Rabbi Reuvain Mendlowitz clarifies his position on Ksav Chabad (and my final thoughts)
Last week I posted some thoughts in response to a public lecture given by Rabbi Reuvain Mendlowitz regarding Ksav Chabad (the Alter Rebbe's ksav). I felt he did not represent the issue fairly, and since I had received questions about it from a number of people I felt it made sense to write a general response. After I posted my response on this forum, Rabbi Mendlowitz reached out to me by email and we ended up having a respectful and productive email exchange regarding the relevant issues surrounding Ksav Chabad. His position is a lot clearer to me now, and I think he also took certain things on board that I clarified with him. The purpose of the Stam Forum (at least back in it's heyday before all the whats app groups took over) was to connect sofrim from around the world, to promote achdus and build bridges, as well as to offer support and advice. In that spirit, I felt I should write a follow up post, to clarify some of the issues and misconception...
This looks like a decent entry Lechatchillah ksav, perfect for entry level pshutim mehudarim type tefillin. There is no "minimum level" for gassos and I'm sure some vendors would put such a parsha into gassos.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that years ago it wasn't as common for vendors to put "simple" parshiyos into gassos batim. Simple parshiyos (like the type pictured) went with more simple pshutim mehudarim batim or very often with simple dakkos batim, as an entry / basic package, for more "traditional" customer. Gassos tefillin usually had better quality ksav, as this was the better option for those looking for proper, mehudar tefillin. (If you found very basic parshiyos in gassos batim it was even considered a bit fishy...)
Today, this is not so much the case.
(The trend changed likely because of the availability of very inexpensive gassos batim in recent years and the absence of commercial dakkos production. Pshutim mehudarim batim are not as good as dakkos, so the cheaper gassos became more common for the lower end consumer.
If the ksav is meets a minimum (entry level) lechatchila standard then why shouldn't they be put into gasos to be sold as basic lechatchila tefillin? There's a considerable demand for entry level lechatchila tefillin.
ReplyDelete