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Shulhan Arukh Orah Hayyim, siman 32, with the commentary of the Mishnah Berurah

Concerning writing tefillin.

This translation copyright 2006 Jen Taylor Friedman

1. The mitzvah of tefillin is to write four portions, which are "Kadesh li kol bekhor" until "le-moadah mi-yamim yamimah" [Ex 13:1-10]; "Ve-hayah ki yeviakha" until "Ki behozek yad hotzianu haShem mi-Mitzrayim" [Ex 13:11-17]; the Shema1 1 up to "U-vish-arekha" [Deut 6:4-9]; and "Ve-haya im shamoa" to "al ha-aretz" [Deut 11:13-22]. They must be written2 2 in this order,3 3 such that the first written comes first in Torah. If one changes this, it is invalid.4 4 Ideally one writes the shel yad before5 5 the shel rosh.

2. Each portion in the shel rosh is written on a separate piece of parchment, and the four portions of the shel yad are written on a single piece of parchment.66

3. One writes them with black ink,77 whether it contains gall-nut juice or not. Ideally, one should be stringent, and write with ink made with ash from trees88 or oil, which has been soaked in gall-nut juice, as is explained in Yoreh Deah 271. If one wrote even one letter9 9 with any other colour1010 or with gold, they are invalid. If one sprinkled gold dust on the letters, he can brush away the gold1111 and the writing which remains is valid. But if he sprinkled gold dust on the letters of a Divine Name, there is nothing he can do: it is forbidden to remove the gold, because this constitutes erasure of a Divine Name.

4. No letter should be stuck to its fellow;1212 each letter13 13 must be surrounded by blank parchment. And the writing must be perfect,14 14 not lacking even the point of the yud,15 15 and should have taggin as appropriate.16 16 Ideally one writes with quite substantial letters, so that they won't wear away too quickly. It is also proper to write them beautifully, from the outside and from the inside.

5. One must write with his right hand,17 17 even if he is ambidextrous; if he writes with his left hand18 18 they are invalid if it is possible to obtain tefillin written with the right hand. If one is left-handed, his left hand counts as "right"19 19 for the purpose of this discussion.

6. It is only necessary to rule the top line,20 Note 20 but if he doesn't know how to keep his writing straight, he should rule all the lines.21 Note 21 One does not make the lines with lead,22 Note 22 because the place where the line was will remain coloured. Some opinions say that it is necessary to rule the lines at top, bottom and sides, even if he is able to keep his writing straight, and this is the custom.

7. It is halakha from Moses at Sinai that tefillin are written on klaf and not on duchsustos or gevil. One writes on klaf on the flesh side, and if he diverges from this, it is invalid. What is klaf and what duchsustos? When the skin is processed, it is split into two; the outer layer, on the hair side, is klaf, and the inner side which was attached to the flesh is duchsustos. Hence, when we say "we write on klaf on the flesh side" we mean the side which was closest to the flesh - the part which was connected to the duchsustos, while they were still joined. Our parchments, which are not split, fall into the category of klaf, and we write on the flesh side, since that which is scraped off the upper - hair - side is just part of the necessary processing and scraping, which must be done even when the hide is split into two. A great deal is scraped away from the flesh side, until only the klaf remains.

8. The klaf must be processed with gallnut juice or lime,23 Note 23 and it must be done lishmah. It is best that he should verbalise24 Note 24 his intent that it be processed for tefillin or a sefer Torah25 Note 25 at the beginning26 Note 26 of the processing, but if he processed it for a mezuzah, it is invalid.27 Note 27

9. If a non-Jew did the processing, Rambam says it is invalid even if28 Note 28 a Jew told him to process it lishmah, and Rosh says it is valid if a Jew supervised him and helped. With some29 Note 29 of the processing, and this is the custom.30 Note 30 See siman 11 sec. 2.

10. When he makes identifying marks such as letters with an awl, he need not worry that they may be forged, even if they are easy to forge, because the non-Jew will be aware that the Jew may recognise it anyway.31 Note 31

11. The question of whether hides which were not processed lishmah can be rescued and made lishmah is discussed in the Tur, Yoreh Deah 271.

12. Klaf must be made from ritually pure species of cattle, bird or beast, even ones which were not ritually slaughtered. It may not be made from the ritually impure species, as it is said "In order that God's Torah shall be in your mouth" - from a species which is permitted as food. It is not made from fish skin, even if it is ritually pure, because it doesn't stop smelling bad.

13. The klaf should be whole, without holes which are so large the ink cannot cover them, so that letters will not appear divided in two.32 Note 32

14. Painstaking scribes make three types of klaf: a thicker one for writing "Shema" since it is short, a slightly thinner33 Note 33 one for writing "Ve-haya im shamoa" which is slightly longer, and "Kadesh" and "Ve-haya ki yeviakha," which are long, are written on very thin klaf. This is so that each box will be filled equally, which is the nicest way of doing tefillin.

15. If, after it had been written,34 Note 34 a hole formed in the middle of ה35 Note 35 or מ, it is valid, even if the hole filled the entire space.36 Note 36 The Yerushalmi, however, teaches that even the inside37 Note 37 of the letter must be surrounded by blank klaf. If the hole formed38 Note 38 in the inside leg of ה, it is valid according to Rosh even though only the smallest part remains. But other posekim require that as much as a small letter39 Note 39 remain, and this is the rule.40 Note 40 If the right41 Note 41 leg became holed,42 Note 42 and as much as a small letter43 Note 43 remains,44 Note 44 it is valid, and if not, it is invalid.

16. If one of the letters broke45 Note 45 - the straight letters,46Note 46ו or ז or the leg of ן47 Note 47 and similar - it is valid if a child48 Note 48 who is neither particularly smart49 Note 49 nor particularly ignorant50 Note 50 can read it. If not, it is invalid. It is not necessary to cover51 Note 51 the other letters, as is the custom. However, if we can see that the letter52 Note 52 does not have its correct form, it is invalid even if a child reads it correctly. This validating a broken letter53 Note 53 applies only when the letter was initially written correctly and then became broken,54 Note 54 but if when it was first written55 Note 55 there was a hole56 Note 56 there dividing the letter, or if the leg57 Note 57 of ך (etc.) ran into the edge of the klaf, so that it was never58 Note 58 surrounded59 Note 59 by blank klaf, it is invalid.60 Note 60

17. If a drop of ink61 Note 61 fell into62 Note 62 a letter such that it was no longer recognisable,63 Note 63 scraping64 Note 64 off the drop65 Note 65 to reveal the letter does not help, because it is hak tokhot,66 Note 66 and is invalid because it says "and write" not "and carve."67 Note 67 This is also the rule if one mistakely wrote dalet instead of reish or beit instead of khaf; one cannot correct it68 Note 68 by scraping off the surplus,69 Note 69 because it is hak tokhot.

18. Similarly, if the opening of an open mem got stuck70 Note 70 closed,71 Note 71 it does not help to scrape away the stuck part and open it,72 Note 72 because this is hak tokhot.73 Note 73 One corrects it74 Note 74 by scraping away the whole snout, so that the form of a nun kefufa75 Note 75 remains, and then he rewrites the scraped part. One could be stringent about the reish76 Note 76 which was made like dalet,77 Note 77 and say that it is not sufficient to scrape the leg alone or the roof alone and rewrite as reish, because it was made invalid between the two of them, and therefore they should both be scraped. If a letter got stuck to another, either before or after it was completed,78 Note 78 it is invalid, but scraping away the join79 Note 79 does not constitute hak tokhot80 Note 80 since the letter itself was written correctly.81 Note 81 If the leg of hey82 Note 82 or kuf got stuck83 Note 83 to the roof, one erases84 Note 84 the leg85 Note 85 and rewrites it; he need not erase the entire letter, since the roof was written correctly. If the leg of aleph touched its roof,86 Note 86 or the inner face87 Note 87 touched the roof below it, it is invalid, and cannot be corrected by separating them;88 Note 88 this is hak tokhot. Instead, he must scrape everything89 Note 89 which was written while the letter was in an incorrect state and rewrite. This is also the rule for the yuds90 Note 90 in shin, tzaddi, ayin and peh:91 Note 91 if they touch the body in more than the place where they should be attached (Beit Yosef).

