CERTIFIED SCRIBES AND EXAMINERS

All our scribes and examiners are certified by Vaad Mishmeret STaM, Yad-Refael or other leading certifying agencies . They all meet the highest standards both in knowledge and character. They are highly trained and dedicated to providing top quality STaM.

Even the most beautiful Mezuzah, Tefillin, or Sefer Torah Megillah, written by an apparently G-d fearing scribe, despite having been checked by an expert examiner, may be totally invalid.

WHY?

...Because there are many laws related to the writing process of Mezuzot and Tefillin which apply only to the integrity of the scribe who wrote them and his knowledge of the laws related to the writing process. The certifying agencies certify only those who are worthy of this responsibility. Unfortunately, there are many scribes writing Mezuzot and Tefillin today who are totally unaware of the many pertinent Halachot of STaM:

(Note:The following laws apply to Mezuzos,Tefillin and Sifrei-Torah equally.(except for law (4)Kesidran,which does not apply to Sifrei-Torah)

1) KESIVA (WRITING): The Mezuzah must be handwritten. A printed Mezuzah is possul, invalid. Mezuzot printed by the offset method often resemble handwritten Mezuzot so closely that only an expert can detect the fraud. Generally, printed Mezuzot are identifiable due to the lack of the proper Sirtut, scoring.

2) LISHMOH (INTENTION): The Mezuzah must be written with clear intention of creating a sacred Mezuzah. The sofer, scribe, must verbally articulate his intent (leshem kedushas Mezuzah) before beginning to write the Mezuzah. Without this verbalization, the Mezuzah is invalid, according to many Poskim, Rabbis.

3) KIDUSH HASHEMOS (INTENTION WHEN WRITING G-D'S NAME): In addition to the general rules of intention, each of the names of G-d must be written Lishmoh and a verbalization (leshem kedushas Hashem) should be made, although in this case, if the intention lacks verbalization, the Mezuzah is still kosher.

4) KESIDRAN (IN ORDER): Mezuzot must be written in the precise order in which they are read, the order in which they are written in the Torah. Hence, if the Sofer (scribe) detects an incorrect letter in the text of a Mezuzah, he may not go back and correct the mistake. Doing so throws off the writing order needed for producing a kosher Mezuzah. Even the slightest variation in the writing order can render the Mezuzah Posul and unusable. One cannot determine whether the Mezuzah was written kesidran by examining the finished piece. Therefore, we must be certain of the Sofer's integrity with this matter. This rule applies to Mezuzot and Tefillin only, not to Sifrei-Torah.

5) CHOK TOCHOS (ETCHING): A letter may NOT be formed by etching or scratching out ink around the letter in order to give the letter its proper formation. If an ink blotch falls on a letter and deforms it, the Mezuzah is Possul and cannot be corrected. If the letter is formed improperly, it cannot be corrected by erasing the imperfections. In our first example (SEE FIGURE A) one can see that the head of the letter vov was drawn too long, giving it the appearance of a resh. If one were to attempt to fix this by shortening the head, it would fall into the problem category of Chok Tochos, forming a letter by scratching off or etching.

FIGURE A:

When Two Letters Connect to Form Another: If two letters, like zayins in this example, touch and create a new letter (such as a ches), the Mezuzah cannot be corrected simply by erasing the connecting line.

Similarly, if two letters touch one another in a manner in which another letter is formed by the connection (SEE FIGURE B), as displayed below where two zayins touch at the top so that a ches is formed, the Mezuzah cannot be corrected by erasing the connecting line.

FIGURE B:

These Halachot, governing the Kashrut of scrolls, are specific to the writing process and cannot be assessed from the finished scroll. Ensure the scribe is certified by the Vaad and can be trusted completely