Is your spirituality empty?
A Mezuzah is the first physical sign of a Jewish home. Placed on the upper
right hand side of the door frame, the Mezuzah points into the home or room,
reminding us that we are entering a G-dly domain. Originally, there were
different opinions about how the Mezuzah should be placed - vertically or
horizontally. The decision we go by, to place the Mezuzah diagonally, is a
compromise between the two opinions. The Mezuzah is placed at a slant to
remind us how important it is to do everything possible to make peace in the
home.
Many people have the custom of kissing the Mezuzah upon entering or leaving
the house. Kissing the Mezuzah gives you a moment to reflect on the spiritual
purpose of your home life and offers you an opportunity to re-orient yourself to
G-dliness when you enter the sanctity of your home and when you leave it to
re-enter a world that is far from G-dliness. The mezuzah is placed, not only on
the front door, but on the doorways to every room in the house, including
walk-in closets, but not on entrances to bathrooms. For more information
about proper placement of your mezuzahs, consult your local Orthodox Rabbi.
A Kosher Mezuzah is a small parchment scroll handwritten by an expert
scribe, which contains two Biblical passages. On the reverse side of the
parchment are three Hebrew letters, shin, daled & yud, spelling one of the
names of G-d. The letters are also an acronym for the Hebrew words,
"Guardian of the doors of Israel." The Mezuza protects the inhabitants
physically and spiritually while in or away from the house.
The scroll is usually placed inside a decorative case to beautify the mitzvah.
Unfortunately, in our mixed up times, a Jewish home may have a beautiful
Mezuzah case that is (G-d forbid!) empty inside, or with a photocopied
pretend scroll, or even a scrap of rolled up newspaper inside! The Mezuzah
case does not fulfill the mitzvah. The Kosher scroll inside, carefully written
according to the many laws of the mystical Hebrew letters is the spiritual
essence of the mitzvah.
You might be paying many times the cost of a Mezuzah for a security system
to protect your home. Why not invest a little more to protect the physical and
spiritual sanctity of your home, your family and yourself with the beautiful
mitzvah of Mezuzah?