19. When he starts92 Note 92 to write,93 Note 93 he should say94 Note 94 out loud95 Note 95 "I am writing96 Note 96 with intent for the holiness of tefillin." Besides this, every time97 Note 97 he writes a divine Name, he must say that he writes with intent for the holiness of the Name. Some say that it is sufficient he should only have in mind the holiness of the Name, if he said it out loud when he started writing98 Note 98 (Rosh, hilkhot tefillin & sefer Torah, and Tur, Yoreh Deah and Orah Hayyim). We may be lenient post facto.99 Note 99 If one becomes drowsy, he should not write since he will not be capable of the proper concentration (Or Zarua).

20. One must be very careful of the haser and yeter spellings, since if one adds or omits100 Note 100 a single letter101 Note 101 they are invalid. Then not only will their owner make blessings in vain every day, but will fail to perform the mitzvah of tefillin every day, and the punishment of the scribe shall be great.102 Note 102 Therefore, one who writes or makes tefillin must be Heaven-fearing and tremble at the word of God.103 Note 103

21. After he has written each portion, he should read it very carefully104 Note 104 two or three times, and should read it again before he puts it into the housing so as not to get them in the wrong order.

22. A scribe should test his quill before he starts105 Note 105 to write, so that it should not have too much ink on it and splodge off. Likewise, before he writes a Name he should say all that he has written,106 Note 106 so that it will not become invalid by his hand.107 Note 107

23. If one finds that he omitted a letter, there is nothing he can do108 Note 108 about it, since any fixing would be writing out of sequence, and then they would be invalid, since it says "Ve-hayu" - they shall be as they were.109 Note 109 If he wrote an extra letter,110 Note 110 it may be erased111 Note 111 if it is at the beginning or end of a word, but not if it is in the middle since that word would then look like two words.112 Note 112

25. There is no remedy if one wrote a letter114 Note 114 incorrectly, such that it did not have its form115 Note 115 – such as the leg of the aleph116 Note 116 touching117 Note 117 the roof; the face of aleph touching the roof below; the leg of hey or kuf touching; one letter divided into two letters, such as tzaddi as yud and nun,118 Note 118 shin as ayin and yud,119 Note 119 or het as two zayins120 Note 120 – and subsequently wrote more after it, since this is writing out of order, and they are invalid. However, separating two letters which were stuck together after he had subsequently written on is permitted, since the letters had their form, and separating them is not like writing. This is also the rule if a small part of the yuds of aleph,121 Note 121 shin and ayin, or the leg of tav, did not touch the body of the letter; if a child122 Note 122 recognised them he may correct them even if he had written letters after them, since it does not count as writing out of order if they had their form. One opinion says123 Note 123 this is also the rule for the hump of het if it doesn't connect the two sides: provided they are not obviously124 Note 124 disconnected, they may be connected125 Note 125 even if a child read them as two zayins.

26. If the letters of the Name became stuck together,126 Note 126 it is permitted to separate them.127 Note 127

27. If letters or words have become a bit worn,128 Note 128 but their imprint is sufficiently clear that a child recognises it, one may rewrite the letters over the top, and this does not constitute writing out of order.

24. One may write, even a Name, on a place where a word was scraped off113 Note 113 or erased.

28. One must take care that the head of lamed not enter129 Note 129 into the empty space of hey130 Note 130 or het,131 Note 131 even if it would not touch them.132 Note 132

29. If he does not know the portions very well by heart,133 Note 133 he must write from a copy.134 Note 134

30. It is not appropriate for one to write unless he knows how to read.135 Note 135

31. If one is not writing from a copy,136 Note 136 but another is reading137 Note 137 the text to him, he may not write unless he repeats the words138 Note 138 himself after the reader.

32. One must leave a gap at the top139 Note 139 the size of the roof of lamed so that it will also be surrounded by blank klaf (Responsa of Maharil, 134/137, and B"S). Below, the size of khaf or nun peshuta,140 Note 140 and at the beginning and end he need not leave anything at all.141 Note 141 However, it is the scribal custom to leave a little142 Note 142 at the beginning and end (Igur, Rokeah). One must leave a space the size of a letter143 Note 143 between each word, and a space the size of a line144 Note 144 between each line, and a space the width of a hair145 Note 145 between each letter, as in a sefer Torah and as explained in the Tur, Yoreh Deah. It is also necessary to leave a small space146 Note 146 between each verse.

33. He should make all the lines of equal length, so that none are overly long147 Note 147 or short. He should take care not to write more than three letters148 Note 148 outside the line, but if he does,149 Note 149 it is not invalid.150 Note 150

34. If two letters form a word,151 Note 151 they may not be written outside the line.

35. The letters of the Name152 Note 152 must153 Note 153 be entirely inside the column - no part154 Note 154 of them may protrude.

36. All its portions155 Note 155 are petuha except156 Note 156 the last one, "ve-haya im shemoa," which is setuma. If one does it differently,157 Note 157 they are invalid (although some say it is all right158 Note 158 if they are all petuha159 Note 159). [source] Our160 Note 16 custom161 Note 161 is to put "Ve-haya im" at the beginning of a line also, like the other portions. Therefore, we put "Kadesh li," "Ve-haya ki," and "Shema" at the beginnings of lines.162 Note 162 At the end of "Kadesh li" and "Ve-haya ki" we leave a gap the size of nine letters,163 Note 163 and we don't leave a gap at all at the end of "Shema," or if we do leave a gap, it is smaller than nine letters. "Ve-haya im" starts in the middle of the top line, and we leave nine letters' worth of space before it. The three petuha portions are petuha according to both Rambam and Rosh, and the last portion is setuma according to the Rambam.164 Note 164

37. The leather for the housings165 Note 165 must be from a ritually pure166 Note 166 species of bird or animal, and can be from ones which weren't ritually slaughtered. It is better to make it from leather or klaf167 Note 167 shalil [foetal].168 Note 168 Likewise the straps may be made from leather or klaf169 Note 169 shalil (Mordechai p.94). It must be processed lishmah170 Note 170 where this is possible.171 Note 171

38. One makes four housings from one hide172 Note 172 for the shel rosh, and one housing for the shel yad.

39. It is a halakha from Moses at Sinai that tefillin, both the shel rosh and the shel yad, must be squared173 Note 173 in the sewing and the diagonals, that is to say they should be square174 Note 174 in width and length, so that the diagonal will be175 Note 175 as described by the sages: a square cubit has a diagonal of one and two-fifth cubits. The base176 Note 176 and the housing177 Note 177 must both be square.178 Note 178 But if the height of the housing is more than the length and width, he need not worry (Beit Yosef in the name of Ashiri, SMa"K, Mordechai and Rambam ch. 3). If they were made square and after time lost their squareness,179 Note 179 there is an opinion180 Note 180 which says they should be made square181 Note 181 again. And each of the four housings should be182 Note 182 the same, so that one is not bigger than the other.

40. It is a mitzvah183 Note 183 to make the leather of the housings184 Note 184 black185 Note 185 (see siman 33186 Note 186). The grooves between the housings must extend to touch the stitches, but if they don't touch it is valid provided187 Note 187 the grooves are recognisable,188 Note 188 so that its four parts are clearly visible.

