Siman 36

The sofer must be very, very meticulous in the writing of the letters, so that the form of any one of them does not change such that it appears not to be a letter at all, such as if he attaches the yudin of the aleph completely across their entire thickness and the like. And likewise, that it should not resemble another, for example the heh, if he does not leave a noticeable space at its left leg it will appear like a chet, and conversely with a chet, if he does not attach it completely it will appear like a heh. And so too with anything similar to this. For even the holy Tannaim warned one another when one was a sofer, that he should be careful to be cautious. As we say in Eruvin (13a) that Rabbi Yishmael warned Rabbi Meir who was a sofer, and said to him: Be careful my son, for your work is the work of Heaven, see there. And it is a kal vachomer, the son of a son of a kal vachomer, that we, who are like ants compared to them, how much we must be careful. And the meticulous sofer—his reward is without end, and conversely—his punishment is without end. (One should not make a letter with a break in the middle, like "<>".)

Every letter must be one single body for the entire letter, except for he and kof. Therefore, one must be careful with the point above the alef, that it should be like a yod, and with the point below it. The yod above it should be upright and facing upward, as it is stated in the Otiyot de-Rabbi Akiva: Why is the yod of the alef upright and facing upward from its side? Because it testifies and looks toward the Holy One, Blessed be He, that He is truth (Hagahot Maimoniyot, chapter of "She-Raon"). And he should be careful that the yodin touch the alef with thin thorns, and likewise with the yodin on the shin and the ayin and the back of the tzadi, that they should be touching the letter. And if even one does not touch—it is pesulah. And in this matter, the reading of a child is of no use, as I wrote in siman 32. And he should finish the letter in its entirety before he begins another, for if not, it is "not in their order" (Taz, subsection 1). But the small thorns on the letters—they do not hinder regarding "not in their order" (ibid.), since the entire letter is complete. And so too with the rest of the letters, he should be careful that the entire letter be one body, except for he and kof, where the leg must not touch the roof, and if it touched—it is pesul. And some declare it kosher, but it is not the primary view. And thus we instruct the law in practice. And there should be a proper separation in the he and kof, in a manner that an average person can recognize it while standing next to the Sefer Torah (Magen Avraham, subsection 1).

And one must provide crowns for the letters shaatnez getz. The scribes are accustomed to providing crowns for other letters as well. If one did not provide crowns even for shaatnez getz—it is not disqualified. The crowns must touch the body of the letters, and each one must be separate from its fellow. There is one who disqualifies if one did not provide crowns for shaatnez getz, but it is not the primary view, as I wrote in siman 32. However, one must rectify them. (See Magen Avraham, subsection 3, who wrote that if the crowns do not touch the body of the letter or if they touch one another—it is disqualified, see there. And it is a wondrous thing, for they are not indispensable at all as I have written. And it requires further study.)

Our teacher, the Rema, wrote in section 1 that initially one should write with perfect writing, as is explained in the Tur and other poskim. And this is known among the scribes. However, if he changed the form of the script – it is not invalid. Thus far his words. The explanation of his words: that he calls "perfect writing" according to how we write in Sifrei Torah, tefillin, and mezuzot. And if he changed to another script, such as Velyish script – it is valid. But certainly in every script we require "perfect writing," and it is a requirement even ex post facto. As it is stated in Menachot (34a) and in Shabbat (103b) that it is called "perfect writing" when it has the form of a letter, and that it does not resemble another, and that there should be a single body alone in the heh and the kof as I have written. And it is obvious that this is a requirement even ex post facto as I have written.

Regarding the form of the letters – our teachers, the authors of the Shulchan Aruch, did not bring them at all, because this is known to the scribes. However, the Tur and the Beit Yosef in his great work explained them, and therefore we too shall explain a bit. But first we must explain that which was taught in Shabbat there: "And you shall write them" – that it shall be a perfect writing, that one should not write an aleph as an ayin..., a mem as a samekh, a vav as a yod..., see there. And it must be understood: granted that mem and samekh have a similarity to one another, except that the samekh has rounded corners and the mem has sharp corners. And so too vav and yod, for they have one form, except that the vav is long and the yod is short. But aleph and ayin – behold, they have no similarity to one another? And if it is because they are identical in their pronunciation according to the explanation of Rashi, see there – nevertheless, why is a verse necessary for this? Behold, it is a completely different letter.

