Jews
9. I saw a little box affixed to the entrance of the homes of the
Jews; what is it? |
It is the Mezuzah (Hebrew word which means ‘doorpost’) which consists
of a piece of parchment, made from the skin of a clean animal upon which the
following verses Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 are hand written by a scribe
in Hebrew. The parchment is rolled up and inserted in a case with a small
aperture. On the back of the parchment the word Almighty, but also the
initial letters of ‘Guardian of the doors of |
It is customary among the pious Jews, on entering or leaving, to kiss
the Mezuzah or touch it and kiss the fingers in order to remember not to sin. |
Many Jews who are influenced by the Kabbalah regard the Mezuzah as a
talisman; according to the Jewish tradition demons cannot live in a house
which has the mezuzah and the evil forces which infest a house leave the
house after the mezuzah has been affixed to the doorposts. In ancient times,
among the Jews, when a pestilence or a catastrophe or a tragedy struck a
Jewish community or a family, the mezuzoth (plural of mezuzah) were checked
to see if the text was spoilt. This practice is still widespread among the
Jews Chasidim (‘the pious’) who are one of the groups of the variegated and
fragmented Orthodox Judaism. Some Jews wear a mezuzah around the neck as a
charm. |
We who are Christians don’t need to write the commandments of God on
the doorposts of our houses because God wrote them on our hearts and in our
minds, as it is written: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their
mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall
be My people” (Hebrews 8:10 – NKJV. cf. Hebrews 10:16) |