41. There is no given size for the width, length189 Note 189 or height of the tefillin.

42. It is a halakha from Moses at Sinai190 Note 190 that the shin shape191 Note 191 which is made in the leather of the shel rosh should be embossed192 Note 192 by creasing the leather,193 Note 193 one on the left and one on the right. The one on the wearer's right194 Note 194 has three heads, and one on the wearer's left has four heads. If he reverses them, it is not invalidated195 Note 195 (Mordechai, SMa"K, Tosafot perek Ha-kometz).

43. The groove of the shin,196 Note 196 that is, the bottom point, should extend to touch the stitches.197 Note 197 The yud of the shin198 Note 198 must touch the base199 Note 199 of the shin (SMa"G). The shin shouldn't extend too far, so that the base of the shin200 Note 200 is also visible at the stitching (Barukh she-Amar).

44. It is halakha from Moses at Sinai that tefillin should have a titura - that is, one should put leather201 Note 201 underneath, to cover the entrances to the housings. It looks like the plank of a bridge, which is why it is called titura. It is halakha from Moses at Sinai that tefillin should have a ma-abarta - that is, the titura should be longer202 Note 202 on one side, from which extra part is made the ma-abarta. How? By cutting into it on two sides so that it's narrower than the titura, so that the titura still looks square203 Note 203. The straps pass through the ma-abarta, which is why it is called ma-abarta. The shel yad also has a titura and ma-abarta. Each portion is rolled from the end to the beginning,204 Note 204 and wrapped205 Note 205 in a little piece of klaf206 Note 206. Some are careful to use only kosher klaf.207 Note 207 It is halakha from Moses at Sinai208 Note 208 that a hair from a ritually pure beast should be wrapped around the bundle. The custom209 Note 209 is to wrap a hair around the portion, and then wrap a piece of kosher klaf around it, and finish up with another hair. (Igur, siman 45.) We generally use calf-hair,210 Note 210 but if one can't get calf, he uses cow or ox, and one washes the hair thoroughly before use to make sure it is clean. A little of this hair211 Note 211 protrudes212 Note 212 from the housings.

45. One puts the portions into the housings such that they are standing upright.213 Note 213

46. The upper margin goes in first, that is, the top line, and the lower margin towards the opening214 Note 214 of the housing. The beginning of the section goes in to the right of the reader, so that they will be correctly215 Note 215 placed if he should read them (Trumat ha-Deshen, Beit Yosef in the name of Orhot Hayyim).

47. If one wrote all the portions on one piece of klaf, they are valid, even if216 Note 216 there is no gap between them, provided there is a thread or a string217 Note 217 between each of the housings. One writes all the portions of the shel yad on one piece of klaf, and rolls it from end to beginning, wraps it in klaf and calf hair, and puts it into the housing, as for the shel rosh. If he wrote them on four pieces of klaf and puts them in four housings,218 Note 218 he discharges his obligation in the mitzvah, but he must put leather over the four housings (that is, a cover) so that they look like one. The custom219 Note 219 is to glue them together so that they look like one piece of klaf, and one must take care to use kosher glue.220 Note 220 (Barukh she-Amar, siman 57.)

48. If one covered the housings with gold or with leather from a ritually impure221 Note 221 beast, they are invalid.

49. It is halakha from Moses at Sinai that tefillin be stitched with sinews222 Note 222 from a ritually pure223 Note 223 beast, and it is best to use ox sinew.224 Note 224

50. One should not buy sinew from non-Jews, because they are considered likely to be225 Note 225 from ritually impure animals. If sinews aren't available, one should make do with טאליאדורש226 Note 226 made from klaf, until he can find227 Note 227 some sinews.

51. One makes three stitches on each side,228 Note 228 and the sewing-thread goes round it in two directions,229 Note 229 passing between each section of the housing. However,230 Note 230 if he made ten stitches or less, it is still valid. (Mordechai.) There is an opinion which says that all twelve stitches should be made with one thread.231 Note 231

52. One passes the straps through the ma-abarta, and makes a knot232 Note 232 like a dalet233 Note 233 for the shel rosh and a knot like a yud for the shel yad, to make the word "Shaddai" with the shin on the shel rosh. It is the custom to put a piece of leather the width of the housing over234 Note 234 the shel yad, laterally with respect to the arm. (Tur.) One should not make the knots until235 Note 235 he has made the shin on the tefillin, and then he should make the dalet and the yud in that order, in the order of the letters of the Name.

Note 1 1) the Shema... One writes the dalet of "Ehad" very large, as large as four small dalets. It is possible that this does not mean four small dalets of that particular script, but provided four very small dalets could fit in, it is sufficient. For this reason we simply write the dalet larger than the other dalets of that script.
Note 2 2) They must be written...All the portions, both shel yad and shel rosh.
Note 3 3) In this order... It is written "Ve-hayu ha-devarim ha-eyleh" - they shall be just as they are. One must take care that each individual portion be written sequentially for this very reason, such that not even one letter is lacking, since he will not be able to complete the text by inserting it later. See note 23.

