If I kiss it, will I find Prince Charming? The Many Meanings Hiding Behind the Mezuzah

For All Ages - Sesame Street

For Teens/Adults (Funny!) - HaYehudim Baim / The Jews are Coming

What's Inside?

What can the Mezuzah symbolize?

Reminder of Jewish Principles and Identity

Blu Greenberg, Orthodox Jewish Feminst

A Jewish household is created by the people who live in it, by the way they act, the things they do and don't do, the beliefs they hold.

A mezuzah serves two functions: every time you enter or leave, the mezuzah reminds you that you have a covenant with God; second, the mezuzah serves as a symbol to everyone else that this particular dwelling is constituted as a Jewish household, operating by a special set of rules, rituals, and beliefs.

Protection (Physical, Spiritual)

The Same Teaching as the one from Menachot 33b...with a twist

Affirmation of Life / Egalitarianism

Unity of God (and the World), and Our Own Fragility

Dignity in Having a Permanent Home

Value of Compromise and Peace in Our Homes

Rabbi Leah Doberne-Schor, The Mezuzah, Our Reminder to to Bring Peace to Our Homes

Traditionally, a Jewish home is not complete without a mezuzah on its doorpost.

You may have noticed that a mezuzah is often hanging neither vertically or horizontally, but rather is tilted at an angle. The origin of this custom can teach us about an important Jewish value: Shalom bayit, peace in the home.

The custom to hang the mezuzah at an angle began as the result of an almost one thousand year old disagreement. The great Torah scholar Rashi (1040-1105) ruled that the mezuzah should be hung vertically. He did this because in a Sephardic community, such as the one in which he lived, the Torah is held in a vertical position when it is read. On the other hand, Rashi’s grandsons lived in an Ashkenazic milieu.

Because the Torah is laid in a horizontal position for reading in Ashkenazic communities, these grandsons ruled that the mezuzah should be hung horizontally. In the spirit of compromise, the custom became to hang the mezuzah at an angle.

Put another way, at the very moment when we enter our homes, we are reminded of the importance of finding a way to live in peace with one another.

The point isn’t that we’ll always see eye to eye with the folks we live with; rather, it’s that we commit to working through our disagreements with one another.

The very first word on the mezuzah scroll is “Shema,” or listen. We make a commitment to listen to each other and to find a way to live in peace with each other.

Shalom bayit, like so many of our values, is not to be attained all at once. Rather, we make a commitment to work with our loved ones towards this goal each day, with its blessings, each day, with its challenges.

Each day, when we return to our homes, we see our mezuzah, our reminder of peace and compromise, our reminder of the type of home we would like to create, before ever we cross our threshold.

Rabbi Gabe Greenberg, Parshat Eikev – Mezuzah

The mezuzah is private, but the one on your front gate is shown to everyone. There are not many mitzvot like that, which span the private and the public. I think the sages are indicating an important lesson about compromise. Compromise is a necessary reality of life. Neighbors, partners, family members, diplomats, enemies, have occasion to compromise to both get what they need, though not necessarily what they want. And there can be an urge to hide this compromise, to present a unified front to the world. Let’s keep our internal conversations internal, and present to the world a façade of unification, we’re all in agreement. But the mezuzah tells us – no. You can even show compromise, show an imperfect answer, to the world.

The Power of One (You)

Personalizing the Mezuzah

In a Car?

Vanessa L. Ochs, Inventing Jewish Ritual

If it is affixed to your car with a magnet, it's called a car mezuzah...If it is to be carried or hung from the rearview mirror, it is called by the tongue-in-cheek title, "Baruch Ha-Car."...

The Baruch Ha-Car Traveler's Prayer offers spiritual comfort for travelers along life's highways. The cyclindrical capsule of solid brass and clear acrylic contains a traditional prayer for those setting out on journeys...

One day in Colorado, I was given a ride by a rabbi I had been visiting. In his car - affixed to the door on the driver's side by a magnet - I saw my first car mezuzah in use. He explained that he spent a lot of time in his car and tended to be a "lead foot." His wife gave him the car mezuzah to remind him to drive slowly and safely, for his sake and for others...If the presence of this new object prompted the rabbi, over and over again, to "choose life" - a central Jewish concept - was it not serving a valid and sacred ritual role?

On a Necklace?

Vanessa L. Ochs, Inventing Jewish Ritual

A former student, a Jewish soldier in the US marines...always wears a silver mezuzah on a chain around his neck; it is for him a symbol of his commitment to Judaism, one the comes before all his other commitments. The mezuzah he describes as "very holy" is not even a mezuzah according to Jewish law, as it lacks the necessary parchment with God's name written on it. Even if it did have the proper parchment inside, according to Jewish law, it would be meaningless, curious, or even offensive when hung around someone's neck as jewelry, and not placed on a doorpost, where Jewish law says it belongs. For this soldier, however, the "mezuzah" he wears is holy, even if it is but a silver miniature of an empty mezuzah case. He has vowed that he will never take it off, so strong is his belief, and so strong is its pull on him. He says, "I live with it on, and I will die with it on."

Interactive Mezuzah

Vanessa L. Ochs, Inventing Jewish Ritual

...He and Peter explained to the others what a mezuzah was, and why it was an important ritual object for may Jews, even those who do not think of themselves as "religious," as it denotes pride in one's Jewish identity and a wish for divine protection. They explained how the text of the mezuzah emphasizes the centrality of study and teaching. I then invited everyone to write their own blessings for their continuing study of sacred texts - Torah, New Testament, and Koran - that would take place here in this office. They rolled their blessings up into tiny scrolls and placed them into a brown envelope that one student had attached to the wall, just below the mezuzah.

During the year, as their studies progressed, they could, I explained, add new blessings to the envelope. I called it an "interactive mezuzah," or in Hebrew a mezuzah nosefet, an additional mezuzah...Unlike the traditional mezuzah...the "interactive mezuzah" holds the words of one's own heart. It is not an alternative to the traditional mezuzah, but an elaboration and extension of its powers and purposes.

Make Your Own Mezuzah Scroll