Parshas Vaeschanan — Home Safe Home

“And write them on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.” (Devarim 6:9)

The word mezuzah means doorway. Generally, names of mitzvos refer to the actual item utilized for the mitzvah, not how it’s used or where it’s placed; it’s like calling tefillin “forearm.” Why is the name of this mitzvah defined by where it’s located?  (Rabbi Yochanan Zweig)

This summer marks almost 20 years since we moved to our home outside of Yerushalayim. Before that we were the Wandering Jews, moving from one rental to the next, getting creative with small spaces to accommodate our growing family.

But on that hot summer day in Av, the kids danced around, racing from room to room, thrilled with the space that was all theirs.

Against the backdrop of their exhilaration was our excitement at hanging up the first mezuzahs in our own home. As my husband hammered in each mezuzah, I felt each room become ours, one at a time. No more rentals. These were our doorways, our rooms. Thank you, Hashem, for our own mikdash me’at.

On the night of Makkas Bechoros, the Jews placed blood on their doorways so Hashem would “pass over” that home and not harm its inhabitants.

However, Hashem Himself came to redeem the Jews that night and to smite the Egyptians; why would He need the blood on the doorway to differentiate between the homes of the Jews and those of the Egyptians?

Truthfully, the purpose of placing blood on the doorways was for our sake. It was our declaration that we identify as Jews and not Egyptians. Physically putting the blood on the doorways of our homes was an articulation of our allegiance to Hashem.

A few years later, my husband ran a routine check on all the mezuzahs. This was mostly for form, as the mezuzahs we’d bought when we moved were mehudar and brand-new. Still, he went through them one at a time, and then came to the mezuzah on the glass door leading from our dining room to the patio.