152. A Misshapen Letter

24:5 If there is a doubt about whather a letter is not the proper shape, it should be shown to a child of average intellect. (He should be able to read but not savvy enough to look in the Torah and infer what it is supposed to say – Mishnah Brurah 32:49-50.) If he reads it properly, the Torah scroll is fit for use; if not, it is unfit. If several children disagree, we follow the majority. We only consult a child when the adults are in doubt. The child is not deciding for the adults, he is revealing the nature of the matter. If, however, we can see that a letter was written improperly or a break causes a part of it to become detached, then the sefer is pasul even if a child reads the letter properly. This is because we can plainly see that the form of the letter is not correct. 24:6 When showing a questionable letter to a child, it is not necessary to cover the letters after it, though the practice is to cover the letters before it. If a letter has been separated by a hole so that part of it is above the hole and part below it, and we are in doubt as to whether there is enough above the hole to be considered a complete letter, then we must cover the part below the hole when showing it to a child, otherwise the child will mentally join the pieces. Similarly, if the ink has flaked off of part of a letter but the impression of the letter remains visible, that part needs to be covered so that the child does not mentally fill in the gap.