The concept of mukaf gevil -...

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Hilchos Tefillin 32 (page 87)מסימן לב סעיף יג עד אמצע סעיף טו אבל שאר פוסקים

The Concept of Mukaf GevilThe Size and Location of a Disqualifying HoleA Hole in the Interior of a Letter

The concept of mukaf gevilThere is a rule known as mukaf gevil which mandates thatevery letter of stam must be completely surrounded byparchment. Chazal derived this halacha from the worduchesavtom, which can be divided into two words ­u'chesav and tom­i.e. "complete writing." This means thatevery letter must be formed completely and surrounded byparchment to be fully recognizable. (According to somemeforshim, this rule is a halacha l'Moshe miSinai.) Thereare three areas which require particular attention: 1.Theremust be space between the end of a line and the edge ofthe klaf. 2. There must be a distinct separation betweenall letters (two letters may not touch at any point). 3. Noletter may abut a hole in the klaf. ומוספים) ביאורים אבל; ד"ה וביה"ל לד, ס"ק טו, סעיף(דרשו, 59

The size and location of a disqualifying holeIn addition to a hole adjacent to a letter, a hole within a letter can also disqualify stam. A holelarge enough to be visible invalidates the stam even if it is completely surrounded by ink. Ifthe hole is small, if a quill can pass over it easily [without getting stuck] and if it can be seenonly when it is held to the light, it is not significant enough to be disqualifying. A visible holethat formed after the letter was written is not disqualifying, but it should nonetheless be fixed.

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(One method for fixing it is to remove the ink connectingthe hole to the letter; once this distance is created, thehole can be considered separate from the letter.)(סעיף יג וס"ק לב; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 60)

A hole in the interior of a letterLechatchila, the rule of mukaf gevil applies to the whiteinterior of letters that close on at least three sides (e.g.beis, heh, ches). Bedieved, according to most poskim,the rule only affects the exterior inked area of the letterand not the white interior. The Yerushalmi, however, holdsthat the rule extends to the interiors also. When possible,one should be stringent like the Yerushalmi. Inextenuating circumstances, the opinion of the poskim canbe relied upon.(סעיף טו, ס"ק לד, לה ו־לז, וביה"ל ד"ה אבל)

All stages of the processing from thelime soak onward must be donelishma. Some poskim hold that if theinitial stages were performed lishma,all subsequent stages are consideredlishma.

If a goy has access to the hidesduring tanning (e.g. a goy is workingon non­essential parts of the process),he could possibly switch the kosherhides with non­kosher ones. The hidesbeing processed lishma should bemarked with a sign that the goycannot reproduce.

Only the skins of kosher animals maybe used for klaf. The skins of kosheranimals that died or are otherwiseforbidden to eat may be used.

The 'size of a small letter'

The length of the legs of the letters

The size of the left leg of the heh

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