The International STa"M Forum

This shaila only an experienced sofer ca relay too. this mezuza was written by an experienced sofer all the lines started a drop after the right sirtut the sofer was makpid by uvshochbecha and uvkumecha that the beis shall not enter the vav all of a sudden this vov  is out of character ,may I suspect?

Lechatchila the stitches of Tefillin are supposed to be visible which is why the charitzim (if present) are not supposed to be too deep. Yet this does not passel bedieved. Is there any source that says it is worse if the tefiros are completely covered (at least in many spots) by paint? Thanks

I am a Tennant in an apartment in Israel. So far my mezuzos have been the landlord's. I now want to check them and possibly exchange them for the ones I own. I know I can make a tnai if there are none up, but what about this situation where it evolves taking the current ones down. Is it possible to switch to mine, and when I leave, return the landlord's mezuzos to the door posts? 

For years I have been struggling to decide which mezuzos shall be returned to the sofer and which I shall correct. Obviously this should be decided on individual basis. Some sofrim rarely have any problems and I sometimes absorb the cost of a possul mezuza that happened by accident,missing word smudge etc. Some sofrim after receiving returns will be more careful. Others will even scold me for returning a "PSUL SHEMUTAR LESAKEN". I have lately decided to warn the sofrim that shal there be  A careless PSUL SHEMUTAR LESAKEN not only will I return it I will also charge him a fee. I am now charging $4 per mezuza I return. attached are pics of great mezuzos and a careless sofer. your thoughts please.

I am trying to find information about this megila the ksav is outstanding the artwork is better than anything I've ever seen, anybody has any clues as to the sofer or artist? I made a close up of what may be a signature. i

Does anyone have experience printing semichas or kesubas certificates on to klaf? Thanks, Yitzchok

As much as it sounds like a joke, it is a real question. A couple of friends were curious about how many cows are used for one Sefer Torah. So a couple of points here: 1. What is the average size for a Sefer Torah? (I know the layout is either 245 or 248 amudim or 62-63 yeriot) 2. Now, how many yeriot does one get from 1 single cow? 3. Based on number 2 how many cows do we use for a Sefer Torah? Thank you everyone for your help as always!

There were a few end ך's which were questionable (had short גג) I showed a tinok all and he said end ך  for all of them, except for the end of לאבתיך he said, " enda vav.".  Any thoughts?

This was posted in a group. One suggested it was pasul and another that it was kosher. I tend to agree that it's kosher. I sent the image to a colleague, also a talmid of Rav Friedlander (and a moreh horaah in stam) and based on the image he wasn't sure how to pasken.

Has anyone seen retzuot made of two separate bonded layers of leather?  These are not like the lacquered ones which peel like a tape and are passul.  They may not be the best retzuot, but it appears to me that they would be kasher for use.  Your comments please.

I've consulted with a renown rosh kollel Choshen Mishpat and dayan. He said that the fact that a sefer Torah is written by 2 sofrim affects it's value. I have a situation in which a sefer was commissioned from scratch through me to be written by a particular sofer. It's a basic mehudar ksav, retail price is 123000nis. He went ahead and had another sofer write the last 16 yerios. The ksav is halachically similar (basic mehudar) and is somewhat similar looking. I'm leaving out lots of details but the bottom line is that a 2nd sofer finishing the sefer came as a surprise to me and I will be informing the buyer at the same time I suggest a price deduction. On the one hand the buyer may just want to "cut and run" and will accept a fair offer, as the sefer has taken a year longer than intended due to health and personal circumstances out of the sofer's control and if he has to (re)write the last 16 yerios himself we'd be looking at another 4+ months. O

Git Vinter / Zimmer to all, What is your opinion about the Yud in the Shem? Thank you YK

Would the ayin of nishba be a shinui tzurah as it’s not touching the head?

Found this tiny dot of ink inside the reish of asher. what are your thoughts? Is this enough to pasul the reish? Enough that it’s a sheila l’tinok? Or not an issue at all? If the image doesn’t do justice - it’s really a tiny dot of ink. I note that the yalkut hasofer of sefer mishnas hasofer writes under os daled: if a small drop of ink less than an os ketana fell inside the daled, then if a tinok reads it as a daled there is room to be lenient and scrape it away... I wonder how small is small...

Firstly, a gemar chasimah tovah to everyone, and apologies for the recent lull in activity. I'm sure everyone else has been busy as well. (This is the first time I am looking at this forum in a month!) Today I was asked to repair a slightly damaged letter ( by moisture (probably spit)). I immediately noticed a large gap on the page,  after the word "bemisporom" which I thought may even be the width of nine yudin combined (which would be possul since it is acceptable as the shiur stumah, and there is not supposed to be a stumah there). See picture below After closer investigation it was determined that the space is not large enough to fit 9 yudin, but one could fit three large letters there, which is the accepted shiur stumah of rabbeinu Tam. Such a space is not possul but definitely somewhat problematic, as can see here in this excerpt from the L'dovid Emes (footnote 4) , who rules that one does not stop reading from it in the middle of the kriya, but o

Sholom uvrocho, I need help what is the best way to clean dust and black residue from Sefer Torah. What chemicals can be safe to use? Tizku lemitzvois

Can anyone direct me to resources on the Aleph with Yud Hafucha, similar to the Arizal tzadi? I've heard that the Noda BiYuda is machshir but I cannot find this psak, or any other discussions. Thank you and Ksivo Vachasimo Toive

May I suggest the "sofer" who wrote this strongly consider a different career path.

I received a request to post the following sheila: Is it possible to make גויל for a ספר תורה which is מעובד בסיד, or is usable גויל only able to be made in אפצים, due to differences in the result of the עיבוד ?