Can kissing an object be an act of idolatry?

In 2006 I opened a massage shop in Central California where I gave massage therapy and sold herbs for people with health problems. At the time I attended a Conservative Jewish Synagogue that was community led. The woman whose husband had purchased the synagogue was a marriage and family psychologist, leader in the synagogue and sold Jewish items in the lobby of her clinic. She encouraged me to purchase a mezuzah for the front door of my new office so that my business would prosper. At the time I thought only of the commandment to write the Torah on our doorposts and thought it was a good idea. I bought the little case and the kosher scroll that went inside it, spent around $100 for the set and followed her advice to invite the Jewish community to come and install the mezuzah one evening. I provided Kosher wine and cookies and happily entertained 9 or 10 Jewish guests who did the honors of saying the appropriate blessings and nailing the mezuzah to the door post in the correct manner. As everyone made there way out of the office all stopped to kiss the new mezuzah and wish me Mazal Tov. This item had now become part of my office experience and served as a testimony to the neighborhood that there were Jews in the vicinity.

So after this, whenever I noticed a mezuzah on a doorpost, I would stop, touch it and kiss my hand and feel I had done my duty. But was I really doing my duty in honor of the mezuzah rather than doing what the Torah requires? And does the Torah say anything about giving reverence to an object? What is the purpose of the mezuzah anyway? Obviously it is not even necessary to have a physical box with the words of the Shema written inside it if you recognize what the Torah says. (And interestingly, the words are hidden from view in most mezuzot!) The words of the Torah are what must be obeyed and writing them on the doorpost as a reminder is what is commanded, not buying a mezuzah and kissing it everytime a person passes through the door! It is not about a box and it’s contents that is commanded!

Recently I fell and broke my leg by stepping on a loose manhole cover in the parking garage under the apartment in Bat Yam. When I returned from the hospital, a couple of my friends asked me if I had checked the mezuzah in my apartment. I would have been shocked, if I had not run into this suggestion before. Of course it bothered me that one faded letter or tear in the parchment inside the little box could cause a person to have a serious accident! Seems like witchcraft to me!

My neighbor, whom I love dearly, had fallen and twisted her arm that same week, so that she could not work and blamed her mezuzah for the accident. From her viewpoint there was definitely truth to the belief that the mezuzah holds power and that her’s was defective or she would not have fallen. She said the same to me. She bought a new one, very pretty and very expensive and replaced the old one. Why do we give power to an object allowing it to bless or curse us? Are there indeed any “holy” objects in our world that hold power to do this? The Torah warns of giving power to objects, and kissing an object is a form of worship!

Is there anything about a mezuzah that gives success or protection? Look at what the Torah says:

Deut. 11:18-23: “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land YHVH swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love YHVH your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him—then YHVH will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.

Deut. 6:1-9: “These are the commands, decrees and laws YHVH your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear YHVH your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as YHVH, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: YHVH our God, YHVH is one. Love YHVH your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

The promises of HaShem’s protection and provision are fulfilled by obedience and not by the purchase of a Mezuzah or Hamsa or Amulet of any kind!

I am not sure how to approach my friend next door about the idolatry involved and I suppose it is far beyond my scope to teach her anything or even get her to think about it, yet for those who have not been indoctrinated in this way, I believe we must re-examine what is idolatry and how it has crept into Judaism and other religions.

When Christians go on pilgrimage to the Vatican or Jerusalem, they bow down and kiss their sacred objects, be it the cross, rosary beads, Saint Peter’s toe or anything related to the graves of the Saints. As Jews, why would we do the same thing? (And yes, Jews do kiss the graves of their sages, which is also a no, no!)

And why are we kissing the Torah scroll? While it is true that it contains the written will of the Most High, Almighty God, the object itself is not to be worshipped. The Torah is to be obeyed, not held up as a physical manifestation of YHVH!

The Torah speaks of idolatry in a very simple manner:

Exodus 20: 4-6: “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, YHVH your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Here is one example in the Tanakh where a good thing was later made into an idol by Israel and later destroyed by righteous King Hezekiah:

2 Kings 18:-34: “He did what was right in the eyes of YHVH, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it.”

So rendering lip service, bowing to and kissing objects that were given as reminders of the commandments destroys the purpose of that object and creates an idol!

Yours in the quest for Truth in Torah!

Ariella Tiqvah

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