Making mezuzah cases with resin artist Emily Levine
Under the direction of resin clay artist Emily Levine, we made mezuzah cases and learned how to hang them.
What really happened:
Our study of the Shema /V’ahavta portion in Deuteronomy (see Illuminated Manuscripts) led to a discussion of the mezuzah that we nail to our doorway. The last line of the “v’ahavta” paragraph, Deuteronomy 6:9, tells us to write "these words” on the mezuzot (doorposts) of our house and on our gates.
We wondered: What words, exactly, does the text mean for us to write there? Some of us thought it meant the entire Torah. Some thought it meant verse 4, the Shema. Or perhaps it means that we should write, “You shall love Adonay your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your means.”
When we learned the actual contents of the mezuzah, the first two paragraphs of the Shema, we found it funny that the words we write on our doorposts include “Write these words upon your doorpost.” It’s like the Morton salt box with the picture of the Morton salt box on it.
Many in the group have a mezuzah on the front door of their house, and some have mezuzot on the doors of other rooms as well. The Jewish custom is to put a mezuzah on every doorway in a house, except on the way into the bathroom.
The word “mezuzah” actually refers to the parchment that we nail to our doors. The custom of making beautiful mezuzah cases is a way to make the practice more enjoyable, and it has become a uniquely Jewish art form.
Danielle led a discussion about the meaning of the mezuzah. Here are some of the issues that were raised:
- How do you respond when you notice that a house is marked as Jewish with a mezuzah?
- How do you feel about having your own house marked in that way?
- Why is it important that the marking is on the entryway to a space? What is the significance of the boundary between inside and outside?
- Why do some people touch or kiss the mezuzah as they enter and exit a room? What kind of awareness is raised through this practice?
Rabbi Helen told this story about life in Israel: When my daughter Miriam was in 10th grade, we lived in Jerusalem for six months.
Miriam spent the second semester of that year in an Israeli high school. The school building was somewhat dilapidated, with doorways and passageways running every which way. Once during a break the students were running around the school in a giant game of tag. Miriam noticed that every once in a while someone would fling an arm into the air, in what seemed to her like a random flailing gesture. Then she noticed that this happened only as people passed through doorways. Miriam was amazed to
see that even as they ran around their school, rambunctious and giggling, these Jewish students noticed the doorways and raised their fingers to touch the mezuzot.
We studied the customs and prayer for affixing the mezuzah to the doorpost, and everybody was sent home with a paper to refer to when hanging their own mezuzah. Did you hang yours yet? On what doorway?