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From today's Hakhel email Bulleten.<br><br>
<font size=3><b>Question: </b>I am willing to spend as much money as
necessary to obtain the best STA”M possible. Should I search for a sofer
who is a big yerei Shamayim (very God-fearing individual) or one with a
very beautiful kesav (handwriting)?<br><br>
<b>Answer: </b>This is an extremely difficult question to answer. Let us
examine the case for both sides in order to arrive at a satisfactory
conclusion.<br><br>
§ The argument for
choosing a sofer with a beautiful kesav:<br><br>
1) Who are we to judge someone’s level of
Yiras Shamayim?<br><br>
A Rav told me that he was once asked by his father (also a well-known
Rav) to buy tefillin parashiyos for him. After some effort, he narrowed
it down to two sofrim – one sofer was a bigger Yerei Shamayim while the
other had a nicer kesav.<br><br>
The Rav’s father said immediately, “I’ll take the nicer kesav.” He then
proceeded to explain: “How do you know that Sofer A is a bigger yerei
Shamayim than Sofer B? This is something that is impossible to really
know. However, if Sofer B has a nicer kesav, that is a fact. <br><br>
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2) Even when buying STA”M from a great
yerei Shamayim, you might not be getting what you want.<br><br>
</font>For instance, certain sofrim who may be considered by many to be
true yerei Shamayim sometimes can form their own halachic opinions. Some
may not understand that when someone is spending “mehudar” money, they
would like to receive a product which is mehudar according to <b>all</b>
recognized opinions, not just the sofer’s.<br><br>
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3) Not every yerei Shamayim is a good
sofer. <br><br>
</font>I was once asked to check the beginning of a Sefer Torah which was
in the process of being written by a ‘mekubal’. Unfortunately, the Sefer
Torah was a complete disaster! Aside from the kesav, which looked almost
childish, there were many halachic problems with the letters as well. The
overall appearance was so awful that when part of the Sefer Torah was
shown to a particular Rav, he blurted out, “Why, it’s not even fit to
dance with on Simchas Torah!”<br><br>
The way to judge this mekubal favorably is by recognizing that he was
very old, and apparently did not realize to what extent his writing,
which was once on par with average sofrim, deteriorated. <br><br>
In any event, these are three reasons why choosing a sofer who is a big
yerei Shamayim may not necessarily ensure that you will receive a quality
STA”M product.<br>
<hr>
Dare one suggest that not every yerei Shamayim is a competent posek
and/or is competent to give advice on various matters? YL<br>
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