What is Safrut STaM?
Ktav Stam (Hebrew: כתב סת״ם) is the specific Jewish traditional writing with which Torah scrolls (Sifrei Torah), tefillin, mezuzot and the Five Megillot are written. Stam is a Hebrew acronym denoting these writings, as indicated by the gershayim (״) punctuation mark. One who writes such articles is called a sofer stam. The writing is done by means of a feather, and ink (known as D'yo) onto special parchment called klaf. There exist two primary traditions in respect to the formation of the letters, Ktav HaAshkenazi and Ktav HaSefardi, however the differences between them are slight.
Parchment
Klaf (parchment) is the material on which a sofer writes certain Jewish liturgical and ritual documents, the kosher form of parchment or vellum. The writing material can be made of the specially prepared skin of a kosher animal - goat, cattle, or deer. The hide can consist of:
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Gevil (גוויל), the full, un-split hide;
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Klaf (קלף), the outer, hairy layer; or
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Duchsustus (דוכסוסטוס)
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Only gevil and klaf can be used for holy writings. However, duchsustus is possible to be used for writing a mezuzah.
Quill
The kulmus (קולמוס) is the feather or reed used for the writing. The original source of the word stems from the Greek kalamos (κᾰ́λᾰμος) The feathers need to be obtained from a large bird and today the feathers of turkeys are most often used for this purpose. There is some debate however, as to whether feathers must be obtained from a kosher bird species or not.
Ink
The special ink prepared for the writing is called d'yo (דיו).
Maimonides wrote that the d'yo is prepared in the following way:
One collects the soot of oils, of tar, of wax, or the like, and kneads it together with sap from a tree and a drop of honey. It is moistened extensively, crushed until it is formed into flat cakes, dried, and then stored. When one desires to write with it, one soaks it in gallnut juice or the like and writes with it. Thus, if one attempts to rub it out, he would be able to. This is the ink with which it is most preferable to write scrolls, tefillin, and mezuzot. If however one wrote any of the three with gallnut juice or vitriol, which remains without being rubbed out, it is acceptable.[1]
Spiritual Attitude and Reverence
Every aspect of the process must be done lishma (לשמה), which is to say for its own sake with pure motives. The sofer must also be particularly concentrated upon the writing of any of the Divine Names. At many junctures in the process he is obligated to verbalize the fact that he is performing his action lishma.
Writing the letters
The K'tav Ashuri is the only permissible (kosher) Hebrew script, however over the centuries in exile (Diaspora) some minor variations have developed. The two primary traditions are Ktav HaAshkenazi and Ktav HaSefardi.
Ktav Ashkenazi is split into two categories:
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Ktav Bet Yosef – which is the standard Ashkenaz tradition.
Ktav Sefardi (also known as Vellish) – is the standard utilized by Mizrahi Jews, and Yemenite Jews.
Serifs
Tagin (or taggin; Hebrew and Aramaic: תגין, sing. תג, tag; also Hebrew: kether, כתר, pl. כתרים, ketherim) are the distinct crown-like serifs affixed atop the letters. If the tagin are absent, the writing is not invalidated. According to Rabbi Akiva in the Talmud, not only can one learn something from every letter in the Torah, but one can also learn something from the placement of the tagin. On the letters ג, ז, ט, נ, ע, צ, ש there are three tagin, on the letters ב, ד, ה, ח, י, ק there is one tag, and on the letters א, ו, כ, ל, מ, ס, פ, ר, ת there are none.
