OF SCROLLS

A SCRIBE

AN INTERVIEW WITH
RABBI ARYEH SCHECHTER,
SOFER STAM
BY ESTY MENDELOWITZ

30

June 8, 2016

Walking down the steps into the modest

office and workshop of Rabbi Aryeh
Schechter, located on a quiet residential
street in Boro Park, one enters a sacred
space. The countertop is piled with
numerous individual tellin batim in
various stages of repair. A computer and
large magnier sit on the side, ready to
check for minute errors on the parchments
lined up in rows. Behind the counter are
shelves of sefarim related to safrus, some
of them written by Rabbi Schechter himself.
Rabbi Aryeh Schechter is a sofer who has
been serving the Boro Park community for
many decades. In addition to his years of
writing and checking sifrei Torah, tellin
and mezuzos, he has had the privilege
of interacting with the many Gedolim
who have used his services. He has also
introduced several innovations, especially
in regard to tellin, to make them as
mehudar as possible.
In honor of Shavuos, Rabbi Schechter takes
Inyan readers on a fascinating journey
through the world of STaM; the writing
and maintenance of sifrei Torah, tellin
and mezuzos.

2 Sivan 5776

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The Kopycznitzer Rebbe, Harav Avrohom Yehoshua Heschel, zya, at the chasunah of Rabbi Schechters uncle Rabbi Luzer Kaufman

ORIGINS
Leaving blood-soaked Europe after the war, Rabbi
Schechters family, along with many other families of
Kopycznitzer Chassidim, settled in Colombia in South
America.
Young Aryeh Schechter came to New York after his bar
mitzvah to learn in Yeshiva Torah Vodaath.
Rabbi Avraham Talansky, zl, was the dorm mashgiach,
and to keep us busy, he arranged for a variety of classes after
yeshivah hours ended. One of them was a class on hilchos
STaM, by Rabbi Yossi Ostrich, and I was very intrigued, Rabbi
Schechter says. The boys in the dorm came from a variety of
cities and countries with varying levels of Yiddishkeit, so a
sofer came down each year to check the boys tefillin to make
sure they were kosher.
When the sofrim came each year, I sat with them and asked
them many questions. Rabbi Aharon Berlin from Eretz Yisrael
taught me how to write megillos. I also learned from Rabbi
Baruch Greenfeld and his son Rabbi Duvid Leib, who came
from Eretz Yisrael and built up the Vaad Mishmeres STaM in
New York.

HOUSE CALLS
In the 1970s doctors made house calls, but Rabbi Schechter
initiated the sofers house call. In addition to problems in the
actual mezuzah, often they are not properly hung in homes. I
come down to the customers home with another two sofrim
and we take down the mezuzos, check them, and replace them
properly.

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June 8, 2016

There was a frum family that had no idea that mezuzos need
to be checked. When a friend made them aware, they called us.
We went to their house, and not only were they missing many
mezuzos, but they had mezuzos on the bathroom doors!
Says Rabbi Schechter, You never know what you will nd
on a house call.
Together with Rabbi Uri Auerbach, Rabbi Schechter wrote
a sefer, Pischei Shearim, an encyclopedia of hilchos mezuzah,
with diagrams on how to place them correctly. Just recently
I was in Chicago for the wedding of my rst grandchild.
There was a shiur in the local shul based on the sefer, and the
participants were very excited when I introduced myself as the
sefers coauthor!
Rabbi Schechter has also published various kuntreisim.

TINY TEFILLIN OR THE ORIGINAL?

About 35 years ago, Rabbi Schechter received a tiny set of
tefillin from a baal teshuvah, who was a grandson of a Rav in

