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 / …
It's Schachter from Haifa.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that Rabbi Shechter( whom I met personally many years ago and i was impressed by his knowledge yiras shamayim and good character)has simply taken the no folds idea and is making it in a factory-assembly line setting.
ReplyDeleteNow the difference is the same difference that you will find between a goldberg bayis and a feder bayis-you can purchase both with the same hidurim however a factory bayis will cost half the price of a "homemade bayis"
sheinfeld and reb dovid starik are homemade batim meaning that they personally work with every bayis every step of the way versus the factory where they must produce a certain amount-they must use most leathers they purchased they must use some low pay workers so the finished product can be great but its not the same thing as having the mumcha work on the bayis from a to z
I agree with beis Hastam. You may as well call one of the factories and ask for a fold free bayis.
ReplyDeletePersonally though, fold free is a bit of a hype
To clarify, fold free refers to folds not in the dangerous places (such as on the wall of the bayis). That is how I refer to them (fold free) when I request them from the mashgiach at one of the factories I buy from. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
DeleteJust came across this. In order not to have folds in the titura the batim are made in a different way. As far as I know, the few who make them don't share how they do it. One can't just go to any maker and request no fold batim. Of the 3 makers I know of offhand, Ateres is far less expensive as explained above. He's priced in between the lowest priced privately made miksha and the factory miksha. (The 4th source, the originator of these batim only dabbles in it.) These batim aren't any more mehudar. There are advantages to no folds and a few disadvantages. I don't really see the point spending 100's more for it. However if one can afford/wants top of the line then there's reason to consider them over similarly priced non fold free miksha.
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