Seriously Speaking

Answer

Answered by Aaron Abadi

The fact that we keep getting this kind of silly question shows that a large segment of our religious society has no understanding of the basics of Judaism. Do you have a Rabbi? Why not just ask your Rabbi what he holds and follow him? If you don't have a Rabbi, how do you keep the Mitzvot? Do you poll a series of Rabbis and then chose your favorite answer? Do you really believe that this would be acceptable? OK! So let's say that you asked your Rabbi and he said the silk-screen process is not acceptable. So what is the question? You can't use it, period. Now, if you were a student of Rabbi Abadi himself, or a student of one of his students, again there is no question. Rabbi Abadi said it is 100% Kosher. It is a Mitzvah for you to use it. The Gemara says that the city of Rabbi Eliezer was blessed with long life, because they followed Rabbi Eliezer in a Halachah that the other Rabbanim said was Chilul Shabbat (a desecration of the Sabbath). Think about that a bit. The other Rabbis say it is a crime punishable in its extreme with capital punishment, Rabbi Eliezer says, "go ahead and do it" and they get "long-life" as a reward. This concept is one of the basics of Judaism. If you don't understand this, you are certainly commiting mistakes daily in your religious practices. There are hundreds of passages in the Talmud in relation to this, and everyone must understand this well in order to lead a religious Jewish life. The question of which Rabbis do or do not endorse the silk-screen process is technically irrelevant. However, once you asked, I'll gladly shed some light on the issue. Rabbi Tuvia Goldstien said it's perfectly Kosher. I was there. I heard it from his mouth. Rabbi Scheinberg from Israel told many people that it is fine. Rabbi Elyashiv told people that it is 100% Kosher, but "I'm going to come out against it." Some think it is because the Sofrim (Scribes) will be out of work. Rabbi Neuwirth from Bayit Vagan loved it. Rabbi Elyashiv's son-in-law, Rabbi Ourbach (who is also the son of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman) said he cannot see anything wrong with it. Rabbi Kreiswirth saw it just before he passed away and he loved it. So why is there so much opposition? Why don't they write letters promoting it? There is an element of our society that decided to put out a war against this. It stems from a Mishmeret Stam affiliation, based on their fear of losing their control on the Safrut industry. I understand the mentality well, I'm in the garbage industry. The Rabbanim are scared of the repercussions of approving this process. They're afraid of the Kosher-Nostra. The leading Sofer in charge of this process was already threatened and was forced to resign out of fear of his children not getting into schools and never being able to get a Shidduch. Rabbi Tuvia Goldstien was ready to write a letter, but his son-in-law walked in and practically begged him on behalf of the family and the Rav's own health not to put himself and his family at risk. I was there at the time. I know what happened. Rabbi Scheinberg was ready to write a letter, but his son kept interfering. To put it to you frankly, there has not yet been a qualified Rabbi that actually came against it for Halachic reasons. The few that wrote letters against it, never even saw the process. There once was a very publicized argument regarding printing on parchment. Some Rabbis held it was perfectly fine, while others did not allow it. Both sides would agree to this process, since it does not have "Chakikah," which was the main concern. Anyone today who would like to say that this process is not Kosher, would be arguing on ten or so early Acharonim (Rabbis of previous generations). They're entitled to their opinion, but my father is certainly entitled to agree with those Acharonim. Currently, an overwhelming majority of our Sifrei Torah, Teffilin, and Mezuzot are not kosher, as confirmed by "Mishmeret Stam" themselves, to the tune of 80-95%. What is being done about that? This is the only motivation for my father's efforts to create this silk-screen process. Hashem will reward his efforts and will punish those with dishonest intentions. AA