Category: Sefer Torah

Aged Sefer Torah

6/28/2015

This Sefer Torah was brought to me by one of the local Shuls in Monsey. They discovered this problem when they were reading it on Shabbos. What you see here is corrosion of the ink, this is common with older Sifrei Torah due to the oxidation of the ink . Traditional ink has Kankantom in it, Kankantom is an ingredient that causes corrosion, the Shulchan Arucha actually says that it is an ingredient that should preferably not be used in the making of the ink for Tefillin, Mezuzah and Sefer Torah. and indeed in the times of the Gemorah they did not use Kankantom in the ink. However through Galus the secret to making the ink was lost and today all traditional inks included Kankantom.

Lesson: If your Shul has an older Sefer Torah it is advisable to have a Sofer look it over the parshah before every Shabbos to assure all the letters and words are black.

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Sefer Torah Restoration

5/21/2015

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Before Restoration

After Restoration

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CASE STUDIES

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Many things can render Tefillin or Mezuzah not Kosher or at best minimally Kosher.
Some of these happen over time with aging and some unfortunately are Posul from the get go.

Such as,
Letters, words and or Tagim that are missing, extra substituted, touching, Broken, Improperly Spaced, misshapen faded, cracked and weather damaged.

We document the problems we find and periodically upload them to the website.

We hope that this will educate and encourage the public to purchase only Tefillin and Mezuzas that are high quality from a reputable source, to take care of them properly and have them checked regularly.

Author

Rabbi Kass was ordained by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, former Ashkenazik Chief Rabbi of Israel. He is certified as a Sofer for both Kesivah and Hagoah by one of the leading experts in Safrus, Rabbi Avrohom Tzvi Vosner, Rav of the Vad Mishmeres Sta”m.