The actual tefillin from Turkey

Turkey. The tefillin were very old, and the tefillin shel yad
were tall and narrow. Rabbi Schechter was asked to research
whether they were kosher, as they appeared much smaller
than our tefillin shel yad today.
My intensive research showed that smaller tefillin are
the way tefillin were originally made. Tefillin shel yad need
to t comfortably on half the bicep, and big ones that take
up the area of the entire bicep are only kosher bdieved.
When tefillin starting being written on ox skin, which is
very tough, it became harder to write small parshiyos, so the
size of the tefillin gradually got bigger.
Rabbi Schechter has innovated a unique way to roll
standard-size parshiyos more narrowly, so they can t into
smaller batim. Harav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg was the
rst to order these smaller batim from me. Many, many
Rabbanim and Rebbes have followed suit. The small size
allows men to wear both Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam tefillin at
once, which is the preferred way.
Rabbi Schechter met Harav Shimon Schwab, ztl, at a
Torah Umesorah convention, and he showed him the smaller
tefillin. Rav Schwab called over his wife to show them to
her, saying, This is the size tefillin we had in Europe. In
Rav Schwabs kehillah, there was a very short bar mitzvah
boy, and Rav Schwab told him to get the smaller-size
Schechter tefillin to t his small arm. He told him, If you are
embarrassed to wear the small tefillin, I will purchase new
small tefillin for myself so you wont feel uncomfortable.
During the Holocaust, many heroic Jews hid tefillin
even in concentration camps, and their small size was an
advantage. When they needed to hide their tefillin quickly
from the Nazis, they would tie the retzuos around their
waists like a belt, and hide the small batim in their mouths.

Harav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, ztl, ordering small shel yad tefillin

with his tefillin on. He said if there is no choice, wearing

tefillin is equivalent to davening with a minyan.
Rabbi Schachter has personally witnessed many incidents
where mezuzos brought shemirah, and unfortunately, the
opposite as well: when unkosher mezuzos hang in a home,
it causes a lack of shemirah. He illustrates this with some
incidents in which he was personally involved.
A woman called me to her home to check the mezuzos in
her house. Using the computer, we checked the mezuzah in
the kitchen, and there was a mistake: Instead of vachalta
vsavata you shall eat and be satised, the word vachalta

THE POWER OF A MITZVAH

Rabbi Schachter relates a story cited in the sefer Aleinu
LShabeiach by Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein. A man bought
expensive mezuzos at a sefarim store. When he later
inquired about the sofer who wrote them, he discovered the
sofer was not makpid on shemiras halashon. The customer
wanted to return the mezuzos, since he felt the sale was
invalid. The question was brought to Rabbi Zilberstein: Was
the sale considered a mekach taus?
Rabbi Zilberstein paskened that the mezuzos were
kosher; however, the sale could be invalidated because
mezuzos, in addition to being a mitzvah, are also a shemirah.
And if the sofer is not careful with his speech, the mezuzos
wont bring shemirah. In addition, the Chasam Sofer said
that if someone speaks lashon hara while wearing tefillin,
its as if he is wearing tefillin when his body is unclean.
Tefillin, properly written, have tremendous kedushah. I
was told that whenever the Brisker Rav could not get to a
minyan to daven Minchah, he would daven Shemoneh Esrei

shel yad next

HARAV CHAIM PINCHAS
to a regular
size shel rosh
SCHEINBERG WAS THE FIRST TO
ORDER THESE SMALLER BATIM
FROM ME. MANY, MANY RABBANIM
AND REBBES HAVE FOLLOWED SUIT.
THE SMALL SIZE ALLOWS MEN TO
WEAR BOTH RASHI AND RABBEINU
TAM TEFILLIN AT ONCE, WHICH IS
THE PREFERRED WAY.
2 Sivan 5776

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was written twice, and the word

vsavata was missing. When
we showed her the mistake,
she told us that her husband
had died recently from a heart
attack that was brought on by
his overeating (lo aleinu). He
ate constantly, because he was
never full.
In 1986 The Wall Street
Journal wanted to print an
article about how new scanning
software would affect the jobs
of sofrim: Would they be out of
business because they would
be replaced by computers?
Rabbi Schechter agreed to
be interviewed. A reporter sat in his office
for ten hours, as Rabbi Schechter explained
the signicance of the mitzvah, and how
computers, while they could assist sofrim in
nding double or missing words, would never
actually replace them, as they cannot check
for letters touching each other, nor can they
check for cracks in the letters.
During the interview, a frum woman
walked into the office and asked Rabbi
Schechter to check one mezuzah. I was
surprised, said Rabbi Schechter, because
normally a frum person has more than one
mezuzah at home, and brings a few at a
time to check. The woman would not tell me
where the mezuzah was from, but asked me
to examine it.
Rabbi Schechter found that the foot of
the letter gimmel was broken (fun fact: there
is only one gimmel in the entire mezuzah
text, and its found right in the middle, in the
word deganecha). When he pointed it out
to the woman, she was visibly shaken. She
explained that her son had broken his foot in
cheder three times that year! They checked
the mezuzos in the house, and they were ne.
The mezuzah she brought was the one from
his classroom.
All this time, the reporter was sitting in
the corner of my office. I explained to her
that in Hebrew gematria, the letter gimmel
is equivalent to the number three, and how
the boy had broken his foot three times. This
story made it to the front page of The Wall
Street Journal. It was a tremendous kiddush

