Customs: The Mezuzah Defending Our Home From the Meshuganas

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                

There is the custom of having a Mezuzah attached to the doorpost of one's home which is used as another reminder of who lives here, under protection, and their customs.  It's a prayer on the door of a Jewish person, hopefully.  

The origin of the mezuzah, a small box containing a scroll with prayers, lies in the biblical commandment to "write them on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates" (Deuteronomy 6:9). The mezuzah, literally meaning "doorpost," serves as a reminder of the Jewish covenant with God and a symbol of Jewish identity. 

Usually, a rabbi is the one designated to put it on the doorpost for you,  When affixing a mezuzah, the right doorpost as you enter the room should be used, approximately shoulder height or slightly higher. The Ashkenazic custom is to angle the mezuzah with the top tilted inward, while Sephardic custom is to place it upright. The mezuzah should be firmly attached, with screws preferred for ease of removal later. 

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21, known as the Shema, is a core Jewish prayer emphasizing monotheism and the importance of remembering and obeying God's commandments.

 In Deuteronomy 6:4, it states, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." It then emphasizes love for God, instructing the people to keep the commandments in their hearts, teach them to their children, and bind them as signs on their hands and foreheads, writing them on their doorposts and gates.

 Deuteronomy 11:13-21 further emphasizes obedience to these commandments, promising blessings for those who hearken to them and serving as a reminder that failing to obey will result in punishment and potential loss of the land. 

   Josh Shapiro's room for 2nd Seder now destroyed:  April 2025, not Germany 1935

In normal times, a Jewish person thinks about this:  You have now affixed the mezuzahs. Your home proudly displays its Jewish identity, and you've tapped into this unique spiritual connection. But today, with anti-Semitism running into our daily life, one might think twice about their protection.   

The Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, experienced an anti-Semite attack on his home shortly after the 2nd Seder this year when he had many guests at his home for it.  They burned the inside of the large room that held the seder.  Luckily, no one was hurt.  The anti-Semite blamed him for Gaza since he was a Jew.  That was his reasoning this act, truly a sick person without any logic, but nevertheless, many people are thinking like him who seem to be normal otherwise. 

Pennsylvania governor Shapiro quotes Priestly Blessing, emphasizes message of religious tolerance, but says New York senator’s demand for civil rights investigation ASAP isn’t ‘helpful’  He is against Schumer's call for a hate probe.  

He also revealed that the family had found solace when a fire chaplain recited the Jewish Priestly Blessing for them.  “It’s a prayer we recite in Hebrew for our kids. It’s from the Book of Numbers: ‘The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace.’ That’s a prayer and a hope that we have for our kids every day, that they have peace in their lives,” Shapiro said.    “Obviously, that peace was shattered on Sunday morning, but it is a hope and a prayer that we have, not just for our kids, but every child across Pennsylvania that they live in a society that’s free and peaceful where they are protected and they are watched over by God.”

But you're not finished yet. The mezuzah is a holy object that must be properly maintained.

At least twice in seven years, we take down our mezuzahs and have them professionally checked to ascertain that they are intact. The scribe examines the scrolls to ensure that no letters have been cracked or erased and that the mezuzah is still good. Our vigilance keeps our mezuzahs performing their function: bringing holiness, protection and merit to our home.

After a man tried to assassinate Donald Trump in July at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, quickly issued a statement condemning the attempt on the Republican presidential candidate’s life.“Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable,” Shapiro posted on X that day. “It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States. I have been briefed on the situation. @PAStatePolice are on the scene in Butler County and working with our federal and local partners.”

Yet three days after an arson attack on Shapiro’s residence in Harrisburg on Sunday, Trump still has not called Shapiro or weighed in significantly to condemn the violence.  The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Do other people use G-d in protecting their homes?  Yes, many Catholics use God in protecting their homes through various practices, including prayer, displaying religious images, blessing the home, and using sacramentals like holy water. These practices are seen as ways to seek divine protection and create a holy environment. Praying for protection is a common practice, with many Catholics praying specific prayers for the home and its occupants. Sacramentals :Holy water, crosses, and statues of religious figures are used as tangible signs of faith and are believed to provide spiritual protection. Blessing the Home: Some Catholics have their homes blessed by a priest, while others may bless their own homes using prayers and holy water. Displays: Displaying religious images, like the Sacred Heart of Jesus or crosses, is seen as a way to invoke God's presence and protection. 

Having a custom such as ours with the mezuzah just makes me feel good; not alone. 

 Meshuganas (crazy people) have always been with us since the beginning of time, so that is

why we need the extra protection from HaShem.(the name).  Practices such as customs arrive 

in our culture when we have the need; and I think this one is here to stay, ever since Moses 

 said it, so is it written, almost in 1200 BCE, about 3,000 years ago.  

Resource:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/gov-josh-shapiro-trump-arson-attack-rcna200907

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/mezuzah/#:~:text=Mezuza

h%20is%20of%20biblical%20origin,the%20traditional%20Jewish%20dietary%20laws.

