The International STa"M Forum

When you look at it at first glance it presents as a vav. When you look at it closely (see enlarged image) there is probably enough coming out on the top right to be kosher as a zayin. Shailos tinok, kosher or possul?

This is what I found regarding what I posted about a Zayin which might seem like Dalet Hafucha: (And by the way - Reb Yisroel - please show me the Mareh Makom regarding the issue with long Raish in Mishnas Avraham, for I cannot find it,,, Thank You,)

I just publicized this following article I wrote, explaining why even the Mezuzah "holder" should not be neglected... " ופסח ה' על הפתח ולא יתן המשחית לבוא אל בתיכם לנגוף " What you should know about The Spanish Inquisition while Pesach-cleaning By Rabbi Shea Lindner Sofer Stam On February 20, 1997, The New York Times published the following fascinating article, under the headline: “When Household Habits Betrayed the Jews”. I will first quote the article in its entirerty: “Do you sweep dust toward the center of the room instead of straight out the door? Did you buy a new set of dishes last March? Do you suffer from such severe headaches that they prevent you from cooking on certain days of the week? And by the way, do you prefer to cook in olive oil rather than lard?” If you had lived in Spain, Portugal or their American colonies from around 1480 until the early 1800's, your domestic habits - or rumors about them from neighbors and ...

Would like to know everyone's opinion on this Zayin of the word Bechozek on the last line. Is this a serious Shaala of a Dalet Hafucha?...

As we were reading Parshat אחרי מות during Mincha on Shabbat I noticed that the Sefer Torah was missing some Tagim. I forgot to take a picture before the תיקון, but the new תגים  are on the words אשר על It looks like there was some erasing where אשר על is, and the sofer (Metayeg?) forgot to put the תגים afterward. A חג כשר ושמח to everyone!

Vaad Mishmeres Stam in Israel has a branch called IDTORAH. All STaM  scanned by The Vaad gets saved under a unique code system,however no names are attached to and scans.  What ID.....  does is the following: It takes the files saved in the main computer system: 1. puts them into ID database 2. saves them with all the owner info. 3. If you scan anything that has a match  in the database it will be identified with all the info stored. What you gain: A torah that is registered can allways be identified even if the eitz chaim and mantel were removed. A torah flagged as stolen and is brought in for computer check or registration will be recognized automaticaly. A thief stole a large amount of sfarim and removed the eitz chaim,when he was caught only tjose in the database were returned easily to the owners. Imagine your father /grandfather take his torah to a retirement community and at a ripe age passes away, five years later the rav changed the gabay changed and ...

Is there any Halachic different between the above letters?  Click here

הגימ"ל [דגנך] ירך שמאל עיקרו מחובר ישירות לקו ימין, ורק יש שפיץ [עוקץ] קטן בראשו - כלומר "ונהפוך הוא" אשר ישלוט העוקץ ויהא עיקר, והראש נהיה לזנב. היות שעיקרו הוא הגולם, לסוברים שדין ירך גימ"ל זה [שתמונתו כיו"ד הפוכה התלויה בתג לירך ימין] כיוד"י האל"ף ופ"א וכדומה, שאם הם גולמים הם פסולים - הוא הדין בגימ"ל זה ירכו גולם.

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What exactly does that mean? What happens with the ink of the Megillas Sota? How does it get erased? Is the Megillah placed in the Water ? Does the actual ink dissolve? “L’halocho” it makes no difference, since "העיקר שאין למדין כתיבה כתיבה מפרשת סוטה" . The difference will only be, according to the first opinion in Shulchan Oruch. weather the ink needs to be washable/ dissolvable. Here is a list of some commentaries, of which we see CLEAR, and seems self-understood, as commonly explained, that yes! the Ink gets erased with water. -Pls do not rely on the quotes alone, rather look it up for yourself in the sources. 1.      רמב"ן, בראשית ז, כג "... הוסיף לאמר וימח שנמחו הגופות ויהיו למים כענין ומחה אל מי המרים (במדבר ה, כג) ..." 2.      ילקוט מעם לועז, במדבר ה, יט-כב, (בהוצאה הרגילה דף נ) "...ואח"כ נוטל אותה המגילה שנכתבו אותיות הנ"ל, ו נותנה לתוך הכלי, ושם נמחק כל מה שנכתב עליה , עד שלא נשאר בה שום סימן של אותיות......