And I found in the Hagahot Maimoniyot, chapter one, that he wrote, and this is his wording: That one should not make alephin ayinin, that he should not make [the aleph] truly deep toward the right like an ayin toward the left. Thus far his words, and this is similar to what we explained in siman 32, section 12: Such as where he extended the upper yod of the aleph truly downward, and the lower yod truly upward, and it resembles an ayin, see there. Therefore, even if it is truly an aleph, but only resembles an ayin – it is pasul, for this is not "ktiva tama." And according to this I say that regarding the difference between a bet and a bent kaf, where the bet has its corners squared and the kaf rounded, and the squareness and roundness are on both their sides above and below, if the bet is squared above and rounded below or vice versa, and similarly the kaf in such a manner – they are pasul, since on one side it resembles another letter – this is not "ktiva tama." And perhaps even the reading of a child will not avail for this, since we see that its form is not upon it on one side, and it is not in its perfection. And "ktiva tama" appears to be a requirement post facto, as is proven in Menachot (34a), and it is similarly implied in Shabbat ibid. For it is listed there among several things that certainly are required post facto, see there. However, if we are in doubt whether the corners are rounded or squared, in that they are neither rounded nor squared – they should ask a child who is neither wise nor foolish (so it appears according to my humble opinion). And see what I wrote in section 15.

The aleph: the upper point shall be like a yud with a small thorn upon it, and its face with the thorn shall be turned upwards. The thigh of the yud shall be attached to the roof of the body in the middle of the roof, and the end of the roof shall be curved upwards slightly behind it. The point below shall be distant from the head of the body by the measure of a quill’s thickness and a half. The lower point shall have a small thorn towards the right below. The left thorn of the upper point shall be aligned opposite the right thorn of the lower point (Beit Yosef in the name of Baruch She'amar). And some have written according to the Arizal that in tefillin the lower yudin of the alephin must be like a small inverted dalet. (The Gra"z. See there where he wrote twice: its form is like an inverted dalet, and so too in tefillin… and it implies that also in a Sefer Torah it is sometimes so, but he did not clarify for us when its form is so. And it requires further study.)

The beit must be square above and below. It shall have a sharp point above on the right side inclining toward the aleph, and a thick heel below, and a small staff above on the left side upon its face (Beit Yosef). The length and width of the beit shall be like three quills, and the width of its space like the thickness of a quill (Rema in Darkei Moshe). The measure of a quill is the width of the line produced by the quill when it writes. See what I have written in section 6.

Gimmel: They wrote that its head and its body should resemble a zayin: its head thick, and the right leg descends slightly lower than the left thigh. And the thigh should be drawn thick and slightly on an incline and slightly low, and three tagin on its head (Beit Yosef in the name of Baruch She'amar). And he should be careful that the left thigh be drawn forward and not downward (Darkhei Moshe in the name of Hagahot Maimoniyot). The explanation of the matters: That its head and its body resemble a zayin, this means that the long line of the gimmel should not begin at the edge of the thick head to the right like the vav, but rather in the middle like a zayin. And the "left thigh" refers to the bottom part which is far from the line, and is connected by a thin point. And this is what it says, that the line descends slightly lower than the thigh. And the reason it calls it "left" is because relative to the line it is on the left. And this thigh should be thick and drawn forward in width. And it is wider than the thick upper head, and it goes slightly as an incline and slightly as low. And the Arizal, of blessed memory, did not agree that it should resemble a zayin, but rather that the line should begin at its right edge like the vav (the Gra"z).

The dalet, its roof is long and its leg is short, so that it does not resemble a long kaf. And ab initio one should be meticulous that the leg be straight but with a slight slant toward the right side, and that it should have a small tag on the top of its roof on the left side. And the primary caution regarding the tag behind it is to square it, so that it has a corner so that it does not appear like a resh. And there is one who says that a sharp corner alone is not sufficient, but rather one should make it a proper heel. That is to say: that the leg should not begin at the edge of the roof, but rather a point of the roof should remain behind the leg, for then it is very far from being a resh. And at the edge of the roof on the right side there should also be a small point. And it appears that this is not a disqualifying factor post facto.

The heh: the roof and the right leg shall be like a dalet, only a point like a yod hangs within it from the left side. And it shall be quite far from the roof, so that one standing by the Sefer Torah will recognize it as a heh. And it shall not be opposite the middle of the roof, but rather at its end on the left. And the point shall be thin above and slightly thick below, curved downward toward the right side like a yod, for the form of the heh is composed of a dalet and a yod. And if he made the yod in the middle of the roof—it is pesulah (the HaGra"z). And there is one who declares it kosher (Magen Avraham siman 32, end of subsection 33). And in my humble opinion, it appears like the first opinion. And likewise, if the yod touches the roof in the slightest—it is pesulah. And carving does not avail, for it would be like "chak tochot." Rather, he shall erase the yod entirely. And we have already explained this in siman 32.

