- Jewish Gift Books
- Holocaust Books
- Jewish Inspiration & Jewish Self Help Books
- Jewish Biographies
- Jewish Children's Books
- Jewish Cookbooks
- Jewish Dating Jewish Marriage Books
- Jewish History Books
- Jewish Holidays Books
- Jewish Law Books
- Jewish Novels and Contemporary Reading
- Jewish Outreach Books
- Jewish Prayer Books
- Jewish Spirituality Books
- Jewish Thought
- Jewish Woman Books
- Jewish books for Young Adults
- Judaism 101: Judaism Basics
- Mishnah and Talmud Books
- Jewish Parenting & Teaching Books
- Jewish Story Collections & Anthologies
- Targum Juniors
- Torah/Bible Commentaries
Recently viewed in our store...
DID YOU START COOKING?
The only cookbook
you'll need this Yom Tov!
ONLINE PRICE: $13.49
Tefillin and Mezuzos
A Pictorial GuideYerachmiel Askotzky
Tefillin and Mezuzos
What do we need to know about the tefillin and mezuzos that we use every day?
When we're shopping for new tefillin and mezuzos, what should we be looking for?
Tefillin and Mezuzos, by Rabbi Yerachmiel Askotzky, an experienced sofer, gives us answers to these and many other vital questions in this pictorial consumer guide. An essential guidebook for the bar mitzvah boy as well as for the Jewish man who has been donning his tefillin for decades. With over 400 beautifully designed and detailed illustrations, this book is the only complete English guidebook available on the market on the halachos of tefillin and mezuzos.
Book Excerpt from Tefillin and Mezuzos
|
|
Tefillin and Mezuzos:
The ideal Bar Mitzvah gift, this complete mezuzot & tefillin consumer guide is beautifully illustrated & easy-to-follow, with everything you need to know about putting up mezuzos & donning tefillin.
|
Tefillin and Mezuzah Checking
Mezuzah Checking
The Talmud (in Yoma 11a) and the Shulchan Aruch (291:1) states that mezuzos must be checked twice in seven years. Many poskim explain this to mean every three and a half years.Some people have a custom to have their mezuzos checked in the extra month of Adar each Jewish leap year. This works out to approximately every three and a half years and makes it easy to remember.
Some have their mezuzos and tefillin checked every year during the month of Elul.
When one moves into a home which already has mezuzos, he must find out from the previous residents when the mezuzos were last checked. He is obligated to check them again three and a half years after they were last checked and not three and a half years after he moves in.
If one has a slight suspicion that the mezuzos the previous residents left behind are problematic, he is not halachically obligated to have them checked, but it is worthy to do so.
If one suspects that a mezuzah may have become passul due to heat, rain, or other weather conditions, it should be checked immediately. A mezuzah that is in a place where it is more likely to become damp, moldy, or dried out may need to be checked more often than every three and a half years.
There is an ancient and holy custom to check mezuzos and tefillin when experiencing serious health problems, financial difficulties, marital difficulties, and so on. This is true even if the mezuzos are not due for checking.
When mezuzos are taken down for checking they should be reaffixed as soon as possible and without delay. If one has spare mezuzos to affix in the interim, it is proper to affix them temporarily, especially in the main entrance. Some people do not take all their mezuzos down for checking at once. They leave at least one, usually from the main entrance, in place while having the rest checked, and then afterwards have that one checked. This practice is not necessary. Consult a poseik to determine whether one must take pains to borrow mezuzos to affix temporarily.
Tefillin Checking
Tefillin which were purchased from a reliable sofer or retailer, are worn regularly, and are not suspected to have become passul do not have to be checked according to halachah. In regard to this halachah, any source is considered reliable unless there is evidence to the contrary, in which case the tefillin must be checked immediately. (This does not mean that one should buy from any source which he has not heard anything negative about without first verifying its reliability.) One must consult with a poseik if he has suspicions about the source of his tefillin. It is strongly recommended to have very inexpensive tefillin checked.Tefillin with peshutim, peshutim mehudarim, or dakos batim and parashiyos not in batim that have not been used for at least three and a half years must be checked before being used. Similarly, tefillin that are not worn regularly, such as a spare pair of tefillin, require checking every three and a half years. One should consult a poseik as to what constitutes regular use and whether the above halachah applies to tefillin with gasos batim.