The NY based Universal Torah Registry suspended operations as of 12/2017. I'm aware of the International Torah Registry from Machon Ot. Are there any other registries or services that offer means to identify Torahs in case of theft?

Hi all - you would have noticed some changes to the layout of the Forum. We are trying to slowly but surely make the forum as user friendly as possible. Happy to hear feedback privately. Unfortunately the “new post” button has been removed from the front page of the blog, and we are working at getting this added back. In the meantime you can login to the blogger.com page (the backend side of the blog) and author posts from there. I apologize for any inconvenience caused.

My Yeshiva had dedicated a new Sefer Torah in memory of Rabbi Sam Menlo ( Of Blessed Memory)  a major founder of the yeshiva. One of my Rabbeim asked if I wanted to fill in a letter for the event and I asked my friend there to take a video of me filling in the letter.  I was so nervous I accidentally said "Kosev" instead of "Kotev" (Although does not make a difference after the fact) 

לנו"ן אין מושב מתפשט מהצואר לשמאלה, אלא רק שהצואר משופע כלפי מטה [כעין משולש]. זה פסול [וגרע מדין גולם ביוד"י האל"ף וכדומה], וק"ו מגולם ראש הנו"ן שהוא פסול, ואין לו תיקון בתפלין ומזוזה שלא כסדרן.

הדין במקרה זה: אם ניכר לעין שיש כאן שתי אותיות, אי אפשר לתקן בתו"מ שלא כסדרן. ואם ספק אזי מועיל קריאת התינוק, ואם קוראו צ' - מותר לתקן בתו"מ. בנוגע לכתב האר"י - היות שהצ' אינו דומה כל כך לנו"ן [בכתב זה] ויו"ד, משום שהנו"ן כפופה מאוד, והיו"ד הפוכה, יש מקילים. למעשה אין למהר ולהקל כל כך, אלא רק אם ספק מה הצורה שלפנינו.  לפי התמונה הנראית כאן  - זה נראה יותר כאות צ'. היות שההבחנה במקרים אלו גבולית, קשה לסמוך על תמונה בסקן להחליט הדבר [אע"פ שבמקרה שלפנינו היות שהכתב  קטן  יותר מהתמונה, כמעט ברור שמסקנת הרואה במציאות תהא זהה לרואה בסקן]. ראה גם:  https://hebrewstam.blogspot.com/2018/08/blog-post_16.html

Any stores that have them in stock? I prefer a hardcopy since I can learn the Sefer over Shabbat.

Today I was talking to a respected rabbi I am friendly with,  who is currently researching the concept of the GR"A  megillah. He sent me a photo of a page from the Ma’aseh Rav of the Gra, Weinreb edition, and noted  that the Likutim on the side begin the discussion quoting the Tosefes Ma’aseh Rav written by R’ Eliezer Landau, great grandson of the Gra, re the need for Amudim ( Atzei Chayim equivalent) on the Megillah. He noted that what seems to emerge is one of two approaches: A) either the Gra insisted on 2 Amudim, like a Sefer Torah; rejecting the concept of Igeres... B) Insisting on at least 1 Amud which would achieve both; Having an Amud and at the same time differentiating the Megillah as an igeres from a Sefer Torah and other Sifrei Nevi’im. This Shita in the Gra is expressed by R’ Naftali Hertz who as a Talmid of R Yehoshua Leib Diskin was sent to Yafo to hold the religious fort there in the late 1800’s/ early 1900’s. He was a Mekubal apparently. He publi...

1. Where do Soferim normally get כתב קבלה?  I know of different certification organizations in New York and Israel but I am unsure exactly where they are located.  2. What material/knowledge is tested on the test for כתב קבלה? Already learned קסת הסופר, שלחן ערוך סימנים לב לג לו, small amounts of מקדש מעט and דעת קודשים. 2a. What other ספרים should I learn? 3. Is there any minimum age requirement? 4. Any difference between getting כתב קבלה between ספרדי כתב and כתב אשכנזי? I know how to write either כתב, preferably ספרדי כתב. Thank you for answering these questions. Any information will help!