34

June 8, 2016

The article from the The

Wall Street Journal about
how new scanning software
would affect the jobs of
sofrim. It was reprinted in the
Santa Cruz Sentinel in 1986.

Hashem.

CLOSENESS TO GEDOLIM

ALL THIS TIME,

THE REPORTER
WAS SITTING IN
THE CORNER OF
MY OFFICE.
I EXPLAINED
TO HER THAT
IN HEBREW
GEMATRIA, THE
LETTER GIMMEL
IS EQUIVALENT
TO THE NUMBER
THREE, AND
HOW THE BOY
HAD BROKEN
HIS FOOT THREE
TIMES. SHE WAS
ASTONISHED
BY THE
STORY, WHICH
HAPPENED
WHILE SHE WAS
THERE.

One of the benets of

Rabbi Schechters many years
in safrus is the opportunity
to grow close to the many
Gedolim he studied under and
for whom he checked tefillin
and mezuzos that they brought.
He was zocheh to learn not just
the intricacies of hilchos tefillin and mezuzos
from them, but also some valuable life lessons.
Harav Moshe Bick, ztl, Mezbuzher Rav
in Boro Park, had a congregant who gave
me his tefillin to check. It was one of my rst
bedikos as a certied sofer, and since I wasnt
experienced yet, I made a list of 24 potential
questions. I told him to take them to Rav Bick,
who said the tefillin werent pasul, but advised
him to buy a new, more mehudar pair.
Rav Bick then asked to see me, and when
we met, asked that I write my name in ksav
Ashuris, which is used to write sifrei Torah.
Ksav Ashuris is also used to write, lo aleinu,
gittin, and he called on me to be the sofer for
many of the gittin he presided over. I was
fortunate to receive a lot of shimush from Rav
Bick, says Rabbi Schechter.
He told me that when we have sifrei Torah
or mezuzos written by sofrim of the previous
generation, we cant tell people an item is
pasul just because its not the exact ksav we are
used to today. He told me to x any mistakes
I found, and not say anything negative about
the tefillin.
Rabbi Schechter would go to the home
of Harav Avraham Pam, ztl, to check his
mezuzos. Rav Pam would always tip the
assistants, even before he asked how much he
owed us. He showed appreciation even before
he paid the fee. He used to tell us, in the name of
Rav Yisrael Salanter, that being a sofer is a big
sakanah, because his job is to nd problems
and mistakes, and this can affect the sofer as a
person. He said we need to be positive, and not

Rabbi Schechter
demonstrating
the proper
placement of
tefillin on the
bicep, parallel to
the heart

knock the work of other sofrim.

YOU CANT OUTSMART HALACHAH

Recently Rabbi Schechter was called to the home of
a family who was renovating. The non-Jewish painter
knew enough to take off the mezuzos before he painted
the doorways, but the problem was, he put them back
on after the paint was dry. Only a Jew may install a
mezuzah, so we had to remove them all and put them
on again.
Tefillin and mezuzos should be checked every three
and a half years, according to Halachah. However, if
they were exposed to extreme weather, such as extreme
cold or heat, or if they became damp, they must be
checked even if three and a half years have not elapsed.
During Hurricane Katrina, for example, many mezuzos
needed to be replaced since many basements ooded
and the mezuzos on the basement doors got soaked. It
used to be the minhag in Europe to check the mezuzos
each year at Pesach time, says Rabbi Schechter. They
didnt have waterproof cases then, and after the walls
and doorways were washed, the mezuzos needed to be
checked for damage due to dampness.
Tefillin and mezuzos must be written ksidran, which
means in the proper order. Unlike a sefer Torah or a
megillah, in which just one word can be xed, if a word

