Both the Shulchan Aruch Harav and the Mishnah Brurah use similar terminology when describing the importance of the shin being "pointy" on the bottom and all three branches of the letter shin meeting at a point or "chad" at the bottom of the letter. There is a strong foundation in Halacha for this and for the bottom of the shin to be flat like a moshav (base) is considered questionable (Pri Megadim) and definitely not Kosher Lechatchillah. It is worse if the moshav is very wide, but it is still questionable if it is lechatchillah if there is a thick noticeable base rather than a chad. Even for Sephardim, who lechatchillah make an angular base, it is still important that the base is indeed on a (significant) angle. If the base is flat, even if all three branches of the shin come out of the base connected , as in the top picture, it is problematic. It is worse in the bottom picture below where the right head/ branch comes out of the right part of the base and the m
This is a case by case issue dependent on various factors and each person must consult his posek to find out what's his lechatchila choice of ksav.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience most use Ari
ReplyDeleteMany people only have residual Chassidish customs, such as davening Sfard or more common, just wrapping Sfard but otherwise have no association to chassidus, daven in Ashkenaz shuls, raise their kids litvish/send to litvish schools and find themselves needing to decide whether their kids will also get Ari parshios or even wrap Sfard. At least in the US, this is a relatively common scenario outside of the few communities that have a significant concentration of Nusach Sfard shuls.
ReplyDelete"and find themselves needing to decide whether their kids will also get Ari parshios or even wrap Sfard"
ReplyDeleteI fail to understand why kids should have different minhogim to their fathers. Whenever in this dilema I always get the psak to follow the minhag of the father. I don't see why the need to change a family minhag that has been in practice for generations just because a kid is going to a litvish school or daavens in an ashkenazi shul.
Ask a rav. I do know this is a consideration. What about a boy from a regular family who becomes Chabad or vice versa? You can image the discomfort they'll experience when everyone around them is wearing 4x4 batim, wrapping out without a full Shin on the hand and davening from a Nusach Ari siddur and they have normal size tefillin with BY Shins, wrap the opposite direction/full Shin (and the opposite direction of Sfard) and daven from an Artscroll siddur and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteSam question for Sephardim who are משתאכנז and who took/take on new minhagim/nusach.
מתאשכנז
ReplyDelete(ממענה כ"ק אדמו"ר שליט"א)
ReplyDeleteתלוי * בהרגש שלו. בכל אופן: הקשר דב' התפילין והנוסח דכל התפילה – צ"ל בנוסח אחיד.
*) מענה לא' שתפילין דרש"י שלו היו כנוסח אשכנז ורצה להתחיל להניח תפילין דר"ת כנוסח חב"ד. המו"ל.
לקוטי שיחות-הוספות, חלק ט"ל, עמוד 244