Note 4 4) invalid...The tefillin made with these portions. The portions of themselves are still valid, so that if one had started to write "Ve-haya ki yeviakha" he could append it to "Kadesh" from other tefillin, provided he knew for certain that it had been written before this one - if it was not so, apply the principle of strincengy when there is doubt about a Torah law. This is the rule if they were written in order but one of the first portions became invalidated - it invalidates all those which were written after it; it is also the rule regarding appending to other portions.
Note 5 5) before...Because it comes first in the verse. Some say it should be the other way round, because the shel rosh is more holy than the shel yad. Our custom is to follow the Rema, but post facto everyone agrees that one need not worry. The Sefer ha-Kavvanot writes that ideally one should take care to write all the portions of the shel rosh and shel yad one after the other, without pausing between them for even one word; see the Shaarei Teshuva.
Note 66) a single piece of parchment...It is written "It will be a sign on your hand" - one sign, that is to say one box, and since it is one sign without it is ideally one sign within, so it is on a single piece of parchment. Since in the shel rosh there are four boxes, it is necessary that the portions be written on four pieces of parchment. This is the ideal way to do it; as is explained in par. 47. Know also that the portions of the shel yad are to be written as portions, in four columns, each portion in a different column.
Note 77) black ink...Ink which appears like charcoal; see Beur Halakha.
Note 88) ash from trees...That is, without adding kuma [gum arabic] or kankantom (which in Ashkenaz is called copper water) [that is, aqua cuprosa, copperas - iron (II) sulphate solution], because ideally we want ink which can be erased, and with kuma or kankantom it cannot be erased. This is the ideal way to make ink, but in practice even the Rema agrees that ink may be made with gall-nut juice, kuma and kankantom. Today we make ink by mixing the three and cooking them, which is even better (see the responsa Mishkanot Yaakov, sec. 37). See Magen Avraham, who writes that in his day he never saw any of the authorities making ink from the ash of trees or oil (although they may have made ink from the soot of thorns, as he concludes in the name of Mahari"l). This is also how Get Mekushar and Birkei Yosef rule: to make ink as is our present custom, because ink made with tree or oil ash breaks up and wears away very easily, so we don't use it today. Ink which is made only with gallnut juice - not with kuma (in Ashkenaz, this is guma) - or only with kankantom, is invalid even post facto, according to Beur ha-Gra 691; see there and in Beur Halakha. One may write tefillin and mezuzot with wine which has been handled by a non-Jew [and therefore may not be consumed by a Jew]; see Sha'arei Teshuvah n. 4. Ink does not have to be made specifically for the purpose of this writing.
Note 99) one letter...Not literally; this applies for even a small part of the letter, such as the point of the yud.
Note 1010) any other colour...Than black - red, green and so on.
Note 1111) brush away the gold...Even though while the gold remains the letter is invalid - because the upper layer invalidates the lower layer - brushing away the gold does not constitute writing out of order, because he does not write when he brushes to reveal the lower layer.
Note 1212) to its fellow...If the letter is large, and is stuck by its end in such a way that were the stuck part scraped, the form of the letter would remain, there are those who permit [it to remain without scraping] and those who forbid. The ahronim rule stringently; therefore we scrape. This manner of fixing is valid even in tefillin and mezuzot, since the original form of the letter was not changed.
Note 1313) each letter...Even the last letter of the line must be surrounded on all four sides by blank parchment; this invalidates even post facto - see below in sec. 16. If even the point of the yud lacks a surrounding of blank parchment, it is invalid - see Menahot 29. For the details of this ruling, refer to sec. 17 and siman 36.
Note 1414) perfect...He shouldn't make ב and כ indistinguishable, or ז and נ, etc.
Note 1515) the point of the yud...This refers to the left point of the yud. It is certainly invalid if it is missing the right leg. For the proper formation of the yud, see the rules of the letter forms in siman 36, specifically the reference to Peri Megadim.
Note 1616) as appropriate...On the letters ש, ע, ט, נ, ז, ג, ץ. This is the ideal way; post facto, most posekim agree that it is valid even if it does not have taggin. See siman 36 sec. 3, where the rules of taggin are explained in detail.
Note 1717) with his right hand...Because writing is not done with the left hand [so if you do it with your left hand, potentially it isn't writing]. This applies also to any corrections in the writing - if done with the left hand, it is invalid. However, it seems that separating letters which touch each other may be done with the left hand, since we permit invalid persons to do this work, in any case post facto, see sec. 39.
Note 1818) his left hand...If he only writes with his right hand. If he is ambidextrous, they are valid even if he wrote with his left hand. Even if he only writes with his right hand, he may put them on if there are no others available, but should not make a blessing. If someone writes with his right hand but does everything else with his left, or vice versa, he should not become a sofer, but he is not forbidden; see the Peri Megadim.
Note 1919) counts as "right"...Therefore, if he wrote with his right hand, it seems to me that they are invalid just as ones from the left hand are normally, if there are others available. Rema noted a case of a scribe who held the quill with his mouth to write, and he declared them invalid, because no-one writes like that. Magen Avraham says these are invalid even if there are no others available. See Mishnat Avraham in the name of Get Mekushar and other posekim, who liken this case, or one who writes with his feet, to one who writes with his left hand.
Note 2020) the top line...Since it isn't halakha from Moses at Sinai that tefillin must be written with lines, as it is for mezuzah, the only issue is the prohibition of writing more than three words from a verse without lines. Therefore, it is sufficient to rule the top line only, since most people know how to make their writing go straight without ruling extra lines. We say "only necessary" so that if he wants to rule all the lines to make his writing particularly straight and fine, he may. If one didn't even rule the top line – see Beur Halakha.
Note 2121) rule all the lines...That is to say, ideally, because of "This is my God, and I will glorify Him." post facto, even if he didn't rule lines and the writing was wobbly, the tefillin are not invalid.
Note 2222) lead...Nor with ink or red or any such, and this is forbidden even between the lines. This is the ideal way, but post facto one need not be stringent, according to Lehem H amudot and Eliyahu Rabba. Devar Shemuel, responsum 362, is extremely dubious about making lines with any kind of black colouring, because the letters will become connected by the black line unless he writes below the line; see there.
Note 2323) gallnut juice or lime...This is crucial, since without it the product is not klaf but diftera. He leaves the hides in the lime until the hairs come off of their own accord, without being scraped. If he takes them out before this, he should not write on them, because they are still diftera, and invalid. There is one dissenting opinion: if they hides have been in the lime four days and the hair has not yet come off, and circumstances press, he need not concern himself about this, since the hair is not the definitive factor; since the hides have been laid in lime an appropriate amount of time, it is no longer diftera; see there.
Note 2424) verbalise...Or at any rate think it.
Note 2525) a sefer Torah...Since it is more holy than tefillin, and one hundred is contained in two hundred, so one may then use it for tefillin or mezuzot even though they are less holy. One may not use it for non-holy purposes, however, unless he stipulated at the beginning of the processing that should he wish to use it for non-holy purposes he has the right so to do. The correct procedure is for the scribe to say, upon putting the hides into the lime, "I am putting these hides into lime for the holiness of a sefer Torah, and I stipulate that if I should wish, I shall be able to use them for any purpose." Some scribes say "for the holiness of a sefer Torah, or tefillin, or mezuzot, or any other purpose," but the ahronim doubt the validity of this stipulation, so it is not proper to do it this way. See Beur Halakha.
Note 2626) the beginning...He need only verbalise - or think - his intent that the hide be processed lishmah at the start of the process, even though it continues for many days, since everything after that is presumed to be done with the same intention. The beginning of the process is considered to be putting the hides into lime, not the soaking which happens prior to this, since soaking isn't yet processing per se.
Note 2727) invalid...And may be used only for mezuzot, as it is of lesser holiness than tefillin. If he processed it for tefillin, he may use it for a mezuzah but not for sifrei Torah, and if he processed it for tefillin straps, he may not write the portions on it should he later process it into klaf, because their holiness is greater. There are some who say that he may not even use it to make the housings, because they are more holy than the straps (Peri Megadim, and see there what he wrote about this).
