The International STa"M Forum

While each case must be judged for itself I once heard the following. Normally when a yud is touching a vav or zion and could possibly turn the ois into a "ches" is more of a problem then a case of a yud touching a long Nun. The fact the the regel is so long, doesn't begin to go into the sofek of looking like a Ches. Do any achronim or seforim speak about this case (in a general ofen. Like I said of course difficult to say an exact clal since every case is different.)

A month ago we discussed water damage to Nahari ink. I then suggested drying the affected Sefer Torah in the sun, hoping that the ink will dry and be less susceptible to water damage. I made an experiment. The following was written with new-fresh Nahari ink on klaf. It was then allowed to air dry for two weeks. Then, the letter ד was wetted with water. Some ink spread on the klaf. The klaf was then baked dry at 100 degrees C for 2 hours, to make sure the ink is really really dry. The klaf was then taken out and allowed to stand in room air for 2 hours. Then, the letter ר   was wetted with water. Some ink spread on the klaf, with a different spread pattern. It appears that drying the ink did not help. I now suspect that drying the Sefer Torah in the sun will also not help. Why does the ink spread even after good drying? .

Article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22697098 Italian Articles here if you read Italian (I don't): http://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2013/05/28/torah-ritrovato-negli-archivi-alma-mater-piu-antico-rotolo-esistente-del-pentateuco/608744/ (This article seems to be showing a different sefer than the one in the other two articles.) http://www.dire.it/home/3181-rotolo-torah-piu-antico-del-mondo-bologna.dire Update: I found much clearer photos here: http://www.corriere.it/cultura/foto/05-2013/torah/bibbia/bologna-ritrovata-torah-piu-antica-mondo_6049cf58-c7e1-11e2-803a-93f4eea1f9ad.shtml#10 I have also posted the photos of the ksav below. Click to enlarge:

What does the olam think about the daled with the lamed possibly going into its cholol?

In connection with what Rabbi Michael Tzadok wrote about sqeezing in ג"פ אשר before והיה אם שמע, I recall doing it once without a problem, but that was pre-digital years so I have no picture of it. Therefore today during a break I scribbled it again and presto!! I even had 5 mm spare... I wrote this on a line size that is equal to a 15 cm מזוזה and the width of the line is the "standard" 12.5 cm. In the beginning I really wrote tight but toward the last words I saw that there is enough space so I stopped squeezing and there is still a 5 mm "extra". I never really understood the logic in "starting under this word" or "starting under that letter", all that has to be done is to measure the space accordingly. And if there still is not enough space you can also simply ask the משרטט to give you an extra 5-6 mm ( if you have access to him).

Hi , Could  I please get the help of some experienced sochrim, what would be the fair price for a private sale of a sefer torah including all checkings in the ksav below. price in Israel I guess... A) I know is more simple and B) is very beautiful but assuming they are both frum ehrliche sofrim with ksav kaballah what would be the prices. I'm not looking to sell anything this is purely for my own research with a customer. You can click on the images to see them clearly Thanks                                                               A                     ...

I wrote this Mezzuza to help my own teacher fill an order.  I managed to get the Ayin and Dalet low enough without causing a negia to satisfy him.  However the part that I am not happy with is the first line of והיה. The י  of אנכי is just barely within the shora.  The issue stems from trying the need for a parsha stumah.  The Shulhan Arukh says that Sephardim have the custom to extend the last line of the first parsha to the end of the shora and leave a space of 9 otiot at the beginning of the second parasha. While there are some Sephardi Poskim who permit shitat HaTaz for Mezzuzot, Rav Ovadia Yosef and Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul have been kind enough to declare them possul.  So we are left with trying to fit the space of three time the word אשר(for hiddur purposes) into the beginning of the parasha. While I know that there are opinions(the Yeriat Shlomo for instance) that state the three times אשר is the space of 22 yudin, which wouldn't be so bad, I...

OK, I have to admit, I do not recall learning the halacha for this situation, so please help me out... my in-laws want to place a mezuza on the main doorway of their sailboat. They consider their boat their second home, and live on it for most of the summer. What to tell them?

Firstly I would like to welcome all new members who have joined in recent weeks, my apologies for not updating the new members list. I hope to do that soon. Thanks to Rabbi Michael Tzadok, one of the new members for adding a Sephardic flavor to the forum, something that has definitely been lacking until now. There was a nice article about the forum on collive.com, a respectable NY communal website, see it here http://www.collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=25418&alias=sofrim-unite-in-online-forum  . A special thanks to Dovid for arranging that. I have received input from a number of members regarding changing the forum model to something more like this type of style. I only used BlogSpot because I was familiar with it from before. My biggest interest is to have posts indexed nicely by topic, something I don't know how to do on BlogSpot. Input, as usual , is appreciated..

Hi R. Michael, Here is a picture from an older shel-yad in which the AYIN & DALED of Shema' descend to the lower sirtut as described in your previous post.  I believe, that both Hakham  Ben Tzion Abba Shaul and Rav Mordekhai Eliyahu stipulated the above as a hiddur in order to comply with the directive of the Arizal that  the SHIUR of the big DALED of SHEMA' should be that of four small DALEDs. If one takes a look at the pictures of the older Sifrei Torah in your previous post, one will notice that they were meticulous as to not extend their large letters above the upper sirtut.  Since normal letters extend into the middle of the sirtut, the only way to maintain the requirement of the Ari was to double the size of the letter, thus extending the foot all the way down to the lower sirtut. We all know that the above is not explicitly required by halakha.  The only requirement is that these letters should be slightly larger so that it may include at leas...

I didn't see the shailo yet itself however I heard today someone say they found a Beis in a Mezuzah that the tag is somewhat "smudged". To what degree or how much I don't know. However what would be the din if ... (1) It's not niker anymore as a tag. Should they erase it and attempt to fix it? Or simply erase it and leave nothing there. (2) Is niker but however "not so nice" because it's smudged. The same thing, should this be erased and fixed or erased and not fixed? Or not to erase at all? I realize it's difficult to describe without a picture. Maybe I'll try and get if I can before whatever happens, happens.

This first one was written by Rav Yitzchak Abuhav for the Arizal, in which the Ari wrote all of the shemot hakodesh himself: This one is from Rav Sulamein Ochana, a Persian sofer from the roughly the same time.  What is interesting about both of these first two is that the sephardi sofrim were clearly holding by Rashi and not Rambam on the shape of the Chet. This one is from Rav Yedida Rafael Abulafia, 7th Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat HaMekubalim Beit El, who served as sofer for the previous five Roshei Yeshivot. This is the writing of the Kol Yaakov himself.  Notice at this point the mekubalim started placing a tag on the vav of Shem HaShem. Sefer Torah from Rav Ezra Shayo an important Rav, posek, mekubal and sofer in Beit El This is from Rav Yehuda Patya a famous mekubal and sofer.  You can see in this his attempt to get the Ayin and Dalet as close to the sirtut as possible.  Also that he placed a tag on the vav of shem hashem, though...

Hi Eli, What you notice is correct.  Here is a sample of a beautiful sefer written by HaGaon Sadka Houssin around the turn of the century in Baghdad.  As you may notice, the writing is extremely exacting/mehudar.  Likewise, there is little spacing between the words. The above phenomenon is not part of a leniency.  Rather, it's part of an ancient tradition of what is involved in fulfilling the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah Min Hamuvhar.   As the RAMBAM clarifies for us, "One should write with very careful and attractive calligraphy, leaving the space the size of a small letter  between each word and a hairsbreath space between each letter". Hilkhot Sefer Torah 7,4 As can be seen, the above directive was carried out with punctilious precision.  More so, although the words are very close, one is able to differentiate between one and the other with impressive clarity.  Today, we are not as expert, therefore our practice has become to leav...

I've noticed a trend in some of the older (pre war) Sefardi sifrei Torah, particularly those written on gvil, where there is very little space between words. Sometimes the space is virtually indistinguishable from the space between the letters. Certainly today's poskim would have an issue with that. But these are not cheap seforim, these are otherwise well written  and mehudar. Does anyone know if a sefardic leniency exists or what other logical explanation for this phenomenon?

Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul and Rav Mordekhai Eliyahu say that if the Ayin and Dalet do not at least touch and preferably cross the sirtut of the line below the resulting tefillin, mezzuza or S"T has no hiddur.  I'm not trying to argue their positions, but does anyone have an idea of how to pull that off in Tefilin.  Especially without posuling the dalet by having have the tagin of the letters below enter it? So far this is as good as I have been able to manage.

Twice in one week I've had approaches from synagogues who are 'downsizing' in the economic climate/moving to new premises and want to sell some of their excess sifrey torah (though most will need repair before being sold as kasher). I've started putting out feelers in the UK for congregations who might have a need but would welcome views on any congregations who could benefit from this/new homes. Whilst I've done many many repairs and acted as an agent for sale once or twice, it isn't something I've done a lot. So I would welcome other people's views and experience and suggestions. Todah, Mordechai

I've seen ads for "Kulmos HaShamir", a ceramic kulmos. Can anyone who's used this offer any feedback?

I've recently completed a new Sefer Torah and will be holding the siyyum in early June.  At the request of the shul I've left quite a large number of letters open so that "as many as wish to may participate in the mitzvah." My concern is that given the large number of people called up, many, perhaps most of whom I will not know, that among these individuals could be invitees who are not shomer mitzvos, or perhaps even halachically Jewish.  Does anyone have a politic way of allowing people to 'participate' in the filling of the letters without running the risk of rendering a year and a half of work posul?  Also, what would be the correct course of action if it did come to my attention that one or more letters had been written by someone who is posul for writing, but after the fact I had no way of knowing which ones?  Would it be permissible to use an ink for the siyyum, dyo l'netzach for example, which before it has fully cured can be peeled off the kla...

I was sent some Mezzuzah's to check.  Oddly enough one was still new in a plastic wrapper with this hekhsher on the back: However upon inspecting it visually these were some of the more glaring issues that I found: Does anyone know anything about this Hekhsher?