Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim · Siman 36

Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim 36 — English translation

Translation: Sefaria Community Translation. Section numbers match the Hebrew text above.

1. 1One must be precise in the writing of the letters such that no letter's shape should change and no letter should resemble another. Rema: "And in the first place, [the scribe] should write in [a style known as] "ketivah tamah" as elaborated in the Tur and other halachic authorities and it [this style] is known amongst the scribes. In any case, if he changed the style of lettering he did not invalidate the tefillin."
2. 2Every letter needs to be a unified entity; therefore one must be cautious with the dot that is upon the Alef, which is shaped as a Yud, and the dot underneath the Alef, and with the Yuds of the Shin and Ayin and back of the Tzadi that they [the dots shaped as Yuds] should touch [the rest of] the letter. In a case where the Yud doesn't touch [the rest of the letter] the tefillin are void. And likewise for the other letters [- they must be unified without disconnected parts], other than Hea and Kof where the leg [of the letter] shouldn't touch the roof. If it did touch, that is void.
3. 3One must add the appropriate tags [lines ending with round dots] upon the letters that make the acronym SHATNEZ GETZ [Shin, Ayin, Tet, Nun, Zayin, Gimmel, Tzadi]. And the scribes customarily tagged other letters [as well]. If the scribe did not tag even SHATNEZ GETZ, he did not void the tefillin.

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