The International STa"M Forum

I have heard that the OK will soon be giving a hechsher on Tefillin, Mezuzos and Sifrei Torah... Has anyone else heard of this? Update : Someone sent me this. Seems INDEED this is the case. See below.

A friend showed me this mezuzah and said he was advised by a credible magiah that this mezuzah was pasul. I saw these pencil markings on it. I noted the mem of matar has the gag touching "too much" but mishnat hasofer says bediavad (even if the gag is a complete straight line) this can be fixed in a tefillin and mezuzah. Does anyone know of any source which would hold this mem is pasul? https://drive.google.com/open?id=1H8W4BsYWNIVvuvkhXGFAug4k3maJmbbv

Has anyone heard of any major posek saying double sirtut reduces (halachic) hiddur? I know there is a source in rishonim not to have more than one sirtut. Does anyone know where? Is this taken into account buy today's poskim? Thanks

Download here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yeriotshlomo The video shiurim are excellent...

ב״ה Since I just joined the forum I figured I would post something small that I found interesting to introduce myself. Here is A source in Rishonim for the minhag of the backwards head of the letter Tzadik. The Minchas Solet (R' Menachem Mendel Meshi-Zahav), perush on the Baruch Sheamar, brings that, while the custom of having the right head of the letter Tzadik face towards the right seems to originate from the Arizal, the truth is that you can find an earlier source for in the Rishonim. Namely, the Meiri and in his understanding of Rashi. In explaining the statement in the Gemara that you should be careful in writing that your letters Tzadik and Gimel should not look alike ( לא יעשה צדין גמין ), one explanation is that if you flip the gimel around it will look like the long Tzadik. Now, the sefer Hatruma qualifies this that the head of the backwards gimel will not match the right head of the Tzadik, since it will face towards the right. However, the Meiri unde

Hi everyone, I have recently come across 2 cases of those plastic retzuos which were first discovered about two and a half years ago. This is the type that has the thick plastic (not paint veneer) heat pressed onto poor quality leather that easily tears once it is separated from the plastic. One was from a pair of tefillin purchased in NY , the other, from Israel. Both sets were a few years old and could have easily come from those fraudulent batches being sold a few years ago. My theory is that some of them began splitting right away or within a short amount of time, so people changed them. Some people may also have tested them when the fuss was being made once the fraud was discovered, and changed them then. But in all likelihood, many did not, and if the two parts are still bonded together (some may have been manufactured better than others) then people would be unaware that anything is wrong. The common pask on those retzuos were that they were possul. I'm wondering i

Hello,  I am looking for a table while I am in Eretz Yisroel. I am here until next Wednesday, and the only tables I have seen are the ones that stand on an existing table or the Lanai one that I have shown on the right. I plan to bring the Table back to America in two checked bags.  I found the one on the right for 2000 shekels, and I am wondering if anyone knows a better price? If possible I would like to see if other table options exist already in America besides the one Merkaz Hasofrim sell (I think the Lanai one is better). Specifically I would like a Larger writing surface for working with large sheets of Bristol Vellum, but I still want the ergonomic benefits of the Sofer Table. I was thinking of just making my own piece of wood and attaching it to the Lani Table to suit my needs. Perhaps I would incorporate a Light Board into the Lanai Table. Any Help would be appreciated. מרדי

On Friday morning I started writing parshiot for tefillin shel rosh. I didn't anticipate having any problem completing at least the first two, but it both took a lot longer than I expected and I had to stop twice to wait for letters to dry so that I could correct them. I ran out of time and was only able to finish the first parsha. All the sources I've seen say that you need to write at least the first two in one sitting. What is the status of the parsha that I wrote? Is it kosher but not lechatchila? Should I start from the beginning but save it in case I ever need a first parsha written at an earlier date? I saw the Lishkat Sofer brings down an opinion that if there is a sofer who is not robust and will likely make mistakes if he writes for long periods, that it is better to take breaks. But I could not be certain if he was talking about breaks after finishing the second parsha (as opposed to writing all four at once), or breaks in general, and whether he is just talking abo

