A parchment scroll inscribed with the Shema is fixed to the doorposts of the home, touched in passing as a reminder of the covenant.
Tagged: Remembrance Sacred time Scripture Jewish
How It Is Practiced
The mezuzah is a small case — wood, metal, ceramic, or glass — containing a parchment (klaf) on which a scribe has written the first two passages of the Shema. It is affixed, traditionally at a slight angle, to the right side of every doorpost in the home except bathrooms. Many Jews touch the mezuzah and kiss their fingers on entering and leaving. The parchment is removed and checked by a scribe twice every seven years, since letters can crack or fade.
Purpose and Meaning
The command 'write them on the doorposts of your house' turns the house itself into a text. The devotion is threshold devotion: a dozen times a day, crossing from street to home and room to room, the hand remembers what the house stands under. It is also protection in the popular understanding — a use the medieval rabbis discussed carefully, insisting the guarding is God's, and the mezuzah the reminder to live as the guarded should.
References
- Mezuzah — Wikipedia Free / open access
Related Practices
- Wearing Tefillin — On weekday mornings, leather boxes containing Scripture are bound to the arm and the head for the morning prayer.
- The Three Daily Prayers — Jewish devotion is structured by three daily services — morning, afternoon, and evening — built around the Shema and the Amidah.
- The Brown Scapular — The Brown Scapular is two small squares of brown wool worn over the shoulders as a sign of belonging to Mary.
Related Across the Site
- First Fridays Devotion Devotion — The First Fridays devotion joins Mass and Communion on nine consecutive first Fridays to the promises of the Sacred Heart.
- Reciting the Psalms (Tehillim) Devotion — The Book of Psalms is Judaism's prayer book within the Bible, recited whole in cycles and verse by verse in trouble, illness, and thanksgiving.
- The Angelus Devotion — The Angelus is a short prayer on the Incarnation, prayed at morning, noon, and evening at the sound of a bell.
- The Brown Scapular Devotion — The Brown Scapular is two small squares of brown wool worn over the shoulders as a sign of belonging to Mary.
- The Sabbath Table Devotion — Friday night's table — candles, wine, two loaves, blessings, and song — is the home liturgy at the center of Jewish devotion.
- Torah Study as Devotion Devotion — In Judaism, study is itself worship: the daily portion, the weekly cycle, and the paired argument of the study house are acts of devotion.
- Wearing Tefillin Devotion — On weekday mornings, leather boxes containing Scripture are bound to the arm and the head for the morning prayer.
- Shema Prayer or Creed — Judaism's central affirmation of the one God, drawn from Deuteronomy 6:4 and recited morning and evening.