Note 2828) even if...He holds that a non-Jew will do it for his own intent, and even though he says he heard the Jew, his speech and his thoughts are at odds. Rosh holds that the Jew is supervising him at the beginning of the process when he puts the hides into the lime, and says to him that he should put them in lishmah; we only require the non-Jew's mental commitment at the exact time he puts the hides into the lime, and he is concentrating adequately at that precise moment. However, if the supervising Jew only thought to himself that it was being done lishmah, it does not work, and even if he said it explicitly but stands far off and does not make him know, it also doesn't work, even according to Rosh.
Note 2929) some...Even if he only helped right at the end of the processing, and even if this help was only working alongside the non-Jew, it is valid. This is the ideal way; in pressing circumstances it is valid, according to Rosh, even if he didn't help at all, because the non-Jew processed it lishmah in accordance with the instructions and intent of the Jew.
Note 3030) this is the custom...According to the ahronim, the ideal process is this: the Jew himself puts the hides into the lime lishmah, and says to the non-Jew that when he does the subsequent processing it should likewise be done lishmah, after which the non-Jew may remove the hides from the lime and do the rest of the work without being supervised or helped by the Jew. If the Jew put the hides into the lime lishmah but did not say anything to the non-Jew, Peri Megadim says this requires study as to its validity. (Beit Yosef in Yoreh Deah 271 thinks it is kosher even according to Rambam, and Ba"h forbids.) Accordingly, in the opinions of Noda biYehudah 175 - see there - and the commentary of Maharam Banet on the Mordechai at the end of hilkhot sefer Torah, we may be lenient in pressing circumstances. If the Jew helped the non-Jew a bit at the end, and this completed the processing, but he didn't say anything to the non-Jew about its being lishmah, it doesn't work at all, since helping isn't really doing. This applies if he didn't complete the work himself but only helped a bit, but if the Jew finished it himself without the help of the non-Jew, for instance if the Jew took the hides out of the lime before they were done and put them back in lishmah, Taz in Yoreh Deah and Maharam are lenient, and and we shouldn't object to people who follow their opinions, see Beur Halakha.
Note 3131) recognise it anyway...By making his marks in a particular way, or by noticing that these marks are fresher than the ones he made. Some say that he should mark it at the head, on the inside, where it isn't usual to prepare it so the marks will remain after the preparation, and he should not mark them with an awl at all because of this possibility of forgery, but in pressing circumstances one may be lenient as per Shulhan Arukh.
Note 3232) in two...It is very small; if when the quill passes over it, the hole is closed by the ink and the pen does not feel the hole, he may write on it. He may write on it even if some of the ink fell off that place and the hole is visible when held to the light. However, if the holes are such that they do not close by the ink going over them, it is invalid, because the letters will thus appear to be divided in two. The letter is also invalid if the hole is placed in the body of the letter - its leg or its roof - surrounded by ink on all sides, even if it had the form of the letter up until the hole. All this applies before writing; if a hole forms in a letter after it is written and divides it into two, it is valid if the form of the letter remains before the hole, as is explained in sec. 16, and see Beur Halakha.
Note 3333) slightly thinner...This is a scribal error: it should read "...for writing "Ve-haya ki yeviakha" which is slightly longer, and "Kadesh" and "Ve-haya im shamoa" which are long..." (Beur ha-Gra, Yad Aharon). R' M. I. wrote that their scribes used another method: all the slips of klaf were the same length and width, but they left big margins around the shorter portions.
Note 3434) after it had been written...We shall introduce two ideas, and then expound. (1) Each letter must have the correct form for that letter, and if it does not it is invalid, and no-one disagrees with this, whether it was initially written incorrectly or became damaged afterwards. (2) Any letter which is not surrounded by blank klaf on all four sides is invalid, and regarding this rule there are two considerations. (a) We mean the case when it was not surrounded by blank klaf before it was written. If after it was written a hole or tear formed near to the outside of the letter, and the letter was thereby no longer surrounded by blank klaf, it is valid, as is explained in sec. 16 of the Shulhan Arukh. (b) Most posekim hold that being surrounded by klaf is only necessary on the outside of the letters, not on the inside, except for the Yerushalmi which is stringent. Now we shall explain the Shulhan Arukh "if a hole formed after it was written, &c." - the reason is that the inside of the letter does not need surrounding by blank klaf, and therefore it is valid even if the hole existed before the writing. This is if a hole formed after it was written, because ideally we don't write over a hole even if the hole is in the middle of the blank space and doesn't fill it entirely - but certainly if he erred and wrote, even if the hole was there before the writing, it is valid, and doesn't require fixing.
Note 3535) in the middle of ה...This is the case for any letter which has three sides and a blank space within, but ך, ו and so on don't have a blank space within.
Note 3636) the entire space...Even if the hole touches the body of the letter - provided even a thin line remains on the outside, it is valid, since there is no minimum width for the lines of the letters.
Note 3737) even the inside...And if the inside works just like the outside and there was a hole in the middle before it was written, it is invalid - see Taz and Peri Megadim in the name of Levush, who is stringent like the Yerushalmi. Know that the Yerushalmi requires surrounding with blank klaf on all sides, within as well as without; therefore, if there was a hole on the inside, near the letter, before it was written, and the letter was therefore not surrounded by blank klaf, one may scrape from the thickness of the line, inside, to make it surrounded by blank klaf - see Beur Halakha s.v. "But in the Yerushalmi..."
Note 3838) the hole formed...This is also the rule if some of the ink wore away but no hole formed. Rosh disagrees, and validates only ה if the smallest part remains, whether above the hole or below, because he thinks there is no minimum size for the dot which hangs there; even if one initially wrote such a short leg it is valid according to Rosh. But all other letters - ח and so on - even Rosh would agree that the left leg has the same regulations as the right leg.
Note 3939) require as much as...This is a case where being surrounded with blank klaf is not a problem, such as when the hole formed after the writing - cf par. 16 - it must be, because otherwise it would be invalid even if more than a small letter remained, even according to Rosh.
Note 4040) this is the rule...From which we see that he isn't ruling like this just to be stringent, but he really thinks the halakha is as these posekim say, so we must be very careful about scribes who don't do it right. In tefillin and mezuzot, which require writing in order, it seems that it cannot be fixed even if a child reads the letter; we see that it doesn't have the form of the letter, and cannot be called ה according to these posekim - see par. 25. In any case we can be lenient about correcting it, because it's comparable to a khaf peshuta being made square, which Peri Megadim permitted.
Note 4141) right...Of ה. The Peri Megadim wrote "It seems to me that this is the rule for the other letters, like ד, ל, ף, ץ, ק, ר, ת, ח (it seems that it applies to both the right and left legs of ח) - if as much as a yud remains of the right leg, it is sufficient." See below in siman 36, on the laws of letter forms, in ל, ף, ץ, ק, and ת.
Note 4242) became holed...This is the rule also if the letter became broken without a hole, or it part of the letter became erased. The Shulhan Arukh is talking about its length, but it is also the rule if its width became broken, either by holing or erasure - if a thin black line remained, like a thin ו or י, it is valid, because there is no minimum width for the lines of the letters. But if a hole formed, either in its width or its length, the hole must have formed after the writing for it to be valid, see par. 16.
Note 4343) as much as a small letter...That is, yud with its lower point, since we rule (Beit Yosef siman 36) that it is not yud without the lower point.
Note 4444) remains...Above the hole; one cannot also count whatever remains below the hole. It is invalid even if an average child reads it correctly, because we see that the proper form of the letter does not remain, as is explained nearby in the name of Taz. However, if as much as a small letter remains above the hole (or above the break, if the letter broke in the middle), it is valid, and does not need to be shown to a child. This is also the rule if one initially wrote the leg very small; it is valid. See Yad Ephraim and Beur Halakha.
Note 4545) broke...This can be explained in two ways - it is either because of a hole, which cannot be kosher unless the hole came after the writing, as previously discussed; or because the ink came away from the letter in that place, and it is this situation to which the ruling of the Shulhan Arukh applies, even if it was made that way originally.
Note 4646) the straight letters...And accordingly it doesn't help if as much as a yud remains, because it would look like yud and be invalid; this is why we need to use a child.
Note 4747) the leg of ן...as it should read [some editions have א in Rema's gloss]. That is, the straight ן, and suchlike - ך etc - if its leg is short, and it looks a bit like ד or ר.
