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$24.99
Pewter
Shema Mezuzah Case |
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Jewish / Judaic Designs |
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Mezuzah (Hebrew: מזוזה,
"doorpost"; plural mezuzot), in
Judaism, is a small parchment
affixed to the doorposts and gates
of Jewish homes, synagogues, and
businesses.
The parchment is role up and
placed inside a Mezuzah Case.
The case generally features the
Hebrew letter shin (ש) inscribed
on its upper exterior, which
protects a piece of parchment
scroll (called a klaf), on which
is inscribed two passages from the
Hebrew Bible: the Shema Yisrael
and V'havata (Deuteronomy 6:4 to
6:9). In some cases Deuteronomy
11:13 to 11:21 are also added.
As with tefillin, mezuzahs came
about from part of the V'havata.
Though the verse is often
interpreted metaphorically today,
even Reform Jews often have
mezuzot:
"You shall love God with all your
heart, with all your soul and with
all your power. These words which
I command you today shall be on
your heart...You shall inscribe
them on the doorposts of your home
and your gates."
Halakha (Jewish law) prescribes in
detail the affixing of mezuzot on
doorposts. Since almost every
Jewish home has a mezuzah on its
front doorpost, it has
historically been a means of
recognition in times of
persecution.
According to halakha the case
should be placed on the right side
of the door (from point of view of
one entering the building or room)
on the lower part of the upper
third of the doorpost (or around
shoulder height for high
doorways), within approximately 3
inches of a doorway opening. The
case should be permanently affixed
with nails, screws, glue, or
strong double-sided tape.
Ashkenazi Jews tilt the case (to
accommodate the variant opinions
of Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam as to
whether it should be placed
horizontally or vertically) so
that the top slants [45 degrees]
toward the room the door opens
into, but other Jews place the
case vertically.
The procedure is to hold the
mezuzah against the spot upon
which it will be affixed, then
recite a blessing, which
translates as "Blessed are You,
Lord our God, King of the
Universe, Who sanctified us with
His mitzvot, and commanded us to
affix a mezuzah." After the
blessing is made, the mezuzah is
attached. When affixing many
mezuzot, the blessing is made only
before affixing the first mezuzah,
while keeping the others in mind.
Observant Jews affix mezuzot on
all the doors of their homes with
the exception of bathrooms or very
small rooms (e.g., closets). The
garage door is not exempt from the
mezuzah.
The City Gates of Jerusalem have
huge mezuzot that were affixed
after the liberation of the Old
City in 1967.
Writing the scroll
The rendering of the Hebrew text
on the scroll is a matter
requiring great care. Each letter
must be written precisely,
preferably by a certified sofer
(scribe), as one letter written
incorrectly would render the
scroll invalid (pasul). As there
are twenty-two letters of the
Hebrew alphabet, the scripture is
written in a single column on 22
scored lines. On the reverse is
written Shaddai, one of the names
of God and also serves as an
acronym for the words: "Shomer
Daltot Yisrael" (Guardian of the
Doorways of Israel). Those 3
letters are written opposite to
the space left on the reverse side
of the parchment, due to the
indent of the second paragraph of
the Shema. For Kabbalistic
reasons, most klafim will also
contain three words (starting as
Ku- Bemokh- Kuz- on this reverse
side. The parchment is then rolled
into a scroll, (evoking the image
of a Torah scroll) such that the
first words "Shema Yisrael" ("Hear
O Israel...") will be read first
upon unrolling. The Ayin of Shema
and the Dalet of E`had are always
oversized. In all, the Mezuzah
scroll must contain 22 lines of
caligraphic script writing
comprised of 713 letters. There
are a total of 4649 separate
instructions that govern the
preparation and inscription of a
truly kosher mezuzah scroll. When
prepared correctly, it is believed
that the truly kosher mezuzah
serves as "guarding your going out
and your coming in" as written in
Psalm 121.8.
Text of the scroll - In English
translation, the Torah verses are:
Hear O Israel, God our Lord is God
the Only One. You shall love God
with all your heart, with all your
soul and with all your power.
These words which I command you
today shall be on your heart. You
shall teach them to your children
and you shall speak about them
when you dwell in your house, when
you travel on the road, when you
lie down and when you arise. You
shall tie them as a sign on your
arm and as a head ornament between
your eyes. You shall inscribe them
on the doorposts of your home and
your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
and
And it shall happen, if you obey
my commandments which I command
you today, to love God within all
your hearts and all your souls
that I will give the rains of the
land in its proper time, the light
rains and the heavy rains, and you
will gather your grain, your wine
and your oil. I will give grass in
your fields for your livestock.
You will have enough to eat and
you will be satisfied. Guard
yourselves, lest your hearts lead
you astray and you will serve
other gods and you will bow to
them. God will then become angry
with you and will withhold the
rain, and the land will not
produce its bounty. You will
quickly be lost from upon the good
land that God has granted you. You
shall place these words on your
hearts and on your souls. You
shall tie them as a sign on your
arms and they shall be head
ornaments between your eyes, and
you shall teach them to your
children to speak about them when
you dwell in your house, when you
travel on the road, when you lie
down and when you arise. You shall
inscribe them on the doorpost of
your houses and your gates. So
that you and your children may
live many years on the land that
God has promised to your
forefathers, as many as the days
that the heavens are above the
earth. (Deuteronomy 11:13-21)
Checking the scroll
Because the scroll is tightly
wound, it is easy for letters to
become cracked or flake off
entirely. As a scroll with a
cracked or missing letter is no
longer considered valid, halakha
mandates that every scroll must be
checked by a sofer (scribe) twice
every seven years, to ensure that
it has not been damaged.
Customs
When passing through a doorway
with a mezuzah, some Jews touch
the mezuzah and kiss their
fingers, as an expression of
devotion to Torah. This custom
originated as a result of a story
brought down in the Talmud (Avodah
Zarah 11a). A Roman Caesar sent
guards to arrest Onkelos the son
of Kalonymus, a Jewish convert who
wrote a tremendous amount of
commentary on Biblical texts, and
he was to be put to death. When
the guards seized Onkelos, he
explained to them the basis for
faith in the Jewish God and
enticed them with the benefits a
life of Judaism has to offer until
they could not resist their urge
to convert, and they released him.
When the Caesar realized what had
happened, he sent another set of
guards, but this time, with
explicit instructions not to
listen to the man at all. When
they arrived to capture him,
Onkelos tried to convince them to
release him, but to no avail,
because they were under orders not
to listen to him. As they pulled
him from his house, he touched the
mezuzah on the doorpost. When one
of the guards asked him what it
was that he touched, he replied as
follows: "A king of flesh and
blood sits in the palace while his
servants guard from outside. Yet
our Lord allows his servants to
sit inside while he guards from
outside." When they heard this,
these guards, too, could not
resist their urge and converted to
Judaism.
The external artistic mezuzah
cases are often given as gifts for
weddings and other special
occasions. |
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