You’ve Heard of Palm Reading…But What About Mezuzah Reading?
June 26th, 2008 . by Aaron
Reb Gutman Locks at Mystical Paths writes the following:’
A friend of mine, Daniel, was learning in a yeshiva in Brooklyn. He was having a problem and thought that maybe Rabbi Ben Tov could look as his mezuzah and tell him what he should change in his life. He took the mezuzah from his apartment’s front doorpost to the rabbi. The rabbi looked at the mezuzah and accused him of some very shocking things.
“You have been learning the new testament for a long time!”
“What!” Daniel was shocked.
“You are married to a non-Jewish woman and you are a missionary!”
He grabbed the mezuzah from the rabbi’s hand and ran out screaming about how crazy the rabbi was to say such things.
He went back to his apartment and was complaining to his roommate about what happened. His roommate had long peyos (side locks), wore a black hat and long back coat, and learned in the yeshiva with Daniel.
“You gotta hear what this crazy rabbi said,” Daniel told him. And he proceeded to tell him all of the things that Rabbi Ben Tov accused him of doing. His roommate looked down and confessed. Indeed he had been learning the new testament for years, was married to a non-Jewish woman, and was a secret missionary! They shared the same one-room apartment with the same mezuzah!
You can read the full post here
I have been hearing more and more stories like this over the last few years. People who bring their Mezuzahs to “Mezuzah Readers” like the rabbi in the story. They claim that the Rabbi can tell all kinds of things about them by looking at the scroll in their Mezuzah. Let me just say that I am extremely skeptical of this practice. To me it seems no different than people who read palms, horoscopes, Tarot cards etc. etc. etc.
If you would like to read more about the techniques used by these types I would recommend visiting http://www.randi.org
I saw this posted at http://www.SubliminalMessages.Com and just wanted to add that kosher mezuzot are, indeed, smart enough to distinguish between roommates. Only the non-kosher kinds (yes, often made in China!) have trouble distinguishing between different individuals residing in the same house.
Sam, I think you may be on to something… I may have to reconsider.
BTW I checked out your site SubliminalMessages.com. It is pretty cool, except that first image when you enter has my head hurting.
Any rabbi that says, he can read the mezuzah, is like the practice of palm reading. Remember that the torah says thou shall not practice any divination or soothsaying! Many rabbi have been doing this,magic, soothsaying. Leviticus 19:26 “You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying.v31 Give no regard to mediums, and familiar spirits; do not seek after them , to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.” So run away and be not defiled!
I delivered matza for Passover and flowers for Shavous on behalf of my local Chabad. I can definately tell you that a lot can be told about who lives in each house based upon their front door mezuzah covers. But to the same effect, a lot can be told about each household based upon their front door, itself, and the landscaping in their front yard, as well.
Maybe the mezuzah-reading-Rabbi cheated by looking at the mezuzah cover.
He may have cheated by looking at their Mezuzah cover…he may have cheated by looking at how they were dressed, he may have read the look on their face. The point is that if you research something called ‘cold reading’ you will find that they utilize all of these techniques and more. I am not saying that I don’t believe that putting a Mezuzah up on your house doesn’t have the ability to bring protection. That is something that we believe based on Torah sources. It is this new phenomenon of someone using the Mezuzah as a prop in a fortune telling ceremony that bothers me very much. In my opinion it is taking a Mitzvah that was given to us by God and lowering it to the level of Tarot cards.