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/278460/jewish/How-to-Hang-a-Mezuzah.htm

https://www.timesofisrael.com/josh-shapiro-recalls-arson-attack-declines-to-back-

schumers-call-for-hate-probe/

https://acatholicmomslife.com/spiritual-protection-for-the-catholic-home/

YOM KIPPUR: Hardest of Our Holidays To Remember Alone This Year

Nadene Goldfoot                                                     

  We are now in The Days of Awe.  They are not to be sad days.  Yom Kippur is the happiest day of the year coming next Sunday-Yom Kippur.  This is when we receive G-d's forgiveness, an expression of His eternal, unconditional love.  It is on this day that G-d reveals most clearly that our essence and His essence are one.  On the level of the soul, the Jewish people are all truly equal and indivisible.  The more we demonstrate our essential unity by acting with love and friendship amongst ourselves, the more fully G-d's love will be revealed to us.  

 This year we will be celebrating Yom Kippur alone due to the pandemic and isolation of trying to rid our communities of this Corona Virus, AKA COVID 19.  This once a year holiday was meant to be a time of being in the company of our fellow Jewish community.   Pictured above is the blowing of the shofer, an important element in the services taking place in the synagogues all over the world each year in remembrance.                                                                      

    Secular and religious Israelis at the conclusion of Yom Kippur services in the community center in Kiryat Ono, near Tel  Aviv (Courtesy of Tzohar)  Women are upstairs.  

Yom Kippur is our day of atonement.  We are asked by G-d to fast for 25 hours in the act of atoning for our sins of the past year.  To atone means the expiation of a sin and its consequent forgiveness through appropriate repentance and reparation.  Ever since the previous holiday of Rosh Hashana, the birthday of the world 10 days previous, called the Ten Days of Teshuvah (2 days of Rosh Hashana and 7 days following and Yom Kippur), our minds have been on such atonement with proper preparation.  It's not something done at the snap of our fingers at the moment.  It means "returning."  Our essential nature, the divine spark of the soul, is good.  True repentance is but achieved not through harsh self-condemnation, but through the realization   that our deepest desire is to do good, in accordance with the will of G-d.          

To do Teshuvah is to make amends.  Monday: we can make amends for whatever wrong we may have done on all Mondays of the previous year--and so forth.  This coming Shabbat is called Shabbat Shuvah after reading "Return, O Israel, for you have stumbled.." Today is a fast day, the Fast of Gedaliah, to remember the tragic assassination of Gedaliah, a great Jewish leader during the Babylonian exile.        

It's always an event that takes place on the Hebrew month of Tishri 10, looked upon as the "Sabbath of solemn rest"-Sabbath of Sabbaths", being the Sabbath is a holy day whereas no work is to take place, as our mind is on thanking G-d for our gift of life and what we have been given.  It's the day when a man must cleanse himself of all sin, when we shouldn't sin ever but know somehow being man and not our One G-d, that we will possibly slip somehow.  In our group in the synagogue, every sin imaginable will be mentioned, covering all of man's thoughtless acts as we touch our chests each time in this act of saying we will do better the coming year.                         

 The Shofar is sounded at the end of Yom Kippur.  

It had been sounded throughout the service during Rosh Hashanah. 

This year, Rosh Hashana and Shabbat came on the same day.  

      This confession time, in Temple days led by the high priest, is phrased in the plural "We" because of the mutual responsibility of all Jews.  The confession enumerates ethical lapses exclusively and covers almost the whole range of human failings.  

Especially impressive are the Evening Service of Kol Nidre with its opening formula canceling rash vows between man and G-d and the Concluding Service of Neilah Service which ends with the invocation of the SHEMA and the declaration: "Next year in Jerusalem!                                 

It is the day so long ago when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the 2nd set of tablets of the law and announced to the people the Divine pardon for the sin of the Golden Calf.  Besides not working, using perfumes or lotions, washing for pleasure or wearing leather shoes, or eating, nor drinking even water, nor any sexual intercourse, the day was outstanding for the elaborate Temple ceremonial ritual of listening and saying prayers with the Cantor (our prayers are sung and led by this person-a man with a beautiful voice a cappella).  

Long ago, the orthodox in the past days already would have included the dispatch  of the scapegoat to the wilderness, laden with the sins of the congregation as a visual reenactment that became a ritual, a symbol.                      

 In the days of the Temples, only on this day was the high priest allowed to enter the room called the Holy of Holies  clad not in his golden vestments but in white linen, symbolic of purity and humility. He was regarded as the holiest man in the world and he was in the holiest place on earth, the Kodesh HaKadoshim of the Temple in Jerusalem, and he was in there to pray on behalf of his people.  When he would then appear at the conclusion of the service, he was greeted with rejoicing by the people, confident that their sins had been forgiven.  He was said to be radiant, like the iridescence of the rainbow, like a rose in a garden of delight, like the morning star sparkling on the horizen.  Except for the absence of priestly ceremonial, the observance of this day in late Judaism  is similar in character to that of Temple procedure. 

                                                                 

  So on the eve of Yom Kippur, we will feast with a special meal with not too much salt in it so as not to thirst so much on Yom Kippur.

                         Bagels and lox, sour cream, veggies and I hope-coffee 
 And then there is the breaking of the fast, finally, as weak as you are, usually with friends or relatives,  enjoying the first taste of special foods and drink after a long fast.  You are proud of yourselves, in this group fast, for sticking to it till the end.