Elu V’Elu for December 2006

Rabbi Gary A. Glickstein

Temple Beth Sholom’s first official mezuzzah will be placed on the entrance to our new facility on Friday night, December 15, 2006, as part of the Shabbat Chanukah celebration.

How is it possible that our congregation, founded in 1942, could exist for over 64 years without a mezuzzah on our doorposts?

Let me share a reality of Jewish life. One of our congregants went into the post office last year to buy the brand new Chanukah stamps. She asked for 50 Chanukah stamps. The clerk asked her, “What denomination?” She replied, “Oh no, has it come to this? Oh, alright! Give me six Orthodox, 12 Conservative, 22 Reform and 10 just Jewish.”

Jews are opinionated and divided by various traditions. Even concerning the mezuzzah there is much controversy.

Ashkenazic Jews try to angle their mezuzzah to 45 degrees (if possible) with the top pointing into the home or room. Many Sephardic Jews place the mezuzzah vertically. This follows a controversy between Rashi and Tosephot during the early Middle Ages in Europe.

Traditionally, Synagogues do not have a mezuzzah at the entrance. For instance, in Safed, the Ari Synagogue never had one at its entrance. This rule was followed by our early leadership and so we never affixed one to the entrance of Temple Beth Sholom. On the other hand, many interior doors had various kinds of mezuzzot, depending upon who occupied the room. In fact, at one time, our