Mezuzah Blog

That is what the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week.  The ruling came in a case where Lynne Bloch of Chicago, put up a Mezuzah on the door to  her condo.  The home owners association at Shoreline Towers said that it was a violation of their rule against displaying items on the doors in the hallway.  It seems that a game of cat and mouse followed with the association removing the Mezuzah and Ms. Bloch replacing it and so on.  The jist of the decision was that the association has the right to make rules of this sort, as long as the are not specific to any religion.  You can read more about the decision here and here.

My question is, why can’t a home owners association in say a gated community do the same thing?  They would essentially be able to make a no Jews allowed rule in this way.  You can almost understand the logic in a condo where the association maintains the hallways and they are saying that they want a uniform look etc.  But the fact is that when you live in a gated community or even in many planned communities, there is also a home owners association that tells you which colors you can paint  your house and how tall you can let your grass grow etc.   I would love to hear the opinion of some lawyers out there if they think that this ruling could also apply to the communities that I mentioned.

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I recently came across this post at a blog called Kintropy in Action

Last week, I finally got around to hanging the Mezuzahs around the house. We’ve only been living here 6 years, and we bought the Mezuzahs 4 years ago. So last week, the day before we were interviewed by a reporter for a Jewish Newspaper, Robert and I decided it was time to hang them…

I got a kick out of it.  You won’t believe how many people write notes on their orders saying something like, “Please make sure my order arrives by Friday.  My in-laws are coming for the weekend and I don’t want them to know that we still don’t have any Mezuzahs after a year”.

I get this question all of the time. The answer is that it depends on how you use your laundry room. If it is a pretty tidy room which has a washer and dryer, then you would put a Mezuzah.

If your laundry room is generally piled up with loads of dirty, smelly laundry. Then you would not put a Mezuzah. This is because it would be considered disrespectful to put a Mezuzah there. The same law applies to a bathroom.

Of course, we are assuming that your laundry room has the minimum 36 square feet that any room needs to be obligated in a Mezuzah. We are also assuming that the laundry room has some sort of door frame. If it doesn’t meet both of these requirements, it is not obligated no matter how immaculate it might be.

In my last post I showed you our new product, the fabric Mezuzah. Afterwards I was thinking that a lot of you may be wondering how you can put a fabric Mezuzah on your front door without it getting ruined.

The answer is that you can’t. You see, I always forget that a lot of people who stumble across this blog don’t know that you need to have Mezuzahs on pretty much all of the doors in your home. Many think that a Mezuzah is just for the front door. The fabric Mezuzah is perfect for the door to the living room or to a bedroom. In fact many of the Mezuzahs that we sell aren’t really intended for outdoor use.

As I was thinking about that, I got an email from a customer asking something similar. I thought that the answer might be interesting for everyone so here it is:

Hello:

I purchased my original mezuzahs from a scribe in Florida several years ago and am replacing the Mezuzah on our front door due to the fact that it got wet-despite being in a clear lucite cover. I recall the scribe telling me that the clear covers are best for the Mezuzahs. However, I would like to purchase at some point a case-both for decorative value and physical protection of the scroll. Is there any reason not to purchase a cover that is not clear?

Many thanks,
Mark R.

Here’s what I answered him:

Dear Mark,

Every situation requires a different kind of Mezuzah cover. For example, a Mezuzah which is in the direct sunlight should not be in a clear cover. The direct sunlight will dry out the parchment and cause it to become brittle and break. Such a door should have a cover which is light colored and made of something that doesn’t heat up such as plastic or wood. A mezuzah which is inside of a bedroom, say a Mezuzah which goes to a walk-in closet should also not be clear, because the scroll cannot be exposed in a place where people get undressed.

On the other hand, if a Mezuzah is on the entry to a dining room, you have much more leeway about what kind of cover you use because the scroll isn’t exposed to the elements. In such a case, it is preferable, if possible, to use a Mezuzah cover which exposes the name ‘Sha-dai’ which is written on the outside of the scroll. This is so that we will be reminded of G-d when we go through that door. Those cases which do not allow you to see the name of G-d on the scroll, generally have the letter ‘Shin’ on the them somewhere to remind us that the scroll inside, bears the name of G-d.

In any case (no pun intended), the most important thing is to choose a Mezuzah case which will properly protect the scroll and honor it.

