The Vaad Mishmereth
STaM is the world's top certifying agency for scribes. All of our scribes and examiners
meet the standards set by the Vaad in both 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 Vaad certifies only those who are worthy of this
responsibility. Unfortunately, there are many scribes writing Mezuzot today who are
totally unaware of the many pertinent Halachot of Mezuzah:
(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
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 (laws), which determine the Kashrut of scrolls, are applicable
specifically to the writing process and there is no way to determine from the finished
product whether or not the scribe has followed these intricate guidelines. We must be 100%
certain that the
scribe is certified by the Vaad and can be trusted implicitly.
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