With the Yoka Rav, ztl, who was

niftar this year on Erev Pesach

HE TOLD ME THAT WHEN

WE HAVE SIFREI TORAH OR
MEZUZOS WRITTEN BY SOFRIM
OF THE PREVIOUS GENERATION,
WE CANT TELL PEOPLE AN ITEM
IS PASUL JUST BECAUSE ITS
NOT THE EXACT KSAV WE ARE
USED TO TODAY. HE TOLD ME
TO FIX ANY MISTAKES I FOUND,
AND NOT TO SAY ANYTHING
NEGATIVE ABOUT THE TEFILLIN.
is found to be missing or cracked in the beginning of
the tefillin text, the rest of the text must be erased and
rewritten, in order. Practically speaking, if a mistake is
found, the parshiyos are usually replaced. By checking
tefillin and mezuzos regularly, especially with new
magnifying technology, tiny cracks can be located and
be repaired before the parchment is pasul.
Cracks that arent visible to the naked eye do
not render a mezuzah or tefillin pasul, says Rabbi
Schechter. And when we repair them at an early stage,
the tefillin or mezuzah does not have to be rewritten.
Checking early on prolongs the life of the parchments,
and saves a lot of money in the long run.
Unless there is an obvious psul, such as a word
missing, Rabbi Schechter will not sell tefillin or mezuzos
to someone if he found a sheeilah in the ones they came
2 Sivan 5776

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THESE TEFILLIN HAD

BEEN CHECKED 22
TIMES SINCE THE
MANS BAR MITZVAH,
BUT IT WAS RABBI
MANDEL WHO NOTICED
A DOUBLE WORD!
TODAY, NO STAM
ARE SOLD WITHOUT
BEING CHECKED BY
COMPUTER. THE
AVERAGE NUMBER OF
MISTAKES FOUND IN
A SEFER TORAH THAT
ARE CAUGHT BY A
COMPUTER IS 500!
to have checked. This is a safeguard
against a sofer subconsciously nding
mistakes in order to make a sale.
A young man in his 20s came to Rabbi
Schechter to check his tefillin before
his wedding. He had never checked his
tefillin since his bar mitzvah. I opened
the tefillin shel rosh, and recognized the
ksav as one of a sofer I knew, but there
was a big problem. The sofer hadnt
let the ink dry properly before rolling
the parchment, so the young man had
been wearing pasul tefillin since his bar
mitzvah. I called the sofer, who ran over
to replace the parchments, says Rabbi
Schechter. I never told the chassan that
his tefillin werent good. Its no mitzvah
to make people feel bad.
A more shocking story took place
when Rabbi Schechter checked the
tefillin of a man in his 80s who had bought
his tefillin in Eretz Yisrael. The sofer who
wrote his tefillin had also written the
tefillin of Harav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld,
ztl, and the ksav was exceptionally
beautiful. This was before computers,

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June 8, 2016

Rabbi Schechter
inspecting a mezuzah.

and at that time I had a helper, Rabbi

Yishai Mandel, who specialized in text
errors. These tefillin had been checked
22 times since the mans bar mitzvah,
but it was Rabbi Mandel who noticed a
double word! Today, no STaM are sold
without being checked by computer.
The average number of mistakes found
in a sefer Torah that are caught by a
computer is 500!
Tefillin and mezuzos need siyatta
diShmaya, he says. On the other hand,
Rabbi Schechter is quick to underscore
the importance of checking tefillin
regularly. I once visited a community out
of town, and a prominent Rosh Yeshivah

came to have his tefillin checked. He

told me his minhag had always been
not to check his tefillin (there are some
circumstances, such as if a person wears
tefillin all day, when meikar hadin they
do not have to be checked) until his
son had his tefillin checked, and they
were found to be missing the word
echad of Shema. When he heard that,
he nearly fainted. He learned his lesson
and now checks his tefillin as dictated by
Halachah.
You need siyatta diShmaya to
have kosher tefillin, Rabbi Schechter
reiterates, but you cant outsmart
Halachah!