it was appropriate to address this, as well as use is at an opportunity to address other Sta"m related matters. I include the article below in case it is useful to anyone or if they have any feedback. Robotic STa"M and other issues pertaining to STa"M not written by a human sofer. By Rabbi Eli Gutnick Recently there has been a big fuss in the media about a novelty invention, namely a Torah writing robot. The robot, which looks like a giant bionic arm,  was developed for the Jewish Museum in Berlin, where it is on display actively "writing" Torah scrolls. This concept has everyone asking if STa"M (Sifrei Torah, Tefillin or Mezuzos) written by a robot is kosher. The simple answer is that it is not. By all three of the STa"M commandments, the Torah specifically uses the word "Uchsavtem" and ...

Would one rely on the reading of a tinok in these long curved yudim? Following the opinion of the Maharshag. What is the border line?

Yud?

What does everyone think?

Does anyone know of a source for a used ספרא דאפטרתא? I might possibly consider a new one as well if the price is right. Thanks.

was just given this mezuza to check. the letters have a lot of cracks. The klaf is very suspicious and i think that maybe it is just paper. How can i check?

I am looking for Soferium who can look over used Torahs to place into the Torah Gemach. Some of them will be MeSchuach and some not. We can talk about price. I will ship, but need commitment. please contact me at 718 207 0474 or email me at torahgemach@aol.com . Bentzion Chanowitz

Someone sent me this shailo. The smudge came from a tikun AFTER ksiva.

Alex of Hotzi. Kosher bedieved as is? Needs to be fixed? Considered mehudar after fixing?

A friend has asked me to do some basic repair work on his shul's megillah - it appears to be approximately 75-100 years old, and the lettering is virtually pristine, so in terms of reinking, it shouldn't be much work.  The larger problem is that the edges of the klaf are weak, and there are places where the klaf is almost torn/very heavily creased.  (In at least one place, the klaf has been reinforced with scotch tape, which I will obviously remove, and have told my friend that this is, to say the least, sub-optimal.) My plan is to use thin matleisim around the border of the megillah to reinforce as necessary, but there is one problem - the back of the klaf is mashuach and very, very crumbly.  (The front, luckily, seems to not be.)  My feeling is that if I glued a matlis to the klaf, it wouldn't adhere, and, to the extent that it did, the matlis would come off with the coating quite quickly. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to deal with this?  I...

What is the best way and safest way to check for prudos on the shel rosh without compromising on the rituah of the teffilin ?

I have never been comfortable dealing in used sifrei Torah, only new ones, however recently a shul approached me with three sifrei torah they do not use which are in possul / questionable condition. They don't have the interest or the funds in fixing them and they have plenty of new kosher ones. They could use the money for other things in the shul if they sell them. I've never looked into this and I know there are complicated halochos about a shul selling sifrei torah. What is the din if: 1) The shul wants to sell their old / disused seforim to another shul who could use them, and this other shul has the funds and motivation to repair them and bring them back into use.  But if they remained in the first shul they would likely not be repaired or used. There may be a middleman / socher involved in this process who will make a mark up for arranging the sale and organizing the repairs. 2) A shul wants to "trade in" a few old / disused seforim for a new one. The d...

this yud in the Shem needs an oketz but first-- does it have proper tzura to make the tikkun in a mezuzah?

Shalom, I would like to clarify some issues with the approach of Levushei Serad. If there is anyone who can help me please respond. I would appreciate if we can be in touch via email or phone. Thank you. My email address is yosefyrabin@gmail.com