The International STa"M Forum

The Hebrew title now reads: פורום לנושא סת"ם בינלאומי In correct Hebrew it should read: פורום בינלאומי לנושא סת"ם   May I suggest the revision?

I just received a batch of mehudar mezuzos with the kuzu done in the above manner. Is there any makor for this? I've never seen it done like this before, nor can I imagine why it should be.

I recently received an order for parshiyos for size 31 batim w/o the parshiyos going into the titura elyona. Does anyone know the approximate dimensions of such batim? How tall can the klaf of the parshiyos be and how wide can the diameter of the shel yad and the length and width of the shel rosh be? (The order is for parshiyos on klaf that is m'ubbad ba'afatzim, which is generally much thicker than standard klaf, so all of the dimensions are important.) I am assuming that he will most probably be using either Sheinfeld or Dovid Starik fold-free batim, if that makes a difference as far as the chalalim.

I have a friend whose shul is interested in buying a used sefer Torah, not written on klaf mashuach.  Does anyone have any suggestions or leads?

Here you have another new innovation in this Megillah which is not part of our Massoretic tradition. The fact that the Shem HaShem doesn't appear in the Megillah doesn't deter this scribe from highlighting any allusions.   In this case the sofer has highlighted the  "Rashei Tevot"  H-V-H-Y in order to bring to mind that HaShem is " hidden" and working in the background.  The fact that the letters are in reverse order is most important, for one can only be cognizant of the YAD HASHEM when looking "backwards"  and examining all of the events after they have taken place.  In a similar way, we have also done the same by adopting the modern convention of initiating many of our columns with the word HaMELECH.  This is our way of bringing out the same concept that, in the story of the Megillah, HaShem is hidden and working in the background.  Therefore, we interpret that whenever HaMELECH is written by itself - this refers to HASHEM; but,...

The new way [introduced by Cesiva Tama] of a pai - in the pai peshuta.

I remember seeing the previous post and I saw this on E-bay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fine-Antique-Complete-Esther-Scroll-Megillah-On-Parchment-Bible-Poland-Ca-1860-/371111871478?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5667fdc3f6

Long story short, I had an unexpected and sharp increase in the humidity in the area in which I normally store my klaf . One of my yerios was open on a table and it became hopelessly stiff and bumpy.  Is there any way to save it? (its only half written) In addition, the ink appears to have taken on a "grainy" texture. Any thoughts? (If not, does anyone know where you can purchase klaf by the yeriah in NY :(

Does anyone know if there is a 'גליון ג of the קובץ תורני לבירורי הלכה ומנהג בעניני סת"ם put out by לשכת הקודש?

RABBI AVRAHAM MARKOWITZ ONE OF THE TOP 10 SOFRIM AND ONE OF THE BEST SAFRUS TEACHERS IN THE WORLD HAS PASSED AWAY. The above aseres was written by him as a tikun to accomplish most shitos including the m"b kiflayim.

Regarding the question of osiyos challolos (left at the end of a sefer Torah for a siyum in outline) if such letters are kosher, the common answer is that they are (because ain shiur beuvey haos) EXCEPT for the yuddin, which is a machlokes. Does anyone know who the machlokes is betwee? Thanks

We've been through this before but I recently had another case and  found some new discussion of this in the sefer zichron Eliyohu, which I did not previously notice. It is well documented that we are more lenient about parshiyos protruding into the titurah elyona of the yad than by rosh - reasons are well explained in  perek aleph siman daled (of the sefer zichron Eliyohu). In a phone call to Rabbi Moshe Shaul Klien Shlitah some years ago he echoed this understanding by telling me that if the parshiyos (letters) protrude a little into the titurah elyona in the shel yad the tefillin are still geder mehudar, but in the shel rosh not. (Obviously it cannot extend into the area opposite the "filler" (piece added into the titura in the middle) which does not have the din of bayis. he is talking about the titurah section above the filler). Regarding shittas Chabad, I have heard conflicting opinions based on S'A HaRav, with most rabanei morei horoah explaining  that si...

At the back of the Ot Y'tsiv is this photo of aseret b'ney Haman from a Megillah which appears to have an ayin rabati. I've not seen any source for this before. Is this something that others have come across? Been meaning to post this for a while.

a Sofer asked me to put this up on the blog so he could get critique from experts in the field. All feedback is welcome.

One yeriah of a megilla klaf is "wavy" or "bumpy" which makes it difficult to write upon. Does anyone have a technique or process to improve this yeriah?