Siman 11 - Mezuza

 

1. INTRODUCTION

 

PLACEMENT OF THIS SIMAN

 

The order of the Kitzur Shulchan Arukh closely follows that of the Shulchan Arukh itself.  The book starts out with the halakhot found in Orach Chaim - the order of the Jewish day and year - and ends with those found in Yoreh De'a, including family purity and mourning.  However, laws from Yoreh De'a which naturally fit in with sections from Orach Chaim are written together with these sections, as we explained in siman 3. 

 

Rav Ganzfried evidently thought that the laws of mezuza, which in the Shulchan Arukh appear in Yoreh De'a in the context of the laws of writing a sefer Torah, belong together with the simanim of tallit and tefillin.  Like these mitzvot, the mezuza serves as a reminder to ourselves and to others of who we are - a reminder that our Jewish identity is intimately connected to the glory of God's name.  And these are the three practical mitzvot mentioned in Keriat Shema. 

 

MEZUZA AS PROTECTION

 

Is the mezuza an amulet - does its presence mystically protect the house and its inhabitants from harm?  The Rambam railed against this idea. (1)  But does not the Midrash relate that R. Yehuda HaNasi sent a mezuza to a Roman noble, asserting that it would protect him? (2)  Doesn't the Zohar relate that the mezuza prevents angels of destruction from entering the house, unless the owner shows disrespect to the mezuza? (3)

 

If we look more carefully, we see that R. Yehuda HaNasi proved the protective powers of mezuza from the verse in Mishlei which teaches that TORAH AND MITZVOT guide and protect us. (4)  And the Zohar explicitly attributes the danger of destroying angels to the fact that GOD'S NAME, inscribed on the mezuza, was disgraced.  We are protected by our allegiance to God's name and His ways, and the mezuza is the banner of this allegiance.

 

2. LOCATION OF THE HINGES (se'ifim 3,4)

 

We fasten the mezuza on the doorpost to the right side of one entering the door.  In a doorway which passes between two rooms, we may be uncertain which direction is "entering."  The Kitzur records that if there is a door, we assume that it opens "inward," so that one who opens the door AWAY from himself is "entering."

 

There is a hidden moral lesson in this ruling.  We assume that people are not trying to take advantage of an area which is not theirs by having a door open out.  On the contrary, they sacrifice from their own constricted space the area needed to provide the door's swing so as not to impose on others.

 

3. TWO DOORPOSTS AND A LINTEL (se'if 11)

 

A doorway is obligated in a mezuza only if it has a doorpost on both sides (not a post on one side and continuation of a wall on the other) and a lintel on top (not flush with the ceiling).  If there is only one doorpost and it is on the right hand side as you enter (the side where the mezuza belongs) many authorities require a mezuza and it is best to affix one without a berakha. (5)

 

ILLUSTRATION:

 

     In these illustrations, the asteriks represent the walls of the room as we view them from above.  Of course, the opening in the box of asteriks represents the opening or doorway.  The placement of the mezuza is represented by an "M."

 

1. ORDINARY DOORPOSTS

 

*****************

*               *

*               M

*

*

*               *

*****************

 

This is the usual case where, in addition to the three walls which leave an opening, the fourth side is also partially closed creating proper doorposts.

 

2. TWO DOORPOSTS

 

****************M

*

*

*

****************

 

Even though there are only the three walls with no doorpost proper, this entrance requires a mezuza, because the edge of the wall is itself considered a doorpost.

 

3. DOORPOST ON LEFT

 

**********************************

*

*

*

********************X

 

This entrance is exempt.  Since the wall to the right of the "entrance" extends beyond the room, it can not be considered a doorpost and so there is no clear doorway.  The "X" emphasizes that no mezuza is required.

 

4.  DOORPOST ON RIGHT

 

*********************M?

*

*

*

********************************

 

     Here also, one wall extends beyond the room - the one to the left of the entrance.  Since the shorter wall, which IS considered like a doorpost, is on the right where we usually place a mezuza, one should preferably affix a mezuza to an entrance like this without a berakha.

 

THE MEANING OF THIS REQUIREMENT

 

What is the significance of the requirement for doorposts and lintel?  The Torah does not command us to put a mezuza on "your houses," nor even on "the entrance to your houses," but rather "in the doorway of your houses." 

 

The requirement to have a mezuza in every room means that whenever we move from one domain, one sphere of activity, to another, we must renew our consciousness of God's presence and in our new environment act in a way that sanctifies God's name.

 

The requirement to have the mezuza on the entryway itself reminds us that we must be cognizant of this approach at the very beginning of every new undertaking.

 

Most significant is the requirement for a doorway - doorposts and lintel.  This reminds us that every opportunity - every new domain - necessarily implies RESTRICTION.  If the move from one place to another does not constrict us, then we have not really gotten anywhere new.  In particular, the requirement for a lintel on top reminds us that new opportunities may require us to stoop a bit.  While there are differences of opinion if one has to be constricted on all sides (if two doorposts are required), everyone agrees that there is no new domain if one's upward scope is not limited somewhat.

 

4. EXEMPTION OF A BATHHOUSE VS. EXEMPTION OF A BEIT KNESSET (se'if 17)

 

The Kitzur does not mention that a beit knesset is exempt from a mezuza!  Many people would particularly associate a mezuza with a holy place; yet the gemara (6) explains that a synagogue, like the Temple in Jerusalem, is exempt BECAUSE it is holy.

 

This mitzva, and indeed mitzvot in general, are about SANCTIFICATION much more than they are about SANCTITY.  The Holy One blessed be He is perfectly holy; the creation of the material world brought with it the possibility for giving him a "nether dwelling."  The primary instrument of bringing holiness into the profane is the Torah, and the primary performers of this sanctification are the Jewish people.

 

The Torah commands us, "And you shall be unto Me holy men" (7).  The Kotzker Rebbe emphasized that God wants us to be holy MEN - not holy angels, which He has no lack of.

 

Even so, as we have mentioned before (see the end of siman 2 and also siman 9 se'if 6), not all elements of the material world have the potential for sanctification, and mitzvot, in general, are performed on objects which already have some degree of spiritual elevation.  This explains why a bathhouse and other rooms which smack of indignity are exempt.

 

Most early authorities rule according to the Talmud that a Beit Midrash is exempt from a mezuza, just as a Beit Knesset is.  Yet the custom as recorded in the Shulchan Arukh is to place a mezuza there (without a berakha).  The source is in a vision revealed in a dream to the great Medieval authority Rav Meir of Rotenberg. 

 

The reason seems to be that learning Torah in a very literal sense is our life - our bread and butter.  A Beit Midrash is a dwelling.  As we pray in the synagogue we try to elevate ourselves by freeing ourselves of the bonds of materiality; but as we study Torah in the Beit Midrash we elevate ourselves by sanctifying the very material world to which we are shackled, by discovering the exact conditions for realizing the vast potential for holiness implicit in our ability and obligation to perform commandments.

 

 

Endnotes:

 

(1) Mishneh Torah, Ahava, Tefillin 5:4.

 

(2) Bereshit Rabba Noach, siman 35, d.h. Et Kashti.

 

(3) Va'etchanan, p. 264a, cited in Reshit Chokhma Yir'a 15:47.

 

(4) Mishlei 6:22.

 

(5) Shakh YD 287:1.

 

(6) Yoma 11.

 

(7) Shemot 22:30.