Mitzvot

Mezuzah

If you need help getting a new mezuzah, or having the ones you already have checked, we’ll be happy to assist you with that.

Putting one up

Do the front door first. Say the blessing once, before fixing the first one — it covers every Mezuzah you put up in the same session, so a family doing a whole house says it once and then works through the rooms.

Fix it firmly — it should not be able to fall — and if you are not sure a particular doorway needs one, that is a two-minute phone call rather than a guess. Garages, archways without doors, and rooms you are not sure count all have real answers.

Somebody will come and do it with you. Plenty of people would rather not do this alone, or would rather have it checked as it goes up, and that is a normal thing to ask for.

Having your mezuzahs checked

It is customary to have mezuzahs checked twice every seven years, or even every year, prior to the High Holidays. Even if the Mezuzah was purchased from a reputable source and previously found to be perfectly kosher, there is always room for human error, and new cracks and other problems can appear with time. Of course, this checking must be done by an expert scribe.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe would often urge people who encountered health challenges or other difficulties to have their mezuzahs — and tefillin — checked, to make sure that every scroll was in good shape and properly placed on the doorpost.

Rabbi Levi Potash in Redwood City checks scrolls — mezuzahs and tefillin both. That page has his number and what to expect.

More on what a Mezuzah is, what makes a scroll kosher, and the Project Protect campaign: about the mezuzah.

Where do mezuzahs hang?

You should hang a Mezuzah on just about every doorway that belongs to you. Notable exceptions are doors leading to bathrooms and small closets.

The Mezuzah should be hung on the right side of the door, on the top third of the doorway. It should be right-side up, and slanted so that the top of the Mezuzah faces inwards toward the room.

What does the Mezuzah mean?

Judaism is not confined to synagogues. We strive for spirituality even within the comfort and familiarity of our own homes. The Mezuzah on the doorpost reminds those who walk through that G‑dly life and Torah accompany them wherever they go.

Our sages teach that a Mezuzah has the unique property of protecting the inhabitants of the home where it is hung — whether the inhabitants are inside or outside that home. The Mezuzah can be compared to a “helmet,” a veneer that protects us against the dangers that surround us in our lives.

The Talmud teaches that while most kings sit on the inside while their guards protect them from without, G‑d stations His protection — as manifested in the Mezuzah — on the outside, protecting His beloved people.

G‑d promises that anyone who carefully observes the Mitzvah of Mezuzah will lead a longer, richer life, as will their descendants, as Deuteronomy states, “So that you will prolong your days and the days of your children.”

When passing through a doorway where a Mezuzah has been affixed, we glance at it and touch it. Some people then kiss their fingertips. This serves as a reminder throughout the day that G‑d is always with us, inside or outside our homes.