Note 4848) if a child...See Taz, who wrote that this breaking is one where a bit broke off the very end of the letter, and only the first part of it before the break remained, so if we can't tell whether the remaining length was sufficient we determine it using a child. But if there remained something below the break - that is, the break was across the width of the leg, and a part of the leg remained on the other side of the break, a child can't be used, because the child will read the bottom part with the top part, but he mustn't do this - it is like when the leg of the aleph is separated - it is necessary to cover the part after the break. It's not like the case here in the Shulhan Arukh, where it isn't necessary to cover over the rest of the letters - for our case here he would certainly agree that it is necessary to cover, and thus conclude the ahronim (and it's not like what's written in Yeshuot Yaakov, to be lenient like Meiri says. Beur ha-Gra in 36 also learns like Taz, that one can't join the part below to the letter).
Note 4949) particularly smart...Such that he comprehends the context and deduces how the broken letter should read, and it will be clearer. He isn't called "smart" if he is good at recognising letters but doesn't comprehend what's written before them - he is certainly valid.
Note 50 50) particularly ignorant...That is, he doesn't know how to read the letters. Anyone who knows how to read the letters, even though he isn't very good at their forms - if he says it doesn't have the form, it's invalid.
Note 5151) not necessary to cover...Thus Levush. But Magen Avraham, in the name of R' Yosef Tirani, wrote that one must cover the preceding letters, because if he starts from the beginning of the text he will be aided by memory - one must cover the preceding letters even if the child has not learned that section. One need not cover the subsequent letters in any case.
Note 5252) the letter...For instance, an aleph whose yuds didn't touch it, or the tongue of peh if not connected to the roof, and all other non-straight letters which have breaks in them; these are all invalid, whether they were written that way initially or became that way subsequently. A child is of no avail unless the letter was reduced in size such that it appeared very similar to another letter, for instance if vav became truncated and it was not clear whether it remained vav or had become yud. In this case a child may be used to clarify the matter, since if it remains long enough to be vav he will not read it as yud. This is also the rule with nun peshuta and khaf peshuta if it is not clear whether they are long enough, and with khaf kefufa when similar to beit, and suchlike cases when it is not clear which letter form it has. But in cases where we can see that the letter does not retain its form, what good will the eyes of a child do when our own eyes can see that it is invalid? Therefore, we cannot validate an aleph whose left leg is not connected to the middle line even if a child reads it as aleph, since the break is not going to make him say that it is a backwards ayin. This is also the rule with the peshuta letters: if we see that they clearly do not have their form, anything a child says is irrelevant. A child is only relevant if we ourselves cannot tell whether a letter has its necessary dimensions. All this is when it has not been corrected; on correction, see Beur Halakha.
Note 5353) broken letter...This is the rule for the case permitted in sec. 15 above, when a hole formed in the leg of hey, but when the space inside became holed, the Shulhan Arukh permitted it even if the hole preceded the writing, and only said "if it was after it was written..." regarding the hole in the leg.
Note 5454) then became broken...The reason is that we only require surrounding by blank klaf at the time of writing, and therefore even if the hole connected the letter to a nearby letter, it is valid. However, Derekh ha-Hayyim, in his Hilkhot Kriat ha-Torah rule 27, rules stringently; see Beur Halakha. Know also that when letters touch each other, even if one knows for sure that they became that way after they were written, it is also invalid (Derekh ha-Hayyim there, and it is also learned from Beit Shemuel in Even ha-Ezer 125:29 - see there - he thinks that we should also bear in mind Beit Yosef's first approach s.v. "Ve-im tomar," that we should not distinguish between joined letters which weren't surrounded by blank klaf at the time of writing and letters which became joined after that.
Note 5555) first written...If we aren't sure when the hole formed, we assume it formed after the writing, since generally speaking the scribe would have seen it had it been there while he was writing, unless it was very small.
Note 5656) a hole...That is, particularly a hole or a tear even if the break isn't noticeable, because it wasn't surrounded by blank klaf when it was written. But a general break is permitted, and does not require fixing, since the letter had its required size before that point, see par. 15-16. If one finds thin lines in the required part of the letter - see Beur Halakha to par. 25.
Note 5757) leg...And all the more so if the roofs or middles weren't surrounded by blank klaf when they were written - we mention the leg as an extreme example: when one writes the end of the leg, the form of the letter is correctly made, but even so, it continues to be in a state of " being written" up until he lifts his hand from the letter; all this is considered to be "when it was written," and requires surrounding by blank klaf.
Note 5858) never...But if the klaf became cut afterwards, so the letter was not surrounded by blank klaf, it is valid.
Note 5959) surrounded...Even if it is of appropriate length, such that were the end scraped away the letter form would remain, it is still invalid (Magen Avraham, note 22, and see also note 3).
Note 6060) invalid...And if he wishes to correct it, he scrapes a little so that it is surrounded by blank klaf. Attaching a patch does not constitute surrounding with blank klaf, since we require the surrounding to be actually in the body of the sefer Torah/tefillin/mezuzah.
Note 6161) ink...This is also the rule if another colour changed the form of the letter, but if wax fell onto the letter, even so much that the letter was not recognisable, he may remove it, because wax does not invalidate writing; see Beur Halakha.
Note 6262) into...Whether the drop touches the body of the letter or not. This is also the rule if the drop fell inside the line of the letter and spread itself outside the confines of the letter such that it was no longer recognisable.
Note 6363) no longer recognisable...Whether the drop turned it into another letter, such as beit into peh, or whether it turned it into something which was not a letter at all. This is the rule for all the other letters; even if the drop obliterated only the tip of the yud - whether left or right - it is invalid. If one is not sure whether it retains its form, he may show it to a child of average intelligence.
Note 6464) scraping...Even if he then rewrites it over the top; after he has done hak tokhot it does not help, see Magen Avraham.
Note 6565) the drop...Even if the drop was still wet and the letter had dried - we can't say it's just covering it up, since the form of the letter had been invalidated before the correction.
Note 6666) hak tokhot...That is to say, he carves inside and around the letter, and what was not scraped away remains in the form of a letter.
Note 6767) and not "and carve..." It [the process of correction described above] is also called carving, because he doesn't do anything to the body of the letter, but scrapes away also from the letter until it doesn't have is form any more, and after that corrects it, and in tefillin and mezuzot only if he had not written any letters after it, since they require writing in order. This ruling of the Shulhan Arukh applies only when the original writing became unrecognisable, but if the form was still there he may scrape away the drop. It doesn't matter whether it fell into the blank space alone or if it also got onto the letter and made it fatter or longer; it does not constitute hak tokhot so long as the letter form remains. Technically, this doesn't even need to be corrected, but it's nicer to correct it, and accordingly one may make this correction in tefillin and mezuzot, even though they require writing in order; see Beur Halakha.
Know also that the Shulhan Arukh's ruling applies even after the letter was completed, and all the more so if the drop fell before the letter was completed but he finished writing it before it correcting it, so that it was corrected before it was recognisable - everyone agrees that this cannot be corrected by scraping the drop, because it was never a letter at all but became one because of the scraping, and this is absolutely hak tokhot. But if he scrapes away the drop and then wants to finish the letter, there are different opinions in the posekim. Rada"kh thinks that he may not: since the drop fell onto a part of the letter it no longer counts as writing, and the correction is actually scraping; how does it help to finish the letter by writing? And all the more so if the drop fell onto the klaf so as to form part of a letter; one may not complete the letter by writing. Beit Yosef and Rema (in Even ha-Ezer 125:4) are lenient even in this last ruling, holding that it is not hak tokhot unless the letter was completed by scraping, but the ahronim oppose them and are stringent as per the last ruling, unless he moved the drop around while it was still wet to have it form a complete letter, which counts as writing.
Note 6868) cannot correct it...That is, one cannot correct it by scraping. One may add ink to round it, and so too if one erred and wrote reish instead of dalet or khaf instead of beit and they were thick letters, he cannot scrape them to leave dalet or beit, but he may add ink to them to create dalet or bet. So too if he erred and wrote nun peshuta instead of zayin; he may not trim it down to zayin because that is absolutely hak tokhot, but must scrape it entirely. So too if he wrote hey instead of dalet; he may not scrape the leg of the hey to leave dalet - this is comparable to a drop falling into beit or samekh and spoiling it, where it does not help simply to scrape away the blot; this does not contribute to forming the actual letter, and this case is similar. Rather, he must scrape away part of the roof to leave vav, or part of the leg until it isn't dalet at all, and only then may he correct it.
