KOTZO D'ALEPH: New Letter from Vaad Mishemeres Stam
Kotzo D'aleph. It's Kaballistic significance is gaining recognition (as per the above letter), and is important that sofrim and magihim read the above.
On the topic of Kaballistic hiddurim, I have heard from countless sofrim and Rabonnim the Kaballistic importance of the right side of the choteteres of the ches, that it should be thicker and more prominent than the left. (This is seen in many choshever older ksovim and brought down explicitly in Shulchan Oruch Harav, so IMHO also very significant.)
Secondly, it's important to keep things in perspective : Kaballistic hiddurim are certainly important. However the primary concern for a magiha is that people should have Kosher stam. Shulchan Oruch comes first. It seems that some magihim put an inproportiantely greater emphasis on lengthening tagei lamed, yet seem less interested in fundemental halachic repairs that are of far greater significance and concern. Just saying...
Agreed. The (kabbalistic) significance and power of those Halachos that are "Halachic", esp. those that are Me'akev", is far, far greater and enormously more profound that those few bits of information that the Gedolei Hadoros chose to reveal to us.
ReplyDeleteHowever, all magihim should grade the tefilin as kosher or mehudar.The above anouncement by the vaad is to bring to attention of sofrim and magihim that when missing the kotz on yud haelyon it cannot be classified as mehudar unless corrected.
ReplyDeleteHowever, all magihim should grade the tefilin as kosher or mehudar.The above anouncement by the vaad is to bring to attention of sofrim and magihim that when missing the kotz on yud haelyon it cannot be classified as mehudar unless corrected.
ReplyDeleteIf you really want to get into the nitty gritty gedorim, Beis Hastam is correct as the kotz on the upper yud of the aleph is required halachically to be kosher lechatchillah lekesivah (irrespective of the Kaballistic imnportance).
DeleteHowever that is not always the case with some of the other kaballistic hiddurim. For example the tagei lamed, (while the Mishnah Berurah classifies it as a lechatchillah leksivah), the S"A HArav does not classify it in the list of lechatchillah leksivah items (vekol zeh lechatchillah), rather in a seperate classification as "al pi sod" (kaballistic significance). So its more of a "kaballistic hiddur" rather than a halachic necessity, at least according to S'A Harav. However the upper kotz of yud ha'aleph needsto be there lechatchillah both acc to M'B and S'A Harav, and cannot be classified as kosher lechatchillah leksivah without it.
When I was Magihah for Mishmeres Stam 40 years ago, they told me that the Debreciner Rov zt"l instructed them that if the right Kotz of the Daled is missing, they cannot classify it as Mehudar.
ReplyDeleteRight kotz is only according to shulachan aruch harav, according to m"b left kotz is what's needed.
ReplyDeleteIn b"y I classify mehudar even without left kotz
b"y ?
DeleteThis reminds me of the old joke
ReplyDeleteTwo sofrim are talking and one says that Moshiach is coming and that soon will be tchiyyas hameisim and that they will be very busy and have to write lots of tfiln and mezuzos for all the reserected people. The second says "chochom, all the old sofrim from the previous generations will also be reserected. So no big deal for us"
"Yes" says the first sofer. "But we will be in the biggest demand because we know all the latest hiddurim!"