הכ"ף פשוטה בסוף השיטה ענקית - אמנם נראה שמבחינת צורת האות היא כשרה, אך יש להסתפק שמא הוא מפסיק את הריוח שלאחר ובשעריך. שהרי כעת הריוח אינו פתוח לסוף השיטה. או לאידך שמא נעשה בעצם כאן פרשת סתומה במקום שאינה צריכה להיות פ' סתומה? אמנם מדובר בתפלין של ראש שלדינא אינו מעכב בה צורת הפרשיות פתוחה וסתומה [וכמו כן יש לומר - אם הניח ריוח פ' סתומה במקום שאינה צריכה].

Does anyone know where I can get  a ketores with the words as they appear in a nusach Ashkenaz siddur? or where I can get a tikun nusach Ashkenaz?

Where can i get a Pitum Haketores Nusach Ashkenaz. Ksav Ari is ok but i would like the nusach founnd in an ashkenaz siddur. Thanks, Yitzchok Weinnberger

Anyone ever see or heard of this?

The black dot under the mem is a hole in the klaf is there a problem with a small letter that isn't one of the list of small letters? Also any comments on the Yud of עשרים a number of them in this sefer are written like that almost long enough to be a Vov.

I recently got a tikkun for a 48 line meggilat Esther. The last two columns were made narrower, presumably to make sure the writing ended at the bottom of the column. Is this a requirement for a megillah? If so, what's the source? I have seen an older 50 line megillah where the writing ended in the middle of the column. Is it perhaps preferable to write columns that are all equal rather than have it end at the end?

Interesting video!

A Chabad Rabbi asked me to post this: The Alter Rebbe writes in the Piskey Hasiddur as we know, in Hilchos Tefilin that the Shel Rosh has to be between the eyes “Mamesh”. Meaning that we need to make sure its align as perfect as we can,  due to the reason he gives,  that according to Rashi’s shita,  two parshiyos are on the right and two on the left, and based on the Rosh’s pirush -  its on one’s head that two have to be on one’s right side of the head and the other two on the left side of the head etc.  (checkout the leshon in the siddur below) . "ואח"כ יניח את של ראש בגובה הראש ויזהר שיהא באמצע רוחב הראש ממש שהרי אמרו 'קדש' 'והי' כי יביאך' מימין ו'שמע' 'והי' אם שמוע' משמאל, ובתפילין דרש"י שהפרשיות כסדרן אין בין ימין לשמאל אלא משהו דהיינו החריץ שבין והי' כי יביאך לשמע , על כן צריך ליזהר בזה מאוד". However, the Alter Rebbe writes in shulchan Aruch siman 32 seif Nun Tes , (based on the Baruch She’amar)  that the

מה דין הצ' פשוטה הזאת? לכאורה אין בה פסלות, מכיון שיש בה צורה נכונה, אע"פ שאינה יורדת מהשיטה. בלי קשר להאם יורדת מהשיטה או לא - יש אומרים שהיא פסולה כי היא בעצם מין עיי"ן  הפוכה . זה לא נראה לי נכון.

While looking through an old Sefer Torah and some old tefillin and I found that consistently the second hey in the four letter name is rounded like a reish on the top right corner (example attached).  None of the other heys are like this. According to the Mishna Berurah these would be b'dieved heys. Does anyone happen to know the source for this?

Does anyone happen to have or know where I can find a tikkun for a 48 line Megillat Esther with only parshiyot setumot (both of these being requirements mentioned by the הגהות מיימוניות) with bnei haman the same size as the rest of the ktav (like the Gra)? Also I keep getting mixed answers about this but some soferim have told me the columns after Bnei would need to be a different width. Is this an absolute or preferable? Is there any problem with the columns being different widths? Also, while looking through some old megillot from the Israel national library, I found that there were quite a few varying traditions when it came to smaller letters in Bnei haman. (They all had the bigger vav of course) If anyone could suggest poskim who discuss this matter that would be greatly appreciated. Thank you