The general principle is that scraping is not a valid way of making writing, and this is hak tokhot. But extra writing is valid, to thicken dalet into reish or reish into dalet when he writes the tag. It is the other way round for the concept of writing in order: scraping is permitted, for instance when one letter is stuck to another - as discussed above - because this does not contribute to forming the actual letter, and writing is not permitted. Adding ink to alter the form of the letter is permitted only when one hadn't written anything else after that.
Note 6969) scraping off the surplus...It doesn't help him to extend the roof and the foot after that, since it has the form even if he doesn't.
Note 7070) got stuck...And became invalid thereby; if it was stuck by a line as thin as a hair, see below in the discussion of hey, and see Beur Halakha.
Note 7171) closed...Like a closed mem, which occurs only at the end of a word, not in the middle. So too with all the doubled letters - mem, nun, tzaddi, peh, khaf - the first is used at the beginning and in the middle of words, and the second at the end, and any change invalidates.
Note 7272) open it...This is the rule for any letter whose form was spoiled - at the time of writing or afterwards - and restored by scraping, like an overly long dalet which looks like khaf peshuta, and similar cases: it does not help to scrape, because this does not do any action to the remaining part. He must scrape the whole leg (it seems to me; see note 68) and then correct it. If he extended the roof very far, until it was clearly dalet, he may then shorten the leg, but if he wrote hey instead of dalet - recall that we said above he must erase the entire leg or roof of the dalet and it is not sufficient to scrape the leg of the hey - this approach will not work. That is, he cannot extend the roof of the dalet, because if he hadn't done it it would still have had that form, and this does not constitute correction.
Note 7373) hak tokhot...Because it doesn't constitute formative action in the letter; it's just scraping out the opening. For the same reason, if one wrote het instead of two zayins, he may not scrape out just the roof, but must scrape enough that the zayins lose their form entirely. So too if one accidentally made khaf peshuta resembling dalet - which according to many authorities is invalid, as we explain in siman 36 - it is of no avail to round off the corner, because this is hak tokhot. Instead, he should add ink to it and round it this way. It seems that this does not cause writing out of order, because it has its form even if he does not correct it.
Note 7474) corrects it...All the directions in this paragraph apply only if one hadn't written anything after that letter - in tefillin and mezuzot - because they constitute writing out of order, unless it is explicitly stated otherwise.
Note 7575) the form of a nun kefufa...Mem petuha is made from two letters: first a nun kefufa, and then a stroke resembling vav. Therefore, the part making it invalid is the vav, and this must be scraped, but the nun was written correctly and need not be scraped. This is the rule for other letters which have multiple components, such as gimel, which became invalid through one of the components; only this component need be scraped, in contrast to letters such as reish made like dalet, which is made by one stroke and accordingly the entire letter is invalid and must be scraped.
Note 7676) reish...Or a vav which was made like reish, and similar letters which are made with one stroke.
Note 7777) like dalet...This also applies if the roof of khaf peshuta was made so long it resembled dalet or reish; see Beur Halakha. Scribes are frequently at error in this.
Note 7878) completed...Was already the appropriate length, for instance if one was writing "lo" and the vav got stuck to the lamed while it was still short (and similar cases), and even if a tiny part touched such that the form of the letter was not altered, it is invalid because it is no longer surrounded by blank klaf. If the letters spread out because of wet ink so much that they appear to have run into each other, but actually are not touching, they are valid, but if they touch, it is invalid even though it happened after the writing. See Even ha-Ezer 125:16 in Rema and Beit Shemuel, and above in Beur Halakha to par. 16. See Mishnah Berurah below, 143:25, for the procedure when one is reading from a sefer Torah and finds two letters stuck together.
Note 7979) scraping away the join...This is also the rule if the legs of the letters, or their roofs or middles, touch at the end so that they are not surrounded by blank klaf; they may be scraped a little. It is no worse than when one letter is stuck to another, in which case scraping is permitted. Further, this correction does not constitute writing out of order (see below, par. 25), because it doesn't add anything to the letter itself. One may even scrape within the Divine Names, if the letters were completed and were stuck to from below.
Note 8080) hak tokhot...Provided the form of the letter was not altered by being stuck, but if the form changed such that a child could not read it - and all the more so if it had turned into another letter entirely, such as vav sticking substantially to nun kefufa and forming tet, so that a child would read it as tet - scraping away the join is not valid. It is similar to the case of the closed-up mem which was hak tokhot, and so one must also scrape away the nun, because its form was also changed by becoming stuck, and so too in similar cases.
Note 8181) correctly...This case is not similar to that of par. 17, where the letter was initially written correctly and then became spoiled by a drop of ink to such a degree that it was unrecognisable: here, each letter is discernible even before being scraped. It follows that if the entire length of the letter became stuck to its fellow, scraping does not validate it. Peri Hadash is lenient; see Shaarei Ephraim and Netiv Hayyim.
Note 8282) hey...One must scrape the entire leg even if the join was only as wide as a hair, such that a child could tell it was hey, because if something does not have the form that was given to it at Sinai, it is not a letter. Likewise, a child does not validate a kuf.
Note 8383) got stuck...But if there is a gap, even so thin as a hair, it is valid.
Note 8484) erases...Merely separating them is of no avail, since this is hak tokhot.
Note 8585) the leg...That is to say, entirely, whether the invalid letter was hey or kuf; see Beur Halakha.
Note 8686) its roof...Since the lower and upper yuds shouldn't touch the roof more than at their thinnest parts, as is explained in Mishnah Berurah to siman 36, in the rules of letter forms.
Note 8787) inner face...The upper yud. It loses its form only when the entire yud is stuck; if there is a part left unstuck it is valid, even if it is not as thin as it ought to be. Provided some part remains, it is valid and does not require correction.
Note 8888) separating them...That is, by scraping away only the part which touches, to leave the letter looking as it ought.
Note 8989) everything...That is, he must erase the entire leg, and it is not sufficient simply to separate them unless he has invalidated it entirely from the letter form, since the whole leg was made invalidly. So too if the lower yud of aleph became stuck: he must erase the entire yud and write it afresh. Some are stringent because of this, and if the upper yud becomes stuck to the aleph will erase the whole aleph - anything written after this was automatically invalid because of it, but it is not clear whether one needs to be this stringent; see Beur Halakha.
Note 9090) yuds...That is, the yuds were made as straight lines without the form of yud, but it doesn't hurt it for the lines to become a little thicker.
Note 9191) peh...This is also the rule if the left leg of tav was made straight and didn't' poke out underneath. See Levushei Sarad, who remained uncertain as to why it needed to be erased, since one could continue it afterwards and thicken the yud of the shin until it was correct, and similarly with this case of tav. See there. Peri Megadim reasons similarly - in Mishbetzot ha-Zahav sec. 20 - that this procedure works even for aleph, and see the end of Levushei Sarad. In any case, all this applies for the tav and similar cases only when he has not written other letters after it, since if he has any fixing at all will constitute writing out of sequence, it not having the form of tav, and therefore be invalid.
Note 9292) starts...They are invalid if even one letter was not written lishmah, and rewriting them over the top doesn't help (Yoreh Deah 274). "Starts" indicates that when he comes to write a set of portions, he should say that he is writing the set of portions lishmah. This works, strictly speaking, even if he takes a break between portions, although it is better that he should say it at the beginning of each portion.
Note 9393) to write...It seems that correcting letters which had become broken also requires declaration of intent, since without it they are invalid, not having the proper letter forms.
Note 9494) say...If another person writes, he must also say it, even if he starts writing in the middle of a job.
Note 9595) out loud...It is not enough that he should have it in mind, even post facto; see Eliyahu Rabba and Peri Megadim, also see the novellae of R' Akiva Eiger.
Note 9696) "I am writing..."Some say that he should add "...and all the Divine Names for the holiness of the Name," in case he forgets to say it when he gets to them. See Beur Halakha.
Note 9797) every time... If he writes two Names without a break, once is sufficient for both.
Note 9898) started writing...That is he writing for the holiness of tefillin, and then even if he didn't mention the Names it is all right because at any rate he mentioned holiness. If he didn't say it explicitly but only thought it, or didn't sanctify the Names even in his thoughts, it is no good even post facto.
Note 9999) post facto...But for preference he should say "for the holiness of the Name" explicitly every time he comes to write a Name, even if he said "and all the Divine Names..." This is how the ahronim rule.
Note 100100) adds or omits...Even if the reading of the word is not altered thereby, such as malei and haser spellings, as we shall see.
Note 101101) a single letter...It is invalid if he omits so much as the point of a yud, as per Menahot 29a.
Note 102102) great...Besides the grave sin of stealing.
Note 103103) tremble at the word of God...Here I quote a highly relevant section of Levush: "Unlike today's scribes, whose apprentices write tefillin proficiently, and the scribe then checks to see that the haser and yeter spellings are all correct before putting them into the housings and selling them. They count the profits from this as their payment for teaching the apprentices, and justify themselves, saying 'We are very generous to teach the scribal arts, the work of God, to poor boys for nothing'! But I say that their gain is their loss, and they are not good people to do this to their people, for the child is young and does not know left from right; he doesn't have kavannah [mindfulness] at all, they just make pretty letters without any sanctity or mindfulness of the commandment whatsoever. Such a scribe is punished greatly, because he fails the people who lay these tefillin (see above, par. 19). Furthermore, to make his stock sound valuable, the scribe will tell everyone that he wrote them himself, with kavannah, and so on. Those who act in this way will come to be judged severely, and of him it is said 'Cursed is he who does the Lord's work deceitfully.' A scribe should distance himself from such practices, and it will be well with him, since the kavannah spoken for tefillin is not centred on the owner of the tefillin, in contrast to a get, which must be made for a specific couple, but on the holiness of the tefillin alone" - see there - and he concludes "those who have the power to appoint scribes should appoint, in each city, men of truth who hate bribes and know Torah, fear God and tremble at his words, just as we appoint kosher butchers, so that we shouldn't assume that all scribes are on the make, who just make pretty tefillin. While it is proper to want to make pretty tefillin, this should be for the purpose of the mitzvah: it is only good if they also have sanctity, but they don't care about that." Barukh she-Amar wrote "One should write attractive, flawless letters, without breaks, with great concentration and patience. He should not rush his writing to increase his profit, since this profit will become a loss; he will be disgraced and will forfeit his soul in causing others to sin. All who write tefillin as good and fit as they possibly can will have their reward doubled and doubled again, and will be saved from the judgement of Gehinnom." Sefer Hasidim, ch. 85, wrote "'Your righteousness endures forever' - this is one who increases the merit of the many, such as one who teaches tefillin fixing to God-fearing persons who will fix those of others." See par. 39, on when someone may write tefillin.
Note 104104) read it very carefully...Since if he finds one missing letter in one portion, not only that one is invalidated, but all those which came after it since they were not written in order; see the beginning of the chapter.
Note 105105) before he starts...That isn't to say the start of the portion particularly, just any time he starts writing in the portion.
Note 106106) that he has written...In that portion, not in the ones before it.
Note 107107) by his hand...When one dips his quill to write the Name, he shouldn't start writing it immediately, lest it be spoiled by excess of ink, or lest there is a hair on the quill which will stop it writing straight. Also, he needs to sanctify the ink on the quill before writing the Name, so he should be careful to stop writing one letter before the Name, and start writing in this letter. If he didn't leave a letter, he should look for a letter or tag which needs more ink, and complete it, and then write the Name. If he runs out of ink before completing the Name he should dip his quill into letters before the Name which are still wet, and complete the Name. He should not dip into the letters of the Name themselves, although some are lenient since it does not count as a desecration, being intended for completing the Name. If there are no wet letters to dip into, it seems to me that he should dip afresh and find a letter or tag which needs ink. All this is good to aim for, but does not invalidate it post facto.
Note 108108) nothing he can do... To fill in the missing letter. This is the case when the subsequent text contains Names which may not be erased; if it doesn't, he may erase it.
Note 109109) they shall be as they were...They are written in the same order as in which they are written in the Torah.
Note 110110) an extra letter...If he wrote a superfluous word, he can erase it, and may leave the place blank [if he can't find a letter in the words before it to extend and fill the gap (ed. of MB)]. The blank place doesn't invalidate it provided it isn't big enough to be a break between parshiyot, that is, nine letters, and sometimes even this may be rescued, for instance by extending the letter in the preceding word to make the size of the gap less than nine letters. If (and only if) the tefillin would be made invalid by the gap, and the last letter of the preceding word is hey or kuf, he may extend the roof to reduce the gap, even though lengthening its roof leaves its foot somewhere which is not the end of the roof. Peri Megadim writes that if one repeated a word, it is better to erase the second word than the first, since the first was written correctly, but if there is a letter before the first word which can be extended, he should erase the first, so as to satisfy the opinion of Rabeinu Tam that even three letters constitute a break between paragraphs.
Note 111111) erased...It doesn't constitute hak tokhot, since it is not doing anything formative to the [remaining] words or letters.
Note 112112) two words...Sometimes it is possible to correct it by scraping the letter and extending the letter before it to fill up the gap, for instance if one wrote לאבתיך as לאבותיך, he can erase the vav and extend the beit before it to fill its place. So too if the gap was after khaf or dalet or reish, which can be extended a little to fill the place left by removing the surplus letter. If the extendable letters are after the gap, though, they cannot be extended backwards without first removing a bit, for instance the word שאר, if he wrote it שאור - this can't be corrected by extending the reish because you would first have to remove its leg, which would nullify the letter form, and when one rewrote it [stretched] it would constitute writing out of order, which can't be remedied. He may be able to thicken the letters before and after the gap, which does not change the forms of the letters. This isn't the case if the letter before the extra letter was one which can be extended, since these can be extended a long way without detracting from them at all. The first occurrence of the word "matzot" (Ex 12:18) should be written without vav, but it is doubtful whether one may erase the vav and extend the tzaddi's foot; perhaps it continues to appear as two words unless the top of the letter is extended, even if the bottom of the letter was close. So too "notein," which is supposed to be without vav, and "hotziakha" which is supposed to have no yud between the tzaddi and the aleph - it is doubtful that one may amend them by extending the foot of the letter before - anything which looks like two words is invalid. However, if he had originally written nun or tzaddi with a long foot, and written the next letter very close to it, such as פני or ארצי, it would be all right because it was written as one word. One shouldn't let one letter swallow another, because some people are stringent about this.
Note 113113) place where a word was scraped off...Scraping is when he scraped it off after having let it dry, and erasing is what he does while it is still wet. It says one shouldn't do this, but that is by way of good advice. See Peri Megadim, who wrote that if any trace of ink remained, even post facto, it is suspect and one may not write on the place even if it is only an ordinary word and not a Name.
Note 114114) a letter...This section deals with writing out of order, which is a complex topic. I shall summarise in three sections. (A) When a letter is damaged, whether it was made that way initially or became that way later (Peri Megadim in his opening). If it obviously hasn't got its form, e.g. yud without its right leg or shin missing a yud - anything where a component of the letter is missing such that the form is invalidated - even if it doesn't look like another letter, and he'd written on, there's nothing he can do, even if a child happens to identify it correctly, there's nothing he can do, because it's out of order. All the more so if it came to resemble another letter, e.g. dalet looking like reish, or beit like khaf, or h et with a gap between the left leg and the roof so it looks like hey, tzaddi whose yud doesn't connect so it looks like yud and nun, etc etc, which we don't show to a child and fixing can't help. (B) If the damage or omission hasn't caused it to lose its form entirely, for instance if there is a thin gap in the middle of some letter but it has the fundamentals of its form, or if the yuds of aleph and shin, or the leg of tav, didn't touch the body but a suitable child recognised it - even so the letter is not valid, because it doesn't have its proper form. However, they may be repaired without its constituting writing out of order. (C) Even though it retains the fundamentals of its form and a child reads it correctly, the type of fixing which entails scraping and rewriting (for instance if something made a letter invalid) may not be employed [Ed. MB. For inst