Several years ago, my husband and I made Aliya to the Land of Israel, we lived for a time in Tzfat, which is considered one of the four “holy” cities of Israel. 

During that time, I tripped over an uneven place in the doorway of our  house and broke a bone in my foot. Several observant Orthodox friends told us we needed to have the Mezuzah inspected because it might have a broken letter in the scroll. That seemed pretty weird. Since that time I have had suspicions about man made laws. And to have the mezuzah inspected by a trained person costs money so again the element of making money over rabbinic teachings comes to view. . 

We left Tzfat after a hard struggle with some rabbis. We found a little town that was not so fanatical, a bit more secular, and where people left you alone. 

But the Mezuzah theme never left my mind. If you look at Torah there is nothing said about a box. It says to “write these commandments.” Does it say to buy an expensive parchment scroll, expertly written by a sofer and then hide it away in a box that you kiss when you pass in and out of your house? 

The verse says nothing about putting a scroll in a box. It does command each of us to do our own writing, not to go buy something and hide it away in a box!

Deut 6:4-9: “Hear, O Israel: YHVH our God, YHVH is one.[a] 5 Love Hashem your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 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. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

So the purpose of the Mezuzah, which means door post, is that we might have the commandments embedded, if you will, in our hearts and minds. What a better way than to do the writing ourselves and to place them where we can see them! 

The act of kissing an object is what is done in paganism. People kiss the graves of Saints and Rabbis. People kiss the image of St. Peter in the Cathedral in Rome and other places. Nowhere does the Torah tell us to kiss an object. 

But before we totally dismiss the Mezuzah, we need a new approach to it. How about finding a way to engrave the 10 commandments in a wooden plaque? Paint them, write them, wood burn them and hang them up so you see them and remember them when you go out and when you come in? 

Let’s make the Torah something personal between us and our God! 

Shabbat Shalom
Ariella