The head of the vav is short so that it does not resemble a resh, and its leg is long so that it does not resemble a yod. It is good for it to be rounded toward the right side, so that it does not resemble a zayin. And even though there is another sign in a zayin, that the leg is in the middle of the head, nevertheless one must be concerned that it not resemble a zayin. The leg must be straight and even, without any curvature. The thickness of the leg diminishes little by little until it is sharp at the bottom. According to the tradition of the Arizal, in tefillin there must be a small point on every vav on the left side of its head. This is only in tefillin and not in a sefer Torah or mezuzah. The head of the zayin must be square, and its leg in the middle of its head, so that the head extends on both sides so that it does not resemble a vav. One should not make it very long so that it does not resemble a nun peshutah. There are three tagin on its head.

Het: According to Rashi, the het is like the printed het, but above on the left side it has a kind of small stick. And according to Rabbeinu Tam, it is two zayinin with a hump on top of them. And the custom is like Rabbeinu Tam. And one should make something like a small tag at the top of the left leg. And the right leg, its head should be rounded toward the right side ab initio. And the two legs are like zayinin. And according to the tradition of the Arizal, in tefillin the right leg is like a vav, and the line of the hump that is over the right leg should be thick, and that which is over the left leg should be thin. And if one made the het like Rashi—it is kosher, for as long as it has the form of the letter het—it is kosher ex post facto. And so it is with all the letters.

The tet: its right head should be slightly long, and its head should be slightly lowered. It should be rounded at the top, and not drawn straight. The point of its face should be drawn into it downwards, and the second head on the left side should be exactly similar to a zayin. The leg is drawn straight downwards. On the left head are three tagin. According to the Arizal, the left head is similar to a vav (the Ha-Gra-z). And the yod must have a small tag on it above ab initio. And one must make its head bent on its left downwards, so that it is like a small point descending downwards. And it should be very short so that it does not resemble a small het, as is understood. And its right leg should be slightly bent ab initio to improve its form. And the leg should not be large so that it does not resemble a resh, and short and not long so that it does not resemble a vav. And if its right leg is missing – it is pasul, and repair does not help as it would be "not in their order." And if the left point is missing – he may repair it, for in this "not in their order" does not apply, as I wrote in siman 32.

A bent kaf must be rounded on every side, and it should not have any corner. Its face above and below should be equal. Some have written that the primary requirement is the rounding below, but above, even with a corner, it is kosher (see Beit Yosef letter 40, and Shulchan Aruch of the HaGarz). In my humble opinion, this requires further study, as I wrote in section 6; see there. A straight kaf has a short roof and a long leg. At its bend, it should be rounded. The length should be of a measure such that if one were to bend it, it would be a bent kaf. It follows that the length is twice the size of the roof. Some say that if one made a corner for it above, it is pasul (HaGarz). Others permit it (Magen Avraham siman 32, subsection 26 in the name of Galanti). And so it appears to my humble opinion to be the primary ruling.

The lamed is composed of a bent kaf with a vav. Therefore, its neck must be long like a vav, and its head rounded toward the right side, and on the left side an angle to its head like the head of the vav. And its tail is thick and bent forward, and rounded from behind like a kaf. But the place of connection of its body and its neck should have an angle between the end of the vav which descends thinly like a vav and the kaf. And all this is ab initio. And according to the Kabbalah, it must have two tagin on the head of its neck, the right one large and the left one small (the Gra"z). And if it is necessary to extend the bottom line of the kaf, so that it be equal with the top line – there is a dispute. For some say it should be equal (Radbaz), and some say it should not be equal (Kehillat Yaakov in the name of the Gra). And so the scribes have practiced to shorten it from the upper one, and they extend it until the midpoint of the upper one.

An open mem, some say it is like a nun with a vav (Taz siman 32, subsection 17). And so it appears from the words of our teacher, the Beit Yosef, there in section 18, and so we wrote there in section 39 (and so wrote the Pri Megadim). And this is like the mem in print, and I believe it is so in Vellish script. But in this siman, our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote in his great book that a mem is like a kaf and a vav, meaning that one makes it like a kaf and joins the vav to it, and the vav goes straight. For if it is a nun and a vav—it is necessary that the vav go slightly on a diagonal, as is understood. And both forms are kosher. However, most of the great authorities agreed to write ab initio like a kaf and a vav, and such is the common custom and one should not change it.

