The International STa"M Forum

So I was looking at different STaM videos on YouTube, and I found this video giving the main ideas on how to write STaM quicky. The two ideas that stood out were: Writing a line in 3-4 mins and the need to downgrade a Ktav by 20% in order to write faster. Now I understand that the main idea is to write faster, but it does not make sense to me that you should downgrade a ktav just for that. It almost in a sense disregards the idea of זה קלי ואנוהו. Here is the actual video:

Someone asked me to source them various mezuzos but only wanted to spend a minimum amount (and therefore wanted basic mezuzos). i could offer them basic ARI mezuzos or mid range BY. I know that they have some mezuzos up which are BY. They are not observant yet so don’t really have a minhag. Is it problematic to have different mezuzos with different csav up in the same house? Should I push for them to have the mid range BY over the basic ARI ? Would appreciate your opinions. Thanks

A Mezuzah was brought in for inspection today, when unrolling we realized that two thin klafs were rolled as one. Is there a difference between afixing 2 mezuzos  where according to most is over baal tosef   or roling two klafs as one is fdifferent since it was afixed as one. 1. was he yotze 2.should bracha be made when reafixing 3. should he do tshuva for baal tosef 4. does he have to search for seller and return your thoughts please

They're in Bnai Brak. The fact they're selling tefillin on Amazon, etc. starting at $157, leads me to be suspicious. I am on a campaign and I told someone that his tefillin were pasul. He ignored what I had to offer and went online to shop for tefillin even though I warned him that Amazon, eBay and Judaica shops are not the place to purchase Stam. When I saw he didn't care and was more interested in the price I offered to contact the seller and request specific information about their basic gasos. He ignored that offer as well. Amaratzus.

what’s with the אות צ in these mezuzos ?

This video shows a sofer writing a sefer Torah. This sofer has a good hand, writes at a nice pace, and can ask a decent price. But one can also tell how the sefer Torah industry has commercialised the process, allowing for better productivity. Note the following: 1) The sofer is writing on a light table, which means he does not have to worry about planning the spacing and can just trace over the letters. This saves a lot of time. This also minimises mistakes and saves time of repairs. 2) The quill is a plastic kulmos with a repository, which means you need to dip it into the ink every few lines instead of every few letters. Also you do not need to sharpen it and make new quills. Both of these save time. 3) The klaf today is more refined and smooth, easier to write on. Not uneven and rough like the old days. I'm sure lots of "mei klaf" is added. This enhances writing speed and quality of writing. 4) Double sirtut. Again this enhances quality and nea...

Are tefilin sales taxable in NJ. Clothing is not, accessories are. (I would prefer an opinion that was asked and confirmed by a professional.) Thanks, Yitzchok Weinberger

The lamed of lecha... I was given back these parshios from the koneh who went to someone to show them he said this lamed was to short since the vav on top never left the tzurah of a yud. I always have heard that as long as the foot of the vav is bigger than the kolmus of the rosh of the vav it was lechatchila. Any thoughts?

ב׳׳ה I custom ordered a couple sofrus knives a little while ago based on info I got from this old post: http://www.stamforum.com/2013/08/quill-knives-and-how-to-sharpen-one.html Thank you for that. I ordered a quill knife as well as an old style klaf scrapping knife, for erasures. The quill knife has a smooth, curved back surface that lends to smoother surface on the kulmus. The sturdiness of the blade and handle really helps have more control in the cuts and allows more precision. I still use the 11 scalpel for some things though. The klaf scrapper is a big boon and is just easier to use than the 10 or 15 scalpel. The tip allows for erasing small negios (when it's permissible, of course) and the curved surface allows for adjusting the surface area of the erasure so you don't erase things by accident. Just thought it would be interesting to other sofrim. This is not an edorsment or advertisment, although I do recommend you try a quill knife, from wh...

Some sofrim just cannot remember in the beginning of the line that there is an end in site (perhaps they act as Beis Hillel ברוך השם יום יום) I marked tavs where the foot of the tav is very very narrow and the look is look of a ches I also marked one tav that although it sticks out however the bottom ends in a point similar to chabad ches. please your remarks separately on ושננתם   and on ולמדתם

Does this entrance require a mezuzah? If so where? This is an entrance into a private courtyard leading into the house. The door posts do not reach all the way up but are about 160cm tall. There are 2 decorative and/or structural pillars connecting the wall and up to the ceiling. There is no definitive lintel, rather just the ceiling extending to above the gate and door posts. This ceiling also only covers the walkway leading up until the gate and does not cover the courtyard. If this entrance requires a mezuzah, how do I measure it? The top third of the wall (excluding the pillar) or top third including the pillar. Many thanks and Chag Sameach.

I was thinking about the Halacha of the head of a lamed entering the airspace of another letter and a question came into my head. I know for a fact that a sofer cannot do that with regard to a Dalet or Resh since that might cause a shinui tzruah change. I also know that lechatchilah the lamed should not enter the airspace of a chet or Hey. Would this halacha include the airspace of a Pey Pashuta or Tzadi Pashuta and other letters? Or is it more of a Bedieved situtation?

A little picture brought from the Sefer "Sefrei Likut STaM"

Does anyone know the story of this "mezuzah"? Pictures if it are circulating,  with people saying it was found on someone's house (even though in the picture it looks like it has never been rolled). Someone else said they saw it for sale in a Judaica shop. Sounds like a practical joke to me,  but there's nothing funny about it.

Does anyone have any experience with Yemenite ktav? If so, what are the differences (if any) to any of the other ktavim?

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.