In a shiyur of sofrim here [in Yerushalayim], this
interesting subject came up:
What is the correct position of placing the parshiyos shel
rosh in their batim?
It says in SA [Rema] 32:46 that the parshiyos should stand in
their bayis and the end of glilas ha'klaf [side of shma, ie where it
opens to start reading] should face the "kore" [the one
reading the parsha, a person standing facing opposite the maineach
– one who puts them on his head], so on opening the parsha he could start
reading from its begining, shma .. va'ydaber ..
Thus the opening is towards the right side of the kore,
ie the kadesh parsha [end of glilas haklaf] is positioned towards the shin
wall of the bayis, and not towards the inner wall, and so all 4 parshiyos their
opening faces right.
In SA 32:32 "there is no need to add klaf at begining or
end of the parshiyos" [ie, not like sefer tora & megila that additional
klaf must be left before the begining of the writing "k'day lagol hiekef"
[so as to surround the csav part], this is unneeded in tefilin – the csav can
start immediately at begining of the klaf and finish at end, the only minimum
klaf needed is for hekef gvil, which is minimal.
But there are some rishonim (see Tikun Tefilin Baruch Sh'amar
p. 169) that demand klaf empty as to surround the parsha in tefilin as well. This
opinion although not hallacha is quoted in MB 32:142 (ויש מחמירין דלכתחלה צריך בתחלה כדי לגול כל
הפרשה כמו מזוזה). The emphasis "as mezuza" is
to show the source, just as by mezuza empty klaf "k'day lagol hiekef"
should be left, so in tefilin.
In regard to mezuza, the SA YD 288:1 that empty klaf should
be left. The acharonim debate the issue [see Pishei Teshuva YD there, Keset
Hasofer & Lishka 27:1], because this additional klaf "k'day lagol
hiekef" will cover the Shaday on the outer side of the mezuza,
which is supposed to be seen.
The minhag was not to add klaf, neither to mezuzas or
tefilin. But some machamirim do add klaf, both in mezuzos and tefilin.
According to the minhag not to add klaf, both the mezuza and
parshiyos resemble, the opening is facing the kore, in tefilin it is a person
standing opposite the maneach (as exp. above) and in mezuza the opening is
facing a person standing in the doorway, so he can see the shaday which is
exactly under the shma, the beginning of the klaf when opened. This is in
according to the law (SA YD 289:6) that the shma should be facing
outward, towards the doorway.
But according to the machamirim what is the correct
procedure?
In mezuza if the klaf kday lagol would wrap exactly
once around the csav, it woudn't make a difference because the opening of the
klaf is where the shaday and shma are, but what happens if the klaf kday
lagol is more or less, so now the opening if facing the 'kore' is
not where the shma and shaday are facing!
It is pashut that the hallacha [SA 289 above] requires
that the shma faces the person standing in the doorway, so if the opening is
not fitting the begining of the csav, the mezuza should be positioned according
to the shma & shaday, not according to the opening.
And what about parshiyos? In the parshiyos there is no
requirement of shma facing the house/doorway, so the lashon of Rema 32:46
[quote above] teaches that the opening of the klaf no matter how long and which
way after wrapped the shma will face, is to the right – so that the kore when
opening the klaf can start reading.
So there is a slight difference in this issue between mezuza
and parshiyos.
Thank you, I was told like you said that it should open on the side towards the Shin, even if the wording is on the other side (I find this common since many sofrim leave extra empty klaf on the right side of the parshiyos).
ReplyDeleteI was wondering, when rolling new parshios for tefillin if there was a hiddur to arrange that by folding them they would open also that the ksav is on the opening part. True the Rema does not require such a thing. Or is this one of those chumros which can be destructive, like what R' Eli wrote in the "Kuzu controversy".
On a side note, is it allowed to cut the access klaf (although certainly not necessary)? (I assume it is better not to).
Since this extra klaf was left according to some poskim in order to surround the csav it should be used for this purpose, and not folded back which takes away the whole use of this extra klaf, and definitly lechatchila should not be cut (if not very necessary - exa. the klaf is to thick to enter the bayis) because אין מורידין בקודש one is not allowed to decrease the kdusha of an object.
ReplyDeleteDoes this svara also apply to a mezuza, I heard by a sofer that one should not fold the right end inward (if the klaf is thick and you want the mezuza to fit in the case or not to cover the Sh= akai name). I asked another expert and he told me that he thinks the main problem would be to fold directly on the letters.
ReplyDeleteIf I understand correctly the answer would be, one should not fold the right access klaf inward unless it is very important. I would assume to see the Sha-kai is very important.
As I wrote the minhag was not to add klaf in a mzuza, maybe there where a few that did this??But some people today want to be machmir and add klaf. Now if they would fold it back what did they gain? the whole reason for this addition is "kday lagol hekef" to surround the csav [either as a defensive measure, or honour].
ReplyDeleteWhat the machmirim here in EY do, they cut in this additional klaf a window so the shadai can be seen through it. I personaly don't like cutting the klaf.