- This topic has 23 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 10 months ago by .
-
Posts
-
So technically according to Rambam if the tefillin is worn regularly it doesn’t ever need to be checked.
However mezuzot need to be checked at least every seven years?
Could it be less expensive to start replacing a couple mezuzot every five years until by year seven all of them in one’s house are new and just keep doing that?
Do people donate mezuzot that need to be checked?
Thank you
They need to be checked twice every seven years, not once.
Checking a Mezuzah should be less expensive than purchasing a new one (assuming that you are dealing with the same scribe in both cases).
Unless they’re in a location that’s exposed to dampness, mezuzahs are less likely to become pasul than are tefillin. At least that’s what a sofer told me, IIRC. It makes sense to me.
I haven’t checked prices recently, but I suspect it costs at least 10 times as much to buy a decent quality mezuzah as to have one checked.
In Brooklyn it costs between $5 and $10 to check a mezuzah. Good new ones probably start around $50. Why buy new mezuzahs if the ones you have are kosher?
Generally the cost is for the examination. They notify you if their are any issues. Fixing mezuzos are difficult as the Halacha is that they must be written in order. It is not like a Sefer Torah where a sofer just fixes the pesul. The sofer will generally tell you what can or can’t be repaired. I personallly use Rabbi Pincus of Tiferes Stam On Coney Island Ave between Avenues M & N in Brooklyn (I think the address is 1644 CIA).
They are generally checked and returned the same day.
Lb: the consensus is that the parshios in tefillin are checked once every seven years. The boxes and straps can be checked as often as one likes if they think there is an issue (e.g. The boxes lose their square shape).
BTW, two of the 4 parshiyos in tefillin are found in Parshas Bo.
I tried to edit my response but…..
Instead of “consensus” it should have read “common custom”.
iac: Twice every seven years.
Joseph: While the Mishna Berurah does say twice every seven years, the common practice is once every seven years (Heard from R’ Hillel David Shlita).
I gotta double check, but I thought it was specifically paskened in S”A twice in seven.
The sofer told me, we try not to open tefillin to check them, as this can cause more problems than it solves. We rely on the chezkas kashrus (presumption of being acceptable), unless there is a specific reason to check them.
So what is the sofer checking when you bring him your tefilin every 3.5 years?
That is the point. You don’t need to check the parshiyos unless you have a real concern. like if they fell into water, or they get left in a boiling hot or freezing cold car often.
Of course, ribua needs to be checked, and the retzuos have to be black
joseph: You are partially correct. The Shulchan Aruch (39:10) states that tefillin with a chezkas kashrus never need to be checked and those that are only used “occasionally” twice in seven years.
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=49623&st=&pgnum=134
I don’t have the exact quote in the sefer Minchas Shlomo but R’ Shlomo Zalman T”ZL states that since tefillin are made so much better “today” the chezkas kashrus is even stronger.
I have a misquote above. It is not in the Minchas Shlomo but in the sefer Halichos Shlomo Tefillah. I do not see it on hebrewbooks.org.
If S”A paskens either twice in seven or never (and M”B says twice in seven), how and where did once in seven enter the picture?
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.