cellio | mezuzot

Those oblong "boxes" you see on doors in Jewish homes/shops are called mezuzot (plural of mezuzah). They contain little scrolls on which are written certain passages from the Torah. The reason for this comes from the part of the Torah that says "teach these words to your children [...] and write them upon your doorposts". (Technically, the word "mezuzah" means "doorpost", but it has come to also mean the thing we attach to the doorpost.)

Some people have the custom of touching the mezuzah on the way through the doorway. Most people who do this touch and then bring the fingertips to the mouth (sort of like kissing, in a way).

This morning after services some of us headed out to the congregational sukkah. I ended up being right behind my rabbi as we left the building. After we walked out, he turned to me and said "when did you start kissing mezuzot?" I said that this is actually one of my earliest observances. (I guess we haven't walked through any doors together before.) He commented that it's interesting to see which ways of connecting with God work for different people. (I started to reply, but other people came along and wanted to talk to him and we got interrupted.)

This is one of those customs that sounded really, really goofy to me when I first heard about it. I mean, how could touching a thing on a doorpost help you stay mindful of God or God's commandments? It's just a box, right? You don't even see the words; they're inside.

I think I started doing this early on simply because I thought you were "supposed" to. (Remember, I didn't start out Reform, and everyone else, to a greater or lesser extent, teaches that you do things simply because halacha says to do them.) But after I did it for a little while, I realized that it did in fact have the desired effect on me.

(Maybe I just go in for props. During the morning blessings, when we get to the one that says "blessed is God... who made me a Jew", I always wrap my hand around the star I wear. Dunno why; I just do. I also do this during the Shema. I probably got this, kind of, from traditional prayer that calls for men to touch the fringes of the tallit (prayer shawl) at certain times.)

So yes, I touch mezuzot on the way into or out of buildings. I have mezuzot on my front door, back door, and back gate (because it says "...on your doorposts and on your gates"). When I lived alone I had one on the bedroom door (because it says "when you lie down and when you rise up"), but Dani had a strong, negative reaction when I suggested this in our house so I had to give that up. (I don't have mezuzot on all interior doors, though we do have ones on the living-room and dining-room doors because we received them as gifts and they're too pretty not to hang prominently.)

It's not quite correct to say that the mezuzah reminds me of God and/or mitzvot, because I've reached a level of awareness where I never completely forget. But still, somehow that frequent, physical contact with the mezuzah helps me achieve frequent, metaphorical contact with what those words represent.

mezuzot

no subject