Chet
The above is from a small 6cm Mezuzah. In it the letter CHET has three basic problems. 1) The two Zenins are touching each other. In addition, (2) there is a CHUTRA above them. Third (3) the left ZAYIN is shaped like a DALED.
By themselves, all of the above may not be a problem, as the chutra and touching zenin can be fixed. Likewise, by the left DALED, the BELITA may not be long enough to disqualify the shape of the CHET, although there are many poskim that would.
Question: Is the combination of all of the above factors enough to disqualify this CHET and render it PASSUL, or is there room to be MATIR and consider it KASHER? Your comments are most welcome.
I would not have guessed that it is Ches. Just ... doesn't look like one.
ReplyDeleteShalom R. Alberto. The sefer S'fakot Hasofer brings all of these examples but not in combination. To summarise what I think could be the case: 1) Two zayins touching isn't an issue an a sefardi chet which is considered kasher does not have the chutra. 2) His example 11 on chet is specifically about a join with a chutra and it seems to him that this tsurah is kasher and suggests it may be good to scrape out the bridge so that it just resembles a sefardi chet. However if the bridge shape is such that it is changing the overall shape of the letter then this is a sh'elat chacham. 3) In his example 8, he brings the case of the dalet though in his image the rosh of the dalet is much longer than in this case. His opinion is that this does passul, especially if the b'lita is large, but there are those that would declare it kasher if it is small. Based on this, the key decision is whether the second zayin is more like a dalet or not. If the feeling is that the b'lita is not too prominent and imagining it without the chutra it would look like a sefardi chet then one could argue that you could be lenient. By that measure if it is already a kasher chet then erasing the chutra wouldn't be chok tochot as the form is there. Always difficult to tell from a photo but I would suggest that the b'lita isn't big enough for it to be the kind of dalet that would passul. I'm sure others much wiser than I will have other views. Thanks for sharing such and interesting example.
ReplyDeleteI would say it just passes, but should be fixed ( by adding ink to improve it ie thickening left regel and improving the choteteres and enlarging the first zayin. Once it has a better tzurah, then scrape the negiya between the heads).
ReplyDeleteI would say it just passes, but should be fixed ( by adding ink to improve it ie thickening left regel and improving the choteteres and enlarging the first zayin. Once it has a better tzurah, then scrape the negiya between the heads).
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your input.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your input.
ReplyDelete