And know that an open mem and a closed mem must be equal, in that which they are able to be equal. For behold, both of them are memin, except that this one is open and this one is closed. Therefore, one should not make an open mem rounded at the top and the bottom on the right side exactly like a kaf, because if he does so with a closed one, there is a concern that it will resemble a samekh. Rather, ab initio one should make a corner for them at the bottom on the right side. However, at the top there are those who make them rounded ab initio, so that it will somewhat resemble a bent kaf with a vav. Therefore, the roof also is not made rounded, but rather they extend it until it is opposite the bottom edge so that it will be like a kaf. And the nose must reach until it is opposite the bottom base, and he connects it from above with a thin point. And a closed mem likewise, its form is thus: a kaf and a vav, except that the vav closes it (the Ha-Garaz). And he should make it rounded on the right side ab initio at the top but not at the bottom, so that it will not resemble a samekh (ibid.). And there is one who says that it is better for it to be square on every side (Pri Megadim).

A bent nun, its head should be like a zayin. And the head should be short, and its lower base extended toward the left side slightly more than the upper head, so that it does not resemble a beit. And the lower head should be rounded. And if he made the form of a vav, meaning that he extended the line from its edge—it is kosher ex post facto, for one cannot mistake it for a vav because of the lower head. And he should make three tagin on it. And a straight nun also, its head's form is like a zayin, and it is longer than a zayin. And the measure of its length: enough that if he were to bend it, it would be a bent nun. And in this case, if he made it like a vav—it is certainly invalid, as it appears like a long vav. And vavin are commonly long, therefore one is likely to mistake it for a vav. This is not the case with a zayin, for one cannot mistake it, because one does not write long zayinin. And it requires further study whether a correction is effective, because of the concern of "not in their order." And it seems to me that they should ask a child: if he says that it is a vav—correction is not effective, and if he says that it is a nun—correction is effective. And he should make three tagin on it.

A samekh: its roof above shall be long, and its base below short. It shall be rounded above toward the right side, and below rounded from both sides, from the right and from the left. He shall close it completely. It follows that it is rounded from three sides. Except from above on the left side it is not rounded, and there the roof extends slightly outside the closure ab initio. An ayin: he shall make the right head like a yod whose face is slightly upward, for all the yods on the right side in an ayin, a tzadi, and a shin—all of their faces are toward the top. Therefore, one does not place the tagin upon them except on their left side. Afterward, he extends the body somewhat upright, and not with an actual curve like the ayin in print. The second left head is like a zayin standing in it and connecting it to the body. And according to the tradition of the Arizal, the two lines of the ayins in tefillin shall be like two straight vavs (the HaGra"z), and it has three tagin.

A bent peh on the right side. From the inside, it must have an angle above and below, and from the outside below, it shall be rounded. For all the bent letters are rounded below from the outside. However, above from the outside, the author of the "Baruch She'amar" wrote that it should be rounded like below. But our teacher, the Beit Yosef, cited in the name of Rabbi Yehuda HeChasid that above it should have an angle from the outside just as from the inside. And in the white space within, it must have the form of a bet, and it should be a quill-width and a half wide in order to suspend within it the point that is inside, so that it does not touch its body. And it should have a thorn on its face toward the left side ab initio, and it descends downward toward the point within it. And the point and the extension of its thorn shall be like the form of a vav when one turns the peh over. And regarding a straight peh, there are those who say it should be rounded above on the right side ab initio. But the tradition of the Chasid is to make it square from above. And it must be long enough to make a bent peh if one were to bend it. And its point and its thorn are like in the bent peh. And he shall be careful that the point does not protrude outside, so that it does not resemble a tav.

The right head of the bent tzadi should be bent slightly upward as I wrote regarding the ayin, see there. He should attach its thigh to the middle of its neck and not below, so that it does not resemble an ayin. Its left head should be like a zayin, and its neck somewhat long. Its base should be extended well toward the left side, and its form is like a bent nun with a yod upon it. Ab initio, it should be rounded below on the right side as with all bent letters, as I have written. According to the tradition of the Arizal, all the tzadins in the tefillin should have the right head like an inverted yod, and its left like a bent nun (ibid.). It has three tagin. The straight tzadi should have its head like the bent one, and its leg should descend downward from the attachment of the heads to one another. Its measure, ab initio, is enough that if one were to bend it, it would form a bent tzadi.

The roof of the kof should be level. Its back, meaning its thigh, should be well-curved. There should be a small tag on its roof on the left side, and a leg hangs from it which must not touch the body. If it touched—it is pesulah, just as with a heh. However, one should not distance it from the roof more than the thickness of a quill. The leg should be somewhat thick at the top, and gradually diminish. The resh should be completely rounded from its back, so that it does not resemble a dalet. Its thigh should be short so that it does not resemble a plain kaf.

