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A mezuzah ( "doorpost") (plural: mezuzot) is a piece of parchment
Parchment

Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or Goatskin . Its most common use is as the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is not tanned, but stretched, scraped, and dried under tension, creating a stiff white, yellowish or translucent animal skin....
 (often contained in a decorative case) inscribed with specified Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 verses from the Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
 ( and ). These verses comprise the Jewish prayer "Shema Yisrael", beginning with the phrase: "Listen, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One."

A mezuzah is affixed to the doorframe of Jewish homes to fulfill the mitzvah
Mitzvah

This article is about commandments in Judaism. For the Jewish rite of passage, see Bar Mitzvah and Bat MitzvahMitzvah is a word used in Judaism to refer to the 613 Mitzvot given in the Torah and the Mitzvah#Rabbinical_mitzvot instituted later for a total of 620....
 (Biblical commandment) to inscribe the words of the Shema "on the doorposts of your house" .






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A mezuzah ( "doorpost") (plural: mezuzot) is a piece of parchment
Parchment

Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or Goatskin . Its most common use is as the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is not tanned, but stretched, scraped, and dried under tension, creating a stiff white, yellowish or translucent animal skin....
 (often contained in a decorative case) inscribed with specified Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 verses from the Torah
Torah

The term "Torah" , or Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch, refers to the entirety of Judaism's founding Halakha and ethical religious texts....
 ( and ). These verses comprise the Jewish prayer "Shema Yisrael", beginning with the phrase: "Listen, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One."

A mezuzah is affixed to the doorframe of Jewish homes to fulfill the mitzvah
Mitzvah

This article is about commandments in Judaism. For the Jewish rite of passage, see Bar Mitzvah and Bat MitzvahMitzvah is a word used in Judaism to refer to the 613 Mitzvot given in the Torah and the Mitzvah#Rabbinical_mitzvot instituted later for a total of 620....
 (Biblical commandment) to inscribe the words of the Shema "on the doorposts of your house" . Many families place a mezuzah on the front door only, but observant Jews affix one on every doorway in the home apart from bathrooms, as well as closets too small to qualify as rooms. The parchment is prepared by a qualified scribe (a "sofer stam") who has undergone many years of meticulous training, and the verses are written in black indelible ink with a special quill
Quill

A quill pen is a writing implement made from a flight feather of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, metal-Nib bed pens, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ballpoint pen....
 pen. The parchment is then rolled up and placed inside the case.

Affixing the mezuzah

According to halakha
Halakha

Halakha ? also Hebrew transliteration Halocho and Halacha ? is the collective body of Judaism religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
, the mezuzah should be placed on the right side of the door, in the upper third of the doorpost (i.e., approximately shoulder height), within approximately of the doorway opening. Generally, halakha requires that mezuzot be affixed within 30 days of moving into a rented house or apartment. This applies to Jews living in the Diaspora
Diaspora

The term diaspora refers to the movement of any population sharing common ethnicity identity who were either forced to leave or voluntarily left their Settler territory, and became residents in areas often far removed from the former....
 (i.e., outside of the Land of Israel
Land of Israel

For other uses, see Israel The Land of Israel is the region which, according to the Hebrew Bible, was promised by God to the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac and to the Israelites, descendants of Jacob, Abraham's grandson....
). For a purchased home or apartment in the Diaspora, or a residence in Israel (owned or rented), the mezuzah is affixed immediately upon moving in. The case can be affixed to the doorpost with nails, screws, glue, or double-sided tape. Wrapping the scroll in plastic wrap before placing it in the case will protect it from the elements. Care should be taken to not tear or damage the parchment or the wording on it, as this will invalidate the mezuzah, which is considered Torah.

Where the doorway is wide enough, Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews

File:Juden 1881.JPGAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish ethnic divisions of the Rhineland in the west of Germany....
 and Spanish and Portuguese Jews
Spanish and Portuguese Jews

Spanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Judaism communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on....
 tilt the mezuzah so that the top slants toward the room into which the door opens. This is done to accommodate the variant opinions of the medieval Rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
s Rashi
Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, , better known by the acronym Rashi , , was a rabbi from France, famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, and Jewish commentaries on the Bible....
 and Rabbeinu Tam
Rabbeinu Tam

Jacob ben Meir Tam, universally known as Rabbenu Tam was one of the Tosafist whose commentary appears in every edition of Talmud opposite the commentary of Rashi....
 as to whether it should be placed horizontally or vertically, and also to imply that God and the Torah (which the mezuzah symbolizes) are entering the room. Most Sephardim and other non-Ashkenazi Jews affix the mezuzah vertically.

The procedure is to hold the mezuzah against the spot upon which it will be affixed, then recite a blessing:

.
Baruch atta Adonai Eloheinu melech ha‘olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu likboa‘ mezuza.


Blessed are You, Lord our God
Names of God in Judaism

In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title. It represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relation of God to the Jewish people....
, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His mitzvot
Mitzvah

This article is about commandments in Judaism. For the Jewish rite of passage, see Bar Mitzvah and Bat MitzvahMitzvah is a word used in Judaism to refer to the 613 Mitzvot given in the Torah and the Mitzvah#Rabbinical_mitzvot instituted later for a total of 620....
, and commanded us to affix a mezuzah.


Any Jew can recite the blessing provided he or she is old enough to understand the significance of the mitzvah. After the blessing, the mezuzah is attached.

When affixing several mezuzot, it is sufficient to recite the blessing once, before affixing the first one.

Checking the parchment

Orthodox Jews have a qualified scribe check the mezuzot parchments for defects (such as small tears or faded lettering) at least twice every seven years.

Mezuzah cases

Mezzuzah1
The commandment to affix a mezuzah is widely followed in the Jewish world, even by Jews who are not religiously observant. While the important part of the mezuzah is the "Koft", or parchment, and not the case itself, designing and producing mezuzah cases has been elevated to an art form over the ages. Mezuzahs are produced from an endless variety of materials, from silver and precious metals, to wood, stone, ceramics, and pewter. In fact, the beauty of many of these cases has led some to forget that the important part of the mezuzah is the parchment. Some dealers of mezuzah cases will provide or offer for sale a copy of the text that has been photocopied onto paper; this is not a valid mezuzah, which must be handwritten onto a piece of parchment by a qualified scribe.

Additional Inscriptions

It is customary to write two inscriptions on the back of the parchment:

  • the Hebrew word (Shaddai)
  • the phrase


Shaddai, one of the biblical names of God, also serves here as an acronym for Shomer Daltot Yisrael, "Guardian of Israel's doors". Many mezuzah cases are also marked with the Hebrew letter ? (Shin), for Shaddai.

is a Caesar cipher
Caesar cipher

In cryptography, a Caesar cipher, also known as a Caesar's cipher, the shift cipher, Caesar's code or Caesar shift, is one of the simplest and most widely known encryption techniques....
 — a one letter shift — of the third, fourth, and fifth words of the Shema, "Adonai, Eloheinu, Adonai", "The Lord, our God, the Lord"; it is written on the back of the mezuzah, opposite the corresponding words on the front. This inscription, dates from the 11th century and is found amongst the Sages of Germany.

Bibliography