Daf HaYomi B'Halacha Daily Email

How do Ashkenazim write their parshios?

As we have learned, Shulchon Aruch rules that all the parshios of tefillin except for V’hayo Im Shamoa should be written as parshios pesuchos. Rema maintains that all the parshios should be pesuchos. Later Ashkenazic Achronim say that even Ashkenazim should follow the Shulchon Aruch’s ruling. Tefillin that are written according to Rabeinu Tam should follow the same rules of pesuchos and stumos which are used in a standard pair of tefillin.

סעיף לו וס"ק קס-קסא]]

How much space must be left blank between the parshios?

The blank space dividing the parshios should be equivalent to the width of nine letters. The Achronim write that l’chatchilah, it should be equivalent to writing the word asher three times, including the space between the words. That space should be the size of the letter yud. The six small spaces between the letters, each a hairsbreadth, should also be included in this calculation. The poskim disagree about whether the Sefer Torah is kosher if the sofer did not include the extra space between the letters.

[סעיף לו וס"ק קסג; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 193]

According to the Rambam, how indented may a parsha pesucha be?

According to the Rambam, a parsha pesucha must begin at the beginning of a line. The sofer should be careful to start exactly at the beginning of the line. If he only left a three-letter space blank before starting the parsha, the parsha is invalid. If the sofer realized that he indented the first line of the parsha, he can turn it into a pesucha by beginning subsequent lines at the point he should have started the first line.

[ס"ק קסב וביה"ל ד"ה ואם; ביאורים ומוספים דרשו, 198]

In each Sefer Torah, the writings are spread across hundreds of parshios. As distinguished from the weekly parsha, these parshios are sections of Torah that are separated by mandated blank spaces. There are two forms of parshios--pesuchos (opened) and stumos (closed).

Rosh explains the difference between parshios pesuchos and stumos as follows: A pesucha can be formed either by beginning a pasuk on a new line after a nine-letter blank space or starting at the beginning of a line if there is a nine-letter blank space at the end of the previous line. Either way, a pesucha is the first writing on the line. A stumah is a parsha that begins after a closed break.

In the Torah, the parshios of Kadeish, V’hayo Ki Yeviacha and Shema are pesuchos. The parsha of V’hayo Im Shamoa is a stumah. Shulchon Aruch follows the view of most Rishonim who say that the parshios in tefillin should be written the way that they are written in the Torah. Others say that if the parsha of V’hayo Im Shamoa is written as a parsha pesucha, it is still kosher.

What is the proper way to write the parshios of a Sefer Torah?

How is a parsha stumah written for tefillin?

Is there an alternative way to write a parsha stumah in tefillin?

PLEASE NOTE: The information in this email is for learning purposes only. Please review the Mishna Berura and Biurim U'Musafim before making a halachic decision. Hebrew words are occasionally transliterated to enable a smoother reading of the text. Common Ashkenazi pronunciation is generally used in these cases.