Watch out for this or simillar style mezuzos- they are printed forgeries
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How about the Bais of Uleovdo?
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Bizarre! Mezuzah found written in כתב העברי הקדום
Does anyone know the story of this "mezuzah"? Pictures if it are circulating, with people saying it was found on someone's house (even though in the picture it looks like it has never been rolled).
Someone else said they saw it for sale in a Judaica shop.
Sounds like a practical joke to me, but there's nothing funny about it.
Someone else said they saw it for sale in a Judaica shop.
Sounds like a practical joke to me, but there's nothing funny about it.
Commercially Viable
This video shows a sofer writing a sefer Torah. This sofer has a good hand, writes at a nice pace, and can ask a decent price. But one can also tell how the sefer Torah industry has commercialised the process, allowing for better productivity.
Note the following:
1) The sofer is writing on a light table, which means he does not have to worry about planning the spacing and can just trace over the letters. This saves a lot of time. This also minimises mistakes and saves time of repairs.
2) The quill is a plastic kulmos with a repository, which means you need to dip it into the ink every few lines instead of every few letters. Also you do not need to sharpen it and make new quills. Both of these save time.
3) The klaf today is more refined and smooth, easier to write on. Not uneven and rough like the old days. I'm sure lots of "mei klaf" is added. This enhances writing speed and quality of writing.
4) Double sirtut. Again this enhances quality and neatness.
5) The tagin / …
Note the following:
1) The sofer is writing on a light table, which means he does not have to worry about planning the spacing and can just trace over the letters. This saves a lot of time. This also minimises mistakes and saves time of repairs.
2) The quill is a plastic kulmos with a repository, which means you need to dip it into the ink every few lines instead of every few letters. Also you do not need to sharpen it and make new quills. Both of these save time.
3) The klaf today is more refined and smooth, easier to write on. Not uneven and rough like the old days. I'm sure lots of "mei klaf" is added. This enhances writing speed and quality of writing.
4) Double sirtut. Again this enhances quality and neatness.
5) The tagin / …
Indeed, these are being printed in Ashkelon... BEWARE!!!
ReplyDeleteSee article
Are they obviously printed (ie on paper or with obvious texture) or are they using some kind of screen or stencil to make the letters, which is harder to detect?
ReplyDeletePlease "click" on the above "See Article" link to read and view details.
DeleteAlberto, if it was only Ashkelon, it wouldn't be so bad....
ReplyDeleteI try very hard to have my own sofrim, even though it is a lot of work, and only buy from wholesalers as a last resort. (And anything I sell geder "Mehudar", I personally know the sofer, or know of him and what his ksav looks like. The chances of ending up with forgeries is much greater when buying from a wholesaler, and even if the wholesaler is ehrlich, there is a good chance the wholesaler won't know, because he probably isn't dealing first hand with the forger.
It used to be that you could tell the fake ones because many of them would be identical. The Ashkelon racket however had computer technology that altered the lettering so that no two were identical.
You can, however, see in the picture I posted that the letters ended up a fraction over the sirtut, (not directly under the sirtut as most sofrim are trained to write). This is a giveaway, as would be if the writing was a fraction under as well. (You cannot make the sirtut after the printing).
It is much harder to forge parshiyos or sifrei torah with such machines,so the main problem is mezuzos.
The mezuzos they found were higher quality, not pshutim, which makes sense. I think most forgers who are already doing a very professional job would want to get more money for their efforts.
Bottom line, write them yourself or buy from sofrim you know.
Indeed, that is the first thing one notices. The letters don't align well under the sirtut. Likewise, they also rotate different screens so that they will not all be identical. It's a sad situation. There is nothing sacred anymore. The ESH ZARAH comes even into the KODESH KODASHIM.
ReplyDeleteAnd they made such a fuss about the peeling retzuos, which was accidental and no where near as shocking...
ReplyDelete