What makes Tefillin kosher?

What makes Kosher Tefillin ?

Much work goes into making a pair of  kosher Tefillin , Mezuzah, etc.

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I personally write the parchment scrolls. In order for Tefillin or Mezuza to be kosher it must be written on parchment from a kosher type of animal. The ink also needs to be kosher and black as a Raven and must be a certain consistency so that it does not get too absorbed into the klaf parchment so that it can be erased with a blade.

kosher ink needs to be as black as a raven
kosher ink needs to be as black as a raven


Mezuzot and Tefillin must be written in order

Mezuzot and Tefillin must be written in order from the first letter to the last. Because of this, fixing them is often forbidden. The unkosher scrolls are buried in the Geniza.

Maimonides – Rambam style Parchment

Gall from an Oak Tree often called Oak Apple
Gall from an Oak Tree often called Oak Apple

I buy the lined parchments clean without writing as well as Tefillin Boxes,  as I do not make these . Many hours of work go into making these, They are all hand made too. The parchments need to be treated. According to  Maimonides – Rambam and the Talmud  (Shabat 75 b)  the parchment needs to be salted, treated with flower and then with Gall.

Most parchment today is not made according to Rambam,  instead it is treated with lime. Those who make the Klaf according to Rambam today make a very superior parchment that is a pleasure to write on. It costs 3 times as much for this parchment. You can order Rambam Mezuzot and Tefillin directly from me.

 

Tefillin Parchment written on Oak Gall treated parchment.
Tefillin Parchment written on Gall treated parchment.
Mezzuza Scroll written on Lime treated parchment
Mezzuza Scroll written on Lime treated parchment – Clear and Beautiful Handwriting of Rabbi Steve Bar Yakov Gindi

The boxes of tefillin are also made of leather and are also completely hand made. Many Halachot apply to the Boxes of Tefillin. They need to be square, The pattern of the holes for the sewing must be square. It must have a whole for the straps to pass through and much more. The Tefillin put on the head needs to have four completely separate compartments. They must be sewed closed using a thread made of sinew.

The parchments need to rolled up and placed in the correct order in the boxes. The klaf parchments need to be wrapped in another piece of blank parchment and tied closed with hairs from the tail of a kosher animal.
Many man hours of work go into preparing the parchment, ink and Boxes of these holy articles. This is why you should be suspicious if a Mezuza costs less than you would pay a professional worker for 2 hours of work and a pair of Tefillin for 25 – 30 hours of work.

I have only touched on the many Halachot  regarding Tefillin and Mezuzot. Much More has not been discussed.

I have previously discussed the meaning of the contents from the Torah wirtten on the parchments  of Mezuzot and Tefillin, you can read them at : My milknhoney website 

Making Spells – Perashat Kedoshim

Perashat Kedoshim

Making Spells

Do not eat with the blood, Do not make enchantments, and do not observe times

Is it permissible to ask G-d “If we will be successful with our Synagogue, let Marvin call me right now?” I will know that we will fail if he does not call. Can we test G-d in such a way?

The answer to this question relies on an age old argument between our rabbis of blessed memory.

This week’s Perasha says, “Lo Tenachashu” – “Do not cast spells.” Is asking G-d for such a sign a spell or just a prayer for G-dly intervention?

bookofspells
Book of Spells

We are all familiar with the story of Eliezer Abraham’s slave. before he met Rivkah he asked G-d for a sign that the girl should not only serve him water but should offer to give all of the camels to drink.

The Gemarah states, “Any spell which is not like the spell made by Eliezer Abraham’s servant or Yonaton the son of David is not a spell.”

According to the Rambam from this Gemarah we know that asking G-d for a sign is forbidden. Rambam believes that it is forbidden to test G-d in such ways.

Although many agree with the Rambam others disagree. They say that it is impossible to say that G-d would help a person through doing something which is forbidden. The Radak even goes far enough to rewrite what the Gemarah meant.

Radak differentiates between a sign which you ask for from G-d and something which occurs and you take it as a sign. Examples of this are to say that a fox crossed my path so it is a bad omen or the bread fell out of my mouth so I will not go to work and lose money.

To ask for a sign is a different story. So according to Radak, Eliezer was not transgressing the Torah by asking that the girl should offer to give the camels. Also it would then be permitted to ask if our Synagogue will succeed.

The Rashbah follows the spirit of the Radak. He says that he permits making a metal Lion which was used for medicinal purposes. If you have it around you will get better from being sick. Shmuel 1 , 14 – 9

The Rashbah pulls no punches in this argument. He says that for medicinal purposes almost anything is permitted. He states that many medications and healing practices are not understood yet we still do them. If we have proven that something works we should use it. A good modern example of this is Aspirin. Modern Medicine is far from knowing exactly how it works yet we use all the time for many different problems.

