The Mitzvah
1. It is a positive commandment to write a mezuzah (containing the sections of Shema and Vehaya im shamoa) and affix it to the doorpost.1
2. Whoever scrupulously observes the mitzvah of mezuzah, both he and his progeny are granted long life.2
3. Upon exiting or entering a house, one should place his hand on the mezuzah.3
Places Obligated to Have a Mezuzah
1. All entrances that have a tzuras hapesach; i.e., two walls at least a meter high with a lintel above them, are obligated to have a mezuzah, with the exception of a bathroom, a shower, a bathing room and the like.4
2. Only a place used as a residence is obligated to have a mezuzah. This includes: rooms used for eating, sleeping or other personal uses. This also includes storerooms and the like. This obligation also extends to the gateways and doors of a courtyard.
3. There are differences of opinion whether other locations are obligated to have a mezuzah. The prevailing custom, however, is that a mezuzah is placed on all doorways: offices, stores, factories, public institutions, synagogues, schools and the like.5 [See the footnote with regard to making a blessing upon affixing a mezuzah in these locations.6 ]
When to Affix the Mezuzah
1. The mezuzah is affixed immediately upon moving into the house. This applies not only in Eretz Yisrael, but also outside of Eretz Yisrael.7
2. In Eretz Yisrael, a blessing is recited immediately upon affixing the mezuzah. Outside of Eretz Yisrael,the mezuzah is initially affixed without reciting a blessing. Thirty days later, however, one of the mezuzos is removed for examination, and this of course may be replaced by a better one. One now recites the blessing as one affixes the new mezuzah, having in mind those already in position on the other doorways.
Where to Affix the Mezuzah
1. The mezuzah is placed: a) on the right side of the doorway; b) on a diagonal, with the lower edge jutting outward; c) at the beginning of the upper third of the door’s height, which is generally around shoulder-height.8
2. What is considered the “right side” of the doorway? Isn’t there one “right side” upon entering and another “right side” upon exiting? This is established by the “right side” of the doorway into which the door swings (“al pi heker tzir” — lit., “as one sees the hinge”). When a doorway opens outwards, the mezuzah is affixed to the right of the one exiting the room.9
3. Even a room that has but one entrance has the mezuzah affixed according to the direction that the door swings. Thus, when the doorway opens outwards, the mezuzah is affixed to the right of the one exiting the room.
4. This rule does not apply to the front door; i.e., regardless of the above, the mezuzah is always placed on one’s right as one enters the house.
5. When a house has two entrances — a main entrance and a side entrance — the mezuzah of the main entrance is always placed on one’s right as one enters the house (even when the door opens outwards). The mezuzah on the door to the side entrance is placed according to the direction that the door swings. Thus, when the doorway opens outwards, the mezuzah is affixed to the right of the one exiting the house; when the doorway opens inwards, the mezuzah is affixed to the right of the one entering the house.10
6. When a door swings equally both inward and outward (and thus lacks a specific inward or outward orientation), the mezuzah is affixed to the right side of the direction for which the door is mostly used (i.e., depending on whether the doorway is used mostly for entry or for exit). More detailed laws will be found in the footnote.11
Affixing the Mezuzah and Its Blessing
1. The mezuzah parchment is rolled from left to right, i.e., from the left end of the lines to the right beginnings of the lines.12
2. It is customary to cover the mezuzah parchment in nylon or cellophane or the like, in order to protect it from moisture. The mezuzah is placed in a case or a tube or the like. It should be placed right-side up, i.e., with the opening words of the Shema at the top.13
3. The mezuzah should be affixed with nails or the like, so that it is firmly attached to the doorway. If the mezuzah was only attached with one nail at the top while the bottom part is loose, the mezuzah is invalid; it must be firmly attached to the doorpost.14
4. Before affixing the mezuzah, one recites the blessing of Baruch … asher kidshanu bemitzvosav vetzivanu likboa mezuzah.15
5. When one affixes a number of mezuzos — only one blessing is made for all.16
Checking the Mezuzah
1. Customarily, the mezuzos are checked annually during the month of Elul.17
When One Moves Away
1. One may not take off the mezuzos when one moves out of his existing residence in order to live in a new one. He may, however, ask the new tenant to pay him for the mezuzos.18
2. If he affixed an expensive, beautiful mezuzah, he may, prior to his departure, substitute it with one of inferior quality.
3. If the new tenant is a non-Jew, or if the owner plans to demolish his home, he should take down the mezuzos prior to his departure.
A Charity Box (Tzedakah Pushke)
1. Every Jewish home should have a charity box. One should endeavor to place tzedakah in it every weekday. As known, the merit of tzedakah is great, protecting and guarding the home.19
2. The tzedakah box should be attached to the wall with a nail or the like. This causes the very home to be a “tzedakah home.”
3. A tzedakah box should also be attached to the wall of the kitchen, with a nail or the like.
4. The children’s rooms should contain a tzedakah box as well, attached to the wall with a nail or the like.
Sacred Books
1. The Jewish home should be a “home filled with sacred books (bayis malei sefarim).” This is meant both in the literal sense — that the home should contain many sacred books — as well as in the inner sense — that the home should be filled and permeated with the content and essence of these holy books.20
2. Particularly, every private residence of each and every Jew should contain the basic books of Judaism. Included in this, and of primary importance, are books of Halachah, Jewish law, that apply to the daily life of a Jew. These books will guide the person, instructing him how to conduct himself on a daily basis.
3. The home should also contain three books from the founders of Chassidus: Kesser Shem Tov (containing teachings of the Baal Shem Tov), Or Torah (containing teachings of the Maggid of Mezritch) and Tanya (of the Alter Rebbe). For certain reasons, however, they should not be bound together in one volume.21
4. The children’s rooms should contain sacred books as well: a Siddur, a Chumash and other books.22