Thanks for visiting our site.

Aaron Shaffier
MezuzahStore.com

This is one of the most common questions that we receive.  Unfortunately, there is no way for me to answer it completely in this post.  (Well, maybe I really could, but I would probably scare away all of our readers before it was done.)  So I am going to try to give some basic outlines.  As always, if you have questions you can email us or contact your local Rabbi.

The basic rule is every room in your house needs a Mezuzah except the bathroom. 

There are some exceptions.  The following rooms do not need a Mezuzah:

• A room which is smaller than 36 square feet.

• A room which is completely open and doesn’t have a door, or if door isn’t shaped in a way to need a mezuzah.

• A room which is used exclusively for a purpose which is not apropriate for a Mezuzah.  Such as a dressing room.

These are some rooms which do need a Mezuzah which you may not have thought of:

• Walk in closets (if they have 36 sq feet).

• Garage. (Usually needs 2 or 3 Mezuzahs.  One on the car port door, one on the door that enters the house and one on the door that enters from the side.)

• Study.

• French doors into living room or dining room each require a Mezuzah even if there are several of them in a row.

• Sliding glass door .

I was gonna write more now, but I think I will leave it at that before I put everyone to sleep.  If you have a question feel free to write or even better post it in the comments so I can answer for everyone.

I often find that people are confused about the proper height for the Mezuzah to be placed on the door.  Many people like to put the Mezuzah up very high on the door near the top.  Some others will put the Mezuzah very low on the entrance to child’s room in order that the child will be able to reach the Mezuzah to kiss it.    

The Shulchan Aruch says that the Mezuzah should be at the “bottom of the top third” of the door.  If it is lower than that, it is invalid.  If it is higher it is still Kosher as long as a handbreadth remains between the top of the door and the Mezuzah.  (A handbreadth is about 3.5 inches.)  Based on this, if you put the Mezuzah very low on a child’s room, the Mezuzah is not valid.  If you place it a bit too high it is still Kosher as long as it is not right near the top. 

The ideal thing to do is to measure the door, divide by three, and place the Mezuzah in the exactly correct spot.  

EXCEPTIONS

There are some exceptions to this rule. 

1. If a door is very tall and the Mezuzah is going to be up above your head, the Mezuzah should not be placed in the top third.  Rather the Mezuzah should be placed at shoulder hight.
2. If the door is not rectangular such as an arch or any non-rectangular shape, the rules are more complicated.  Look out for a post about this in the near future.

In order for a Mezuzah to be Kosher, it has to be well affixed. Well affixed means that it is not easy to remove, and that it doesn’t swing back and forth. We see this from the blessing that we recite when affixing a Mezuzah. It ends with the words, “who has commanded us to affix (Likvoa) the Mezuzah”. The Hebrew word ‘likvoa‘ means to affix something very well.

For example if you put your mezuzah up with a couple pieces of scotch tape it would not be Kosher. This is because anyone could walk by and pull it down with very little effort. That is not called being well affixed. If you put your Mezuzah up using only one nail on the top it is also not Kosher even though it may be difficult to remove. This is because it will be able to swing back and forth.

Based on this we can see that anything which affixes a Mezuzah well to the doorpost is Kosher. Nails or screws will obviously qualify. Glue or other strong adhesive also is fine. there are alos several brands of double sided mounting tape which are very strong and perfectly Kosher for affixing your Mezuzah. I personally recommend the mounting tapes made by 3-M. They make one type with a green and white backing which is great for indoors Mezuzahs. They have another type with a red backing which is weather proof and is excellent for indoor or outdoor use.

If you are going to be using mounting tape to affix your Mezuzah, just be sure to clean the area where you are going to put the Mezuzah. Let it dry thoroughly before sticking it on. Then when you put it up, press very firmly. It should stay in place for many years.

I have seen some people who used Velcro to put up their Mezuzah. They do this because one is supposed to take down the Mezuzah every few years to have it checked. They say that this makes it easier to take them down for checking and replace them when the time comes. The big problem with this is that Velcro is made for attaching things temporarily. That means that by definition, something which is attached with Velcro is not affixed. Based on this most Rabbis rule that you are not allowed to put your Mezuzah up with Velcro.

In short, anything which attaches a Mezuzah very well to the door in a permanent fashion is Kosher.