Tefillin are suspected of becoming passul if they are left in a hot car, on a radiator, or on a sunny windowsill for an extended period of time. In any such situation, a poseik must be consulted. If something occurs to tefillin which makes it very unlikely that they are still kosher, they must be checked immediately. One who sweats heavily must consult a poseik to determine how frequently his tefillin must be checked.
According to most poskim, tefillin parashiyos whosekashrus has been established before they were inserted into the batim and which have met the three conditions above need not be checked again. We do not presume that their status has been affected. However, it is very strongly recommended by sofrim and rabbanim who have extensive experience and intimate knowledge of Stam to occasionally have them checked.
There is no general recommendation for how often tefillin should be checked. It may depend on the climate of their locale and how much their wearer perspires. Tefillin that are in a very humid, dry, or hot location or one in which the humidity or temperature fluctuates considerably may need to be checked more often. Consult a sofer or a rav who is intimately familiar with Stam.
Due to the fact that today’s sofer’s ink tends to fade, crack, and flake more easily than the ink of earlier times, it is strongly recommended to have new tefillin checked after a few years of use to verify that the letters have maintained their blackness and their hold on the klaf. Once this has been established it can be safely assumed that the ink will retain its color and hold for many years. If the ink is found to be problematic but repairable, one should consider replacing the parashiyos or at least having them checked regularly after strengthening the ink. The greater the problem, the more often they should be checked. Even if the parashiyos are found to be kosher and in sound condition after this first critical examination, it is still worthwhile to go beyond the letter of the law and make certain that one’s tefillin remain kosher through occasional examinations.
The first examination is also very important since it is not uncommon to find problems that were originally overlooked. Additionally, it is not unusual to find “hairline fractures” within letters along the folds of the parashiyos shel rosh due to the pressure of the folds. On the slim chance that the tefillin are passul, one obviously should find out about it as soon as possible.
Today there is no excuse for tefillin and mezuzos not to be checked or repaired as necessary. Many have access to a local sofer or one in a nearby community and those who do not can send their Stam by overnight express to an expert in another city. Therefore, there is generally no need to have mezuzos checked by one who is not qualified or to do it oneself. If one has no option then if the opportunity arises to have the mezuzos checked by an expert he should take advantage of it, even if his mezuzos were looked at by a rabbi who is not a sofer less than three and a half years prior. If one who is not qualified must check a mezuzah, he must carefully review each letter in a relaxed position under bright light.
It is most praiseworthy for each community to import safrus services as often as needed. Minimally, each community without the necessary safrus services should have loaner mezuzos and tefillin available to enable members of the community to ship their tefillin and mezuzos out of town without hesitation.
Bear in mind that when it is said that there is no absolute obligation to check tefillin, this refers only to checking the parashiyos and inside the batim. It is the responsibility of each individual to monitor the kashrus of his retzuos and the outside of his batim. In order to do so, one must learn the basic halachos of batim and retzuos. It is also advisable to have a batim expert thoroughly check the batim and retzuos when he is doing a tefillin examination.
Some sofrim suggest to their customers that they should not open the tefillin once they have been sealed. This policy is considered unwise by many sofrim and poskim. It has been proven too often that it is most beneficial to have tefillin checked on occasion. In addition, when a customer is told that he never needs to have his tefillin checked, he may assume that there is no need to be concerned about their kashrus and thereby does not responsibly monitor them as he should. A learned Jew once came to me to replace the plastic cases on his tefillin, which he had purchased twenty years before from a very reliable and well-known sofer. I noted that his retzuos were clearly passul and probably had been so for at least five years. He was surprised to hear this and responded defensively that the sofer had said never to check the tefillin. If the sofer told him to check the tefillin on occasion, this man would likely have paid closer attention to the condition of his tefillin.
Checking tefillin also verifies that they remain at the desired level of kashrus. Occasionally parashiyos are found to be kosher but not at the level expected, desired, or promised. Therefore, one who is concerned about the level of kashrus of his tefillin may want to have them checked on occasion, even though he has no obligation to be concerned that they have become passul.
The cost of tefillin checking is reasonable and in most cases the checking will have a very minimal, if any, adverse effect on the parashiyos and the batim. It is better to be assured that one’s tefillin are kosher and remain so, at the level of kashrus desired, even if this means that the life of the tefillin may be slightly shortened!
Please see Chapter 2, “Batim,” for a list of potential batim problems, many of which are identifiable from the outside.
Buy Tefillin and Mezuzos at an online discount at www.targum.com