May one use mezuzot with different scripts in the same house? For example can the mezuzah in one room be ashkenaz (beit yosef) and in another be sefardi (vellish)?
asked Aug 6, 2012 at 23:03
not-allowed to change my namenot-allowed to change my name
12.3k1 gold badge34 silver badges89 bronze badges
-
related judaism.stackexchange.com/q/17381/759– Double AA ♦Aug 6, 2012 at 23:22
Add a comment
|
3 Answers
As noted in another answer of mine:
Tzitz Eliezer 14:3:4 permits post facto even Sta"m that was written with a mix of Vellish and Ashkenazi. Igrot Moshe OC 5:2 also permits other forms of writing but he is quick to point out that it is better to stick to one's custom on the matter.
answered Aug 6, 2012 at 23:26
-
6Why the downvote? If they're good on the same klaf they should be ok in different doorways.– Double AA ♦Aug 7, 2012 at 2:37
-
...and if one should preferably stick to his own custom then the same should be true for all doorways. (+1 from me.)– msh210 ♦Aug 7, 2012 at 18:58
-
To be clear this is about scripts as the question asked. There are other differences between mezuzot which are much more halachically signficiant, so be careful.– Double AA ♦May 21, 2021 at 13:18
R Reuvain Mendlowitz in his book Inside stam answers the same question and writes
Ideally, all the mezuzos in one's home should be written according to one custom. Therefore, if one can afford it, the other kesav should be replaced.
In a footnote he quotes what he heard from his Rav, R Mordechai Friedlander (a well-known hilchot stam specialist) and R Shlomo Zalman Auerbach's Hilchot Shlomo 4:31
BS"D
Halakhicly speaking it is fine. Since in the time of Hhazal there were no such cultural/ethnic divisions, no ruling (that I know of) was made on this matter.
Nor is this to be found in the earliest halakhic codifications (ie. Sepher Ha-Halakhoth of the RIF and Mishneh Torah of the RaMBaM)
It is also interesting as a side question as to what other ethnic groups like Mizrahim and Chabashim would do if they could not get mezuzoth according to their mesora and were faced with a "Ashkenazi or Sephardi" situation I assume they would take the irritating Israeli approach of "if their not from Ashkenaz their Sephardi" OR should they mix?
-
1−1. Not everything halacha says not to do is found in chazal. What would you answer to "Can one eat corn on Pesach?"?– msh210 ♦Aug 7, 2012 at 6:12
-
BS"D It would have to be in Hhazal otherwise it wouldn't be halakha, or at least not binding halakha which in its self is a contradiction. Yes one can eat corn on peasah since there is no torah prohibition nor did a Sanhedrin rule against it BUT one does not have to for the exact same reason.– QohelethAug 7, 2012 at 6:41
-
4@msh210 I think you two are having a semantic argument about the word 'halacha'.– Double AA ♦Aug 7, 2012 at 12:18
-
-
Rashi, the Ba'alei Tosafot, and other Ashkenazi Rishonim do discuss the forms of the letters in depth. This is why the Mechaber codifies a variant of Ashkenazi k'tav as "Beit Yosef." Similarly, the Rambam does mention certain tzurot haotiot in his "Hilchot Sifrei Torah, Tefillin, uMezuzot" in Sefer Ahavah. Jan 10, 2017 at 4:10