i recently moved into my mothers house to assist her after my fathers death. i noticed that there was no mezuzahs on any of the door posts.our front door is strange and a mezuzah can only be placed vertical with no room for a inward slant as i had in Miami Beach.can a mezuzah be left vertical on the right side of the door.also…my mother does not want mezuzahs in the house. it is her home.i should be lucky for the outside doors.at 82 years of age she is unwilling to make changes like a kosher kitchen,all door post mezuzahs and now she wants to go to a nearby church because our only temple closed as over the years the majority of jews have relocated.[a church] i asked her.?..i think its more for socialization.maybe the mezuzah might help our home with these dilemma’s.

Here is what I answered:

I am a certified Torah scribe. I write, check and sell Mezuzahs, Tefillin, Torahs etc.

There are several issues involved in your question. First, there is not obligation at all to put the Mezuzah up slanting in. This is only a custom and only for Ashkenazi Jews. This custom is because there are two opinions about how a Mezuzah is to be affixed. One is that the Mezuzah should be vertical and the other is that it should be horizontal. The majority opinion is that it should be vertical, but some have the custom to slant it a bit just to acknowledge the opinion that it should be horizontal.

Regarding the issue of your mother not wanting to put up Mezuzahs. Technically it is your mother’s house and therefore you are only obligated to put a Mezuzah on the door to the bedroom where you sleep. Someone here said that since you are obligated in honoring your mother that you shouldn’t make an issue out of putting up Mezuzahs. I disagree. If your mother was physically ill and didn’t want to take her medication, it would not be honoring her by doing nothing. Spiritual matters are no less important than physical matters.

I would suggest that you think of a way to convince your mother to put up Mezuzahs in the entire house, or at least on as many doors as possible. Perhaps it would be helpful to sit down with her at the computer and look at decorative Mezuzah covers that she would like. Offer to buy for her whichever one she likes as a gift. You know your mother. You are the biggest expert in the world at how to get what you want out of her. You have been doing it since the day you were born. This case is no different, except that what you want in this case is good for her also.

The Mishna in Ethics of our Fathers states, “A Mitzvah brings another Mitzvah”. Perhaps the Mitzvah of putting up proper Kosher Mezuzahs will have a positive effect on your mother regarding the other issue that you wrote about.

Good luck

PS I am going to take this opportunity to shamelessly plug my website if you need a place to buy a Kosher Mezuzah.

http://www.thegreatshofar.com/

I was happy to see the following response:

thank you so much..i appreciate you taking the time to write that information.it has helped so much.i enjoyed your web site and will definitely use it!

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We hope that these new, lower shipping costs will encourage even more people to buy our Mezuzahs which are certified Kosher and guaranteed to be made in Israel.

Today I came across the following very interesting question:

Fellow Jews – What’s your opinion about mezuzahs?

Do you have them at home? in each room? or just the entrance?
Do you touch them when entering/leaving the house?

My folks just invited a guy today to inspect the mezuzahs at their home. He found that two of them were “defective” (had one or two letters drawn badly) and therefor had to be replaced. And then they went on and did a mini-ritual of hanging each mezuzah at its place (and repeated in every room’s entrance).

To me, the way some people “use” mezuzahs seems totally absurd (have them in every room’s entrance, touch/kiss them when they pass it, etc.).
I see it as a symbol, not a tool. It carries a meaning, not a function.
Take a wedding ring for example – It symbolizes the love and binding to your spouse. Just because you have 10 fingers it doesn’t mean you need to have a ring on each finger, and even if you do – does it really say that you love your spouse more?

What’s your take on this?

Here is what I answered:

This is a very good question.

I am a Torah scribe. I make Mezuzahs and check/repair them as well so I hope that I can explain the traditional Torah viewpoint regarding the Mezuzah.

Traditionally, Judaism believes that there are 613 Mitzvahs (commandments) in the Torah for Jewish people to observe. Each one of them has two aspects to it. The obvious aspect is the symbolism of each Mitzvah. In the case of the Mezuzah, it symbolizes that the home is a Jewish home. It also reminds us that God took us out of Egypt.

But each Mitzvah also has another aspect to it. That is the part that is entirely beyond our understanding. Each Mitzvah is something that God desires us to do exactly as he has commanded. This is both to demonstrate our dedication to him as well as because the infinite God has reasons for each Mitzvah that are beyond our understanding.

If one were to observe any given Mitzvah only to fulfill the symbolism of it, then there would be no need for rules, measurements, time frames etc. etc. Yet Jewish law, as it is codified in the Talmud and other books is precisely concerned with the minute details of how to properly observe each Mitzvah.

This is because the second, transcendent aspect of each Mitzvah is at least as important as the superficial symbolic aspect. It is therefore important that each Mitzvah be performed in its proper time according to all of the specifications that were handed down to us in the Written and Oral Torahs.

When it comes to the Mezuzah, the written Torah explicitly says, “And you shall inscribe them on the doorpostS (plural) of your house and on your gateS (also plural). In addition, we have very clear traditions in the Talmud prescribing exactly how a Mezuzah is to be prepared, how often it is to be checked, which doors are obligated to have one etc.

This is how traditional Judaism has viewed the Mitzvahs through the millennia and still does today. Of course in the last century several new versions of Judaism have come on the scene such as Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, and others. As a general rule, those movements either entirely discount or marginalize the trancendent, infinite aspect of the Mitzvahs. They are only concerned with the symbolism that can be understood. But traditional Judaism as it has been practiced for thousands of years views the matter more or less as I have explained above.

With blessings,

Aaron Shaffier

The scroll is the most important part.

Kosher Mezuzah Scroll.

There is an entire body of complex Torah law just about the details of writing Mezuzahs, Tefillin and Torah scrolls. For example, if any two letters are touching each other, even a little bit, the Mezuzah is rendered invalid. If a single letter is not shaped correctly, the Mezuzah is also invalid. It goes without saying that if a letter is missing or a word is misspelled, that it is not a Kosher Mezuzah.

There are many Mezuzah scrolls on the market which are not written and checked carefully and are therefore not Kosher. For this reason. It is good advise to always purchase your Mezuzah scroll from someone who is well versed in these laws and can properly ascertain the quality of what he is selling and stand behind it.

Choosing a Mezuzah case.

Once you know that you have a genuine, Kosher Mezuzah scroll you can choose your Mezuzah case. This is more straightforward. But there are some considerations to keep in mind beyond the simple aesthetics.

Outdoor Mezuzah.

If your Mezuzah will be exposed to moisture, make sure to choose a waterproof Mezuzah case. If it will be in direct sunlight, you may want to choose something in a lighter color like white or aluminum. The light color will reflect most of the sunlight and the case wont heat up too much thereby damaging the scroll.

A delicate indoor Mezuzah.

If on the other hand your Mezuzah will be on the entrance to a dining room or living room, you can choose pretty much anything that you like.

If you take these tips into consideration before you purchase your Mezuzah, it will bring blessing to your home for many years to come.