What makes a house a Jewish home?
My husband and I are married for less than a year, and now that we are finally moving to our own place, I cannot help but feel excited with a lot of things to look forward to.
Upon moving, we were both busy choosing our own sala set, dinning set, bed, and the list goes on.
But, before all these stuff, we both prioritized to buy our first mezuzah. We realized that our mezuzah should not be the final touch of our humble abode, but a starting point. We consider this as one of our Jewish values- to put our Jewish tradition first above anything else.
So what is a מְזוּזָה MEZUZAH?
It is a case with a piece of parchment called a ‘klaf’ with inscription from the Torah that says:
דברים ו:ד׳׳ט
“4 Hear, O Israel: Hashem is our Elohim, Hashem is the One and Only. 5 You shall love Hashem, your Elohim, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your resources. 6 And these matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart. 7 You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them while you sit in your home, while you walk on the way, when you retire and when you arise. 8 Bind them as a sign upon your arm and let them be ornaments between your eyes. 9 And write them on the door posts of your house and upon your gates.”
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 6:4-9 Tanakh Yaffa
As we enter and leave our home, we are reminded by the mezuzah of our Creator’s covenant, and it serves as a symbol that this dwelling is a Jewish household.
Every Jewish family puts a mezuzah in their doorposts not as a form of decor but as a way of fulfilling another mitzvah. Baruch HaShem!
