PRINT7 Elul 5771
September 6, 2011
The Matai Ephraim tells us that in the month of Elul we check our tefillin and mezuzot. Based on this many try to have their tefillin and mezuzot examined during this time.
Here are number of tips can save a lot of aggravation and frustration as well as increase the longevity of your tefillin and mezuzot.
1. Make sure the person examining your tefillin and mezuzot is certified as an examiner.
2. Make sure that the sofer who wrote the scroll is certified by a recognized rabbinical organization (one would not eat meat from a shochet who was not certified).
3. Only go to established and accredited places to have your articles examined.
4. Do not give your tefillin to same day “shul hoppers” It takes 2-3 hours to open check sew and seal the batim – however you need to add time for the coats of paint to dry plus batim work which will take even more time to repair properly.
5. Always, arrange to a loaner set of tefillin while they are being examined (the better sofer establishments normal provide loaner sets.
6. Always replace broken tefillin covers as they can damage the batim.
7. Painting reztuos is a very temporary fix – 98% of the time the paint will not hold – I recommend replacing the straps as the black is a Halacha m’Sinai
8. Always wrap straps loosely as wrapping them tight will stretch and break the paint
9. If you perspire a lot and the batim or reztuos are wet leave your tefillin open and let them air out
10. If person perspires, which causes damage and warps the “rebua” of the batim – the batim should be wiped with a paper towel or tissue before they are placed to their covers.
11. If one does perspire or if one lives in an area which is humid, it is recommended that one should have the batim treated to prevent warping and also get “Tefillin Saver©” which is placed over the hole of the tefillin boxes and has a special moisture absorbers to prevent damage.
12. Make sure the mezuzah parchments are wrapped in wax or baking paper and not in cling plastic wrap. Plastic can actually damage the parchment.
13. Never put tape on the mezuzah parchment and make sure any examination stickers are remover before they are placing into the cover
14. Use wood covers with a nylon screw as they will protect and enhance the longevity parchments (the Chinese covers with the brass screw bottoms have a tendency to have the bottom fall off and out of the cover this happens because the brass fitting when hot expands and separates from the wood and then in the winter when it contracts if falls out from the cover). One should ask if the cover one is purchasing is made in Israel by Jews or in China by idol worshipers. (LeDorot Mezuzah© covers are made in Israel by Shomer Mitzvot - ART are all imported from China )
15. Mark the location of each mezuzah and arrange that the mezuzot are checked returned onto the door post the same day so that one does not sleep without mezuzot.
16. To make sure the mezuzot are attached properly one can refer to the following guide link or can contact me with any questions of location or if a bracha is required
In general – ask first and enjoy our mitzvos – any questions feel free to contact me at moshe@hasofer.com
You do not mention how often tefilin and mezusos should be checked (mezusas twice in seven years, tefilin once (before first used).
Halachah does not require mezuzot to be checked by an examiner. As long as they were checked initially one time, it is enough for a layman to open up the mezuzah and ascertain that there was no water or heat damage to the writing, and then wrap it up and put it back on the doorpost.
regarding tefillin: experience shows that sweating does not warp the batim. It only warps the titura, which is not a Halachic problem.
Rav Micha Berger write me:
Rav SZ Auerbach was not masqim. He held that given today’s tech, we make ink that is mixed so well out of ingredients ground so fine, and write on kelaf so well prepared, and then stored in houses with far less temperature change, that rolling and unrolling mezuzos are our biggest cause of pesulim.
When we learned this with R’ Mordechai Willig, back in the 1980s, he thought it was mistaber, but with some provisos:
- perhaps only indoor mezuzos, as outdoor ones are subject to rain and temperature changes
- perhaps only after the mezuzah was checked once, as mezuzos that never had a letter or word are still an issue. (And if found, there is no chazaqah demei’iqara.)
Is there a halacha that botei mezzuzos can’t be made by Chinese who anyway don’t practice avodah zarah? I would rather spend my money on a product made by a goy than support Israelis 90% of whom don’t keep anything. Is there a hechsher on LeDorot Mezuzah botim? If not there is no difference between them and anything else. I make a point to support Torah Jews but do not tell me just because something is made in Israel it’s kosher. I live here and I see what goes on with my own eyes. The whole point of this blog is that without a good hechsher all the claims in the world amount to nothing.