Chasidut for Shabbat 207:1

עלויי קא מעלי ליה דאמר רב חסדא מ"ם וסמ"ך שבלוחות בנס היו עומדין אלא סתום ועשאו פתוח גרועי קא מגרע ליה דאמר ר' ירמיה ואיתימא ר' חייא בר אבא מנצפך צופים אמרום

it['s sanctity] is enhanced, for R. Hisda said: The mem and the samek which were in the Tables stood [there] by a miracle.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The engraving of the Tables went right through from side to side. Consequently the completely closed letters, viz., the mem and the samek, should have fallen out, and the fact that they did not was a miracle. This assumes that only the closed mem was then in use, for it is now assumed that the employment of distinct medial forms was a later innovation. Hence if one writes a closed mem instead of an open one, he enhances its sanctity, since that is the older form. This is historically correct: the present medial forms were probably introduced in order to make it possible to join them to the next letter, and since this was unnecessary in the case of final letters, they were left in their original state. V.J.E., art. Alphabet, Vol. 1, 443. ');">¹</span> But as for a closed letter which is written open, it['s sanctity] is diminished, for R. Jeremiah-others state, R. Hiyya b. Abba-said [The double form of] manzapak<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., mem, nun, zadde, pe, and kaf ([H]). V. Meg., Sonc. ed., p. 8, n. 5. ');">²</span>

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