Some people have the practice of printing formal invitations to weddings, bar misvas or other affairs in "Ketab Ashurit" – the style in which the lettering of the Sefer Torah is written. Is this permissible, and, if so, does this style of lettering affect the status of the invitation?
The Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Maimonides, Spain-Egypt, 1135-1204), in a famous responsum, wrote that the Ketab Ashurit style is inherently sacred and reserved for matters of sanctity, such as Sefer Torah, Tefillin and Mezuza. In his view, it is forbidden to write ordinary, mundane material in Ketab Ashurit. The Rambam’s ruling is cited in the Bet Yosef (commentary to the Tur by Maran, author of the Shulhan Aruch) and is codified as Halacha by the Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Cracow, 1525-1572), in Yore De’a (284).
Seemingly, then, at least according to this view, it would be forbidden to print invitations in the style of Ketab Ashurit.
However, some authorities drew a distinction in this regard between writing and printing. In their view, this prohibition would not apply to printing with a machine such as a printing press. Indeed, the Ketab Sofer (Rabbi Avraham Sofer of Pressburg, 1815-1871) records that his father would print invitations in Ketab Ashurit, relying on the fact that they were not handwritten. Some other authorities add that invitations to a Se’udat Misva (meal involving a Misva) such as a wedding have the status of a Misva text, and may therefore be written in Ketab Ashurit. By contrast, the Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909), in his work Rab Pe’alim, expressed his opposition to the practice of printing invitations in Ketab Ashurit.
As for the final Halacha, Hacham Ovadia Yosef writes in his work Yabia Omer (vol. 9) that those who print invitations in this manner certainly have authorities on whom to rely. Preferably, however, invitations should be written in other styles, such as Rashi script.
According to all authorities, however, invitations printed in Ketab Ashurit may not be discarded. The lettering is endowed with an intrinsic status of Kedusha, and it must therefore be treated respectfully. The Zohar elaborates on the sanctity and mystical significance of the formation of the letters in Ketab Ashurit. Therefore, one who receives an invitation written in Ketab Ashurit must ensure to place it in Geniza (storage of sacred texts awaiting burial), rather than throw it in the trash.
Summary: It is preferable not to print invitations in the style of Ketab Ashurit – the way letters are written in the Sefer Torah. However, those who do so have opinions on which to rely. One who receives such an invitation must ensure to place it in Geniza, and not discard it.
