The International STa"M Forum

Is there a Shitah in Hallacha, that requires when writing mezuzah, not to write the next Ois before finishing Fully the tag. (I believe you can write the tagin later But the question is if all kind of tagin can be done later IS it allowed to be done later Also shatnez getz, and what about kutzo shell yud R"T)

Today I received a beautiful Torah (choshuv, expensive eitzei chaim and mantel) for bedikah. It is very old, and in reasonable nice condition.  However, I was stunned to discover that it was missing the entirety of sefer Vayikra and many yerios of Devarim.  Additionally, there were osios chalulos both at the beginning and the end of the sefer.  This implies, to me at least, that it never had a hachnossa because it was never completed! The missing parts of Devarim and Vayikra may never have been lost, but rather were never written. Examining the tefiros and matleisim at the seams, it is obvious that the yerios were put together a very, very long time ago. This is true even of the places in which yerios are missing.  So.... over 100 years ago, someone assembles a 2/3 finished sefer torah and it has been making the rounds at shuls since.   At the owner's request I am trying to assemble some more insights into this eccentric debacle - could the chevra please tak...

I was wondering what the Halacha would be with an older pre war sefer torah that periodically has cracking /  jumping letters found. At what stage can it no longer be used and require a proper hagoha and refurbishment.

I'll like to get some Hallachic Help, How to deal with the attached pic. Thanks for your time.

The magiya was trying to erase problematic tagim on the nun, and by mistake erased part of the rosh. Now it is a question of tzadi pshuta - the question should be resolved by a shaylas tinok. I admit that this question cannot be decided by a pic from the scan, any slight variation in size/color etc, changes the shayla - only can be decided by sight of the letter itself.

I was speaking tonight to Rav Grananstien of Mishmeres Stam in Benai Brak. He was telling me about a new "fingerprint" program they have for tefillin and mezuzos where once it is scanned in the computer it automatically goes on a database and if the tefillin are rescanned years later the program can identify who's they are and where they come from, like a fingerprint. Then he told me that sometimes they do computer checking for sochrim and X amount of mezuzos and tefillin will register spelling mistakes. So the sochrim give it back to the sofrim and get credits etc or replacements. He says it happens once in a while that they scan mezuzos / parshiyos and the computer recognizes the mezuzos / parshiyos ie it has seen it before, and previously it had a spelling mistakes but it has now come back without a mistake, meaning, chalilah, the sofer is not a yiras shomayim and has corrected the mistake without realizing that the fingerprint program will pick up on it! I asked t...

It seems that the most common Gidim (here in America at least) are the ones that have the hechsher of Rav Moshe Shaul Klein and Rav Biton. Is there any halakhic difference between these Gidim and the ones with the hechsher of the Eidah Chareidis? Thank you.

would this be considered bdieved meaning if you can you should upgrade ,or  kosher-meaning once the person owns it he can use as is.

Should I fix this Tzadi or I should leave it as it is?

I have a client who needs some sections of navi written on klaf.  He is very particular about the number of columns, etc. (long story - kabbaladikeh zachn). I would very much not like to have to work out the layout myself.  Please post any suggested resources or go-to ideas in the comments for someone who can produce via computer an accurrate tikkun that I can use. Thanks!  - Avraham Bloomenstiel

The lamed has no moshav. Although this is ok for sfardi csav, and some ashkenazi poskim (see SA Harav 36 ois lamed) are machshir, according to Mishna Berura (MS ois lamed & biur hallacha there) it is pasul, since it is lacking an essential part of the letter. At least for an ashkenazi, this must be fixed, and can not be left as is.

This "sofer" makes his ches out of 2 vavs, it is easier. Easy = speed = more cash! But no yiras shamayim, although this is kosher bdieved, this is contrary to the laws of "csiva tama" that a ches' left part be a zayin. A "sofer" that makes this his practice is chashud in my eyes. Therefore I search any shayla to passel these types of csav!!

The first mem is a shayla of a samech, since it is rounded at the right corner. The second mem although rounded on both bottom corners, is kosher, since it definitly is a mem. The difference between the two is, that in the first the body of the mem is thin adding to the problem, as in the second the body is very wide obviouly saving it from looking as a samech. (This is my understanding of the hallacha, according SA Harav 32 ois mem, but the Mikdash Me'at has a different opinion, in regard to establishing the difference between a samech and a mem, and probably would passel the second mem here).

Sometimes very nice tefilin come in for a regular bedika-you can see the stickers from the last few bedikas and your experience tells you these are surely good!well find the mistake.If you got to the second line you passed it.

An incident happened today where someone whom I checked their Tefillin around 16 months ago had them checked just now again by another magiah sta"m from out of town. The person only in a side conversation (he was very upset) revealed to me that the tefillin I checked were pasul (and now fixed by the other magiah) since he was told after the checking that the "tifrim were not ribua" on the bottom. This was shocking to me since I am very careful in measuring the tefarim that they are kosher so I called the other magiah to find out the exact story. When I told him  what the person told me, he immediately apologized for not being clear to the client that there was some warping which caused the tifrin to move a little which he was sure it was not my fault and also was not sure if they were mamash  posul. He than said he should of been more careful and clear with the client. The lesson ...

I'm in the second column of my 48 lines Sefer Torah and a few drops of water found their way into the klaf.  I would like to ask for advice on what's the best way to fix it.  In the line I skipped, should I do nothing and write on it (two shemos will come in that very empty space) or it's better to scrape it and put some chalk? The letters that got wet, I guess I have to scrape and put some chalk and hope for the best. Any insights are greatly appreciated. YK

Hi all, I am currently in NY where I was asked to speak at the 30th annual conference of Chabad Lubavitch shluchim. The topic was on practical guidelines for rabbis to ensure their congregants receive a kosher supply of STa"M. I think the info I presented is relevant to all rabbis (not specific to Chabad) and contains a lot of practical info. I presented the hour long session with PowerPoint and most of the info can be seen in brief on the PowerPoint slides I ran. For the benefit of the readers of this forum who maybe interested, I am attaching the slides below: For the benefit of those not familiar with Chabad Lingo: "Mivtzoim" Stam means basic kosher Stam which is given out to secular Jews, as opposed to Mehudar Stam, which is used by the more frum market.