I received this question via email. I am not really a klaf expert, I was wondering if anyone could answer this question: Dear Rabbi Gutnick, I am writing to you because a good friend of mine has put the idea into my head that the klaf in my tefillin were not really tanned and therefore are not kosher. He referred me to Megilla 19a re diftera. From the research that I have done so far, it seems that the klaf that is used today is tanned only with a lime wash. On all of the tanning websites I’ve seen so far, they say that the lime doesn’t accomplish tanning but only the removal of the hair and some other pre-tanning effects. Would you be able to explain to me or refer me to a website that explains how the tanning process that is used today takes the hide out of the category of diftera? Thank you very much.
geniza
ReplyDeleteBut only if the case touched the actual Klaf of the Mezuza. If the Mezuza was rolled entirely, in plastic or paper, then the case is Tashmish D'tashmish. Mishneh Berura and Biur Halacha, 154, s"k 14.
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ReplyDeleteA mezuzah case offers protection and honor (kavod) to the mezuzah klaf. Therefore it should have the status of Tashmish Dkedusha and require geniza even if there is a plastic wrapping around it.
ReplyDeleteSee the Mishna Berurah source you quoted.
I saw someone that wrote that if the mezuzah case is very simple, so therefore it offers only shmira and no kavod, it does not need geniza. If the mezuzah case is nice so that it offers kavod to the mezuzah it would need genizah (as mentioned even if the mezuzah klaf was already wrapped with plastic).