The right and middle heads of the shin should be like a yod whose face is upward, as I wrote regarding the ayin, see there. And its third, left head is like a zayin. According to the tradition of the Arizal, all the shinin in the tefillin should be three lines like three straight vavin (ibid.). And one must attach the middle head toward the left side at the bottom. Its base at the bottom should not be wide but rather sharp toward the left side, and then all the heads will stand on one leg like the kof and the resh. And there are three tagin on its head, and the heads should not touch one another. It has already been explained that all the tagin are on the left leg, and regarding the tav, there is a tradition from the early authorities that its roof with the right leg should be like a dalet. And regarding the left leg, there are those who make it like an inverted vav, and there are those who make it like a small inverted dalet. And thus the scribes have practiced, for this form is from the Rokeach (see Beit Yosef). And the form of the inverted vav is from the Sefer HaTemunot. Therefore, in a place where they practiced according to this form—one does not protest against them. And the left leg should touch at the top, and the right leg should not be very long so that it does not resemble a final pe. And one makes the protrusion on the left leg at the bottom toward the outside, and he should be careful that the roof does not protrude further than opposite the protrusion of the leg. Behold, we have explained the entire alef-bet. And there are among them things that are indispensable post facto, and things that are not indispensable. The general rule of the matter: if the letter possesses its form and does not resemble another letter—it is kosher, as has been explained several times.

One must place tagin on the letters shin, ayin, tet, nun, zayin, gimmel, and tzadi. If one did not place tagin—it is not disqualified. However, some disqualify (Bach). One should be careful to fix them, for there is no concern of "not in their order" regarding this. The tagin should be like very small zayins. The three tagin are on top, on the left head, as I have written. The Rambam validates it when one did not place tagin on them. There are also other tagin that the scribes have practiced in tefillin according to the tradition of the ancients, and it is proper to be careful. Regarding these, certainly if one did not make them—it is not disqualified. The Rambam in the second chapter counted the letters that are tagged in the four parshiyot of the tefillin, and they are these:

In the first parasha there is one letter: the closed mem of "miyamim," upon it are three zayin-marks. In the second parasha there are five letters and all of them are heh, and upon each one are four zayin-marks, and these are they: the heh of "u-netanah lach," and the hehs of "hikshah Pharoah": the first heh and the last heh of "hikshah," and the heh of "va-yaharog," and the heh of "yadchah." In the third parasha of "Shema" there are five letters: the kof of "u-vekumecha" has three zayin-marks, and the kof of "u-keshartam" has three zayin-marks, and the tet-tet-peh of "totafot," each letter of them has four zayin-marks. In the fourth parasha there are five letters: the peh of "ve-asafta" has three zayin-marks, the tav of "ve-asafta" has one zayin-mark, and the tet-tet-peh of "totafot" has four zayin-marks for each of the three of them. And all the tagged letters are sixteen. And if he did not tag them—he did not invalidate them. And this is the tradition of the Rambam. However, in the Shimusha Rabba, and the Tur brought it, it is stated, and this is its wording: All the alphabet of the letters of the tags you find in the tefillin, and these are they: chet-tzadi, vav-samech, shin-yod, lamed-mem-ayin-tav in the parasha of "Kadesh." Beit-peh-resh, heh-zayin-mem, aleph-kaf, dalet-kof-chet, kaf-heh, tet-tet in the parasha of "Ve-hayah Ki Yeviacha." Shaatnez Getz in the parashiot of "Shema" and "Ve-hayah Im Shamoa." And this is its explanation: chet-tzadi, the chet of "chametz" has one tag, the tzadi has five tags. Vav-samech of "ha-Yevusi" have three tags each. (And he should be careful with the tags of the vav to make them very thin, and likewise upon the yods so that he does not ruin the form of the letters.) The shin of "asher" has two tags. The yod of "li" has three tags. Lamed-mem-ayin of "lema'an" have four tags each. The tav of "Torat" has three tags (it requires investigation which tav). The beit of "yeviacha," peh-resh of "peter" have three-three-three tags. Heh-zayin-mem of "ha-zecharim" have three tags each. Aleph-kaf of "yishalcha" have four tags each. The dalet of "yad," the kof of "hikshah," the chet of "le-shallechenu," the kaf-heh of "yadchah" have three tags each. Tet-tet of "le-totafot" have five tags each. Shaatnez Getz, the shin-ayin of "Shema," the tet-tet of "le-totafot," the nun of "nafshecha," the zayin-zayin of "mezuzot," the gimmel of "deganecha," the tzadi of "ha-aretz," have three tags each. Thus far its words. And the Tur wrote that he should not have mentioned shaatnez getz, see there. And in truth he mentioned them only to complete the alphabet.