The International STa"M Forum

Does any one have more information regarding a process called "hashcharah" which is used in the process of repairing old sifrei Torah. It is some sort of chemical process that turns brown and faded ink black. Outside of Stam, it's used mainly for archives and record keeping companies make old documents with faded writing legible. It darkens the writing. I recently met a few chevrah in Benai Brak who offer this service with pretty good results - for a much cheaper price than manual repair would cost. Therefore I am wondering... 1) Is this process ethical to use on Stam (does it last, is it the same quality as manual restoration by a sofer?) 2) What are the kashrus ramifications? (lishmah, kedushas hashem etc). 3) Are there any teshuvos, letters from rabannim about this process? Apparently it darkens the klaf, but so do fixatives and other materials commonly used by standard restorers. Does anyone have any further info or have experience i...

Would a tinok help? it is a crooked tes that looks like an ayin,I have not seen this shaila anywhere perhaps ELI CAN ASK RAV FRIEDLANDER.

I know there are some that hold kuba is only when a full word sticks out, others hold there is no halacha of kuba by mezuza.Something bothers me here even more -why did the sofer do it like this -is it carelessness or he didnt know that the line should be straight your thoughts please

I met today with Rabbi Friedlander in Yerushalayim. He is well aware of the forged mezuzah problem and suggests that the only 100% guaranteed way not to be duped is to ensure that you buy directly from sofrim you know and trust. He said there are enough sofrim out there that you can deal with them directly and don't need to risk buying from "unknown sofrim" through sochrim and wholesalers. However if one has no choice and needs to buy from a socher selling 3rd party items, he suggests that you ask the socher for the number of the sofer's teudah (kaballah). The socher has nothing to worry about because Mishmeres Stam will not give out names of sofrim. However Mishmeres Stam will have a copy of the sofer's writing on file. They will be able to tell you if the item you have matches their sample, thereby confirming the sofer is "real" and your product is legit. For those strict to buy only items written by sofrim with ksav kabbalah, this system sh...

Bs"d Didnt have time to post before Yom Tov but here is a pretty poorly written rashi klaf "Vehaya Im Shomoah" I was given to check. There is the possibility to extend with ink a little and make the words stand out separately. Even if that could be successful, I am inclined to put this one in shaimus.  I can still rewrite the last klaf.  

A gut moed, I am currently in Eretz Yisroel, where I plan on meeting with Rav Friedlander shortly after Pesach with some personal shailos. If anyone has any shailos you wish for me to discuss with him on your behalf, please respond in the comments or feel free to send me an email. A kosher un freilichen remainder of Pesach, Eli

    The blog has been a little slow in the past week or so, I guess everyone is busy with Pesach preparations, (I know I've been busy). May we all merit to a kosher and freilichen Pesach and L'shonoh Haboh B'yerushalayim!

this past shabbat parshas metzora a case of safek tzura was discovered. my qualification through the vaad mishmeres sta"m is only for ktiva i could not pasken on this issue but will be bringing it iy"H to a magihah musmach on tuesday for evaluation a closer look: the ot in question is the letter bet. the word is supposed to read "bohen" but it looks like a kaf kfufah. the tiny oketz seen near the back-middle of the ot (and normally present in a bet) does not kovea the tzurat beit. what IS m'akev, however, is a sharp corner on the bottom right of the letter's moshav. since this type of corner appears to be lacking from the moshav, l'aniyut da'ati the tzura is changed from a bet to a kaf. any opinions on the (in)accuracy of this svara, or any additional comments from the olam? a joyous and redemptive chag pesach r

Here are two pictures I took of a Bayis shel Rosh before it has been completed. I hope it helps illustrate a bit more clearly what the 'cracks' are in the pictures that R. Moshe Weiner posted. As I hope you can see, they are just the folds of the leather to make the four batim of the shel rosh. Sometimes when there's a bit too much leather for each compartment, the extra gets squeezed in the middle making these folds that look like crack along the whole length of the bayis. It's of course not a problem of any kind.

These charitzim run down/up the whole bayis inside. Is this a problem [excuse me for not having better/clearer pictures]?

As you all know I set up a MISHMERES STa"M Station on my computer.I did not dream of their capability to detect and warn of forged mezuzos. I had 2 separate packages scanned on 2 different dates to be checked by  MISHMERES STa"M.(b"h none were sold by our office) Below is the letter they sent me. After Speaking to Rabbi Granetstien I learned that the program was developed to catch posul tefilin and mezuzos that were corrected and submitted again however it worked just fine on these forged Mezuzos .

Hi, I was looking at someone's mezuzah today. Here is an image of part of it: When I looked closely at one of the words I saw roshem that looked like something had been erased in between the ל and כ. Here is a close-up: My question is: Not knowing the source of the mezuzah do we assume that the erasure was before the כ was written and it is ok, or do we assume that it was afterwards and therefore passul? Thanks, Phil

Hi, I just took a look at someone's mezuzah and found that on the bottom right corner there were some extra marks: 1. Pencil checkmark - I assume that this can be erased. 2. Ink mark - is this a problem? Can the extra ink be scratched off? Also, all of the alephs have a bump/tag on the bottom left foot. Does anyone know the source for this? Thanks, Phil

in word  לשלחנו would the maharsham allowing a negia between ches and zein to be scratched apply here as well. would the kol sofrim be machmir here as well

I have received a number of emails from resellers of STa"M in the United States since my post last Wednesday,  where I wrote a warning about forged mezuzos.  I also included a picture of the forged mezuzos, which I received by email from a reseller in the United States (who asked me to publicise on the forum that they are forged.) One of the forum members posted the associated news story in the comments section of that post - namely that they had come from a forger's ring in Ashkelon. There may be other forgers doing the same thing. Through the emails I received, I now know that quite a number of Frum / Heimishe American sofrim and dealers were unsuspectingly sold this mezuzah under the name "Weiss" or "Viess"- and possibly some other names. There may also be other forged mezuzos from the same source. Some of the questions I have been asked include : 1) Do I have to recall these mezuzos if I sold them? 2) If yes, do I ha...

A Feilichen Shushan Purim: If a sofer does ponim chadoshos say on the left regel of a tav,  can one fix by scraping back to the original aiver and thus 'undo' the ponim chadoshos - or is it chok tochus to do this? Thoughts or mareh mekomos on this matter would be appreciated.