He believes that the Gemarah clearly agrees with him. There we find such treatments as “If one has a bone caught in his throat he should bring a similar one and place it on his forehead and should say ‘one one rest swallow swallow rest one one.'” There are many of this kind of medicine found in the Gemarah.

Of course we would still like to know about our case whether it is permissible to ask for a sign. The Ramah quotes the Radak and comes to the conclusion that although it might be OK it is best not to ask for signs. Tamim Tiheyeh Im Hashem – Be straight when dealing with G-d. It is, therefore, best not to ask.

An impromptu discussion of the haggadah

An impromptu discussion of the haggadah, in memory of my mom whose yortzeit is now 14 Nissan!

 

 

Hey guys I  just got really sick the online contents explaining the haggadah. I wanted  a bit of nice hagada wisdom form youtube and found either empty nothingness about 50 levels of tumah and זרע לבטלה. The only other options I found were Jews for J passover. Do any of you guys want to do an impromptu recorded google hangout to discuss the haggadah, in memory of my mom whose yortzeit is now 14 Nissan!

Purim – Mishloach Manot

Purim – Mishloach Manot

The Yidish author Shalom Alechem wrote several very funny yet realistic stories about Mishloach Manot.  In his story “Mishloach manot” He tells of two close friends each of which exhausted their Jewish domestic help on Purim by having them run around all of Kasrilevke to deliver mishloach manot.

Tired domestic help on Purim
Tired domestic help on Purim

The two girls met each other on the way to deliver mishloach manot to their respective Bosses. Tired from schlepping, they sat down to talk about how all the people who received mishloach manot  had not  given them a reasonable tip. They were both mutually attacked by hunger and a need to consume the delicious vittles of Honey cake and a Huge Hamentashin. They ate each other’s just to keep it even.

Upon delivery the receivers fainted and then flipped out. The next day at the store the Bosses mumbled at each other and pouted until their wives showed up and incited them to a fist fight. The whole Kasrilevke market place had to break them up. (Hebrew translation in “Yamim Tovim” published by Dvir La’am)

They did not talk to each other until one of the maids admitted what had happened then they were both immediately fired.

From the above story we learn that it is important to send a politically correct Mishloach Manot.

A person with a basket around her neck
A person with a basket around her neck

On Purim we send food items to each other.  Rabah was of a poor background and was still poor after being recognized as a Torah giant. He sent with Abaye to Mareh Bar Mar a basket with a leg of lamb and a cup of oven sweetened wheat. According to Maharsh”a these were simple gifts. To this Abaye in the name of Mareh bar Mar responded by saying another popular Aramaic expression, “When a peasant becomes king he eternally leaves the basket tied around his neck.” Abaye then sent a Basket full of ginger and another cup full of pepper. To this, Rabah responded by saying yet another popular expression, “I sent you sweet things and you sent me hot things!” (Megila 7b and Yalkut Shimoni Esther 1159)

 

In order to avoid any of these conflicts many Syrian Jews were accustomed to prepare a single Mishloach Manot of several small items. Two food items is the minimum required by the Halacha. (Shulchan Aruch – Or Hachayim – 695 – 4) They would send this to a neighbor. When they would receive a mishloach manot they would change one item in it and pass it on to someone else or give this to the one who delivered one.

Why Are We Still in Galut – Abe M. Gindi

Abe M. Gindi

December 1, 2013,

28 Kislev 5774

This is my theory of why we are in galut (exile) for so long and why Hashem does not seem to respond to our prayers and our needs. To do that we have to look at some of the past history.

About 2,500 years ago our first Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple) was destroyed by the Babyonians. It was a short time later that the Babylonians were defeated for destroying the Beit Hamikdash. Remember the writing on the wall: mene mene tekel ufarsim predicting the fall of Babylonia and the victory of Persia and Midea. We find about this time the story of Esther. Haman, the evil one, plotted to destroy all the Jews, but Hashem turned it around and made it so that Haman himself was hanged and the Jews were saved. Hashem responded very nicely for the Jewish people. For this we celebrate Purim every year.

The galut at that time only lasted 70 years. That was done for the sin of avodah zarah (idol worship). The second Beit Hamikdash was built only 70 years after the first one was destroyed.

Now we go about 200 years later and we find that the Greek army had completely engulfed and dominated all of the land of Israel and forced the Jewish people to disobey their laws. Then came a group, the Maccabees, a small group who defeated the large powerful Greek army, chased them out of Eretz Yisrael, rededicated the Temple, lit the menorah—and for that we observe the holiday of Hanuka.