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I recall hearing somewhere that some folks are accustomed to remove the (likely possul) parshiot from old tefillin and frame them.

As tefillin are generally more difficult to correct, is this practice permissible, or at least not prohibited?

CYLOR

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Noach MiFrankfurt
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  • related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/67802/framing-a-page-from-a-holy-book – Noach MiFrankfurt Jan 29 '16 at 00:30
  • See http://jbfinearts.com/works/large/Tefilin.jpg for an example I do not know if this was done with rabbinic approval. – Noach MiFrankfurt Jan 29 '16 at 00:39
  • I thought you don't correct t'fillin but just rewrite them, because they're small and that's not the imposition that it would be for a section of a sefer torah. (This doesn't affect your main question, just the implication that they could maybe be corrected and reused for their original purpose.) – Monica Cellio Jan 29 '16 at 01:16
  • @MonicaCellio, I forget the siman off-hand, but the Keset haSofer (handbook for Ashkenazi sofrim) follows the halacha as brought by the Shulchan Aruch, the Rambam, and the Gemara that tefillin must be written in order. So I can't go back and correct where I misspelled a word two lines earlier, I need to geniza the klaf and start from scratch. – Noach MiFrankfurt Jan 29 '16 at 02:19
  • @MonicaCellio It's called "kisidran" (in their order - ke seder [shelh]en) and it applies to tefillin and mezuzot http://stam-ink.blogspot.com/2011/11/stam-bits-kisidran.html – Double AA Jan 29 '16 at 04:08
  • @MonicaCellio, good tefillin parshiot cost more per wordcount than other sta"m products, due both to the din of kesidran and the small size of the writing. Your average pair of tefillin gassot can cost between $700-$2000 (per set). So you don't want to get a new set of parshiot if there is a chance of fixing them in an affordable manner. – Noach MiFrankfurt Jan 31 '16 at 22:40
  • Whoa, I didn't realize the cost was that high. I think I might have been mistakingly thinking of mezuzot; I'm pretty sure a local sofer told me that you don't fix those, but they cost a lot less. (And I assume the writing is larger; I've never seen the contents of tefillin.) – Monica Cellio Jan 31 '16 at 22:43
  • @MonicaCellio, well, with gassot, they take over a year to make the housings. Factor in a high rejection rate (from improperly tanned hides, holes in the leather, et c.) mostly artisan work (no CNC, robot-controlled factory labour) and the cost of certification and you have a fairly expensive product. Add to that thatmany of these factors also apply to the parshiot, as well as other factors (all discussed in Keset haSofer) and you have a fairly expensive product. This website (http://www.mezuzadepot.com) belongs to my sofer and has prices to give you an idea. – Noach MiFrankfurt Feb 01 '16 at 02:11
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    http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/67652/759 – Double AA Dec 20 '16 at 14:46

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My sofer (R' Melech Michaels of MezuzaDepot.com) told me over email that keeping old tefillin parshiot and even framing them is permissible.

His rationale was that he knew of no source which forbids this.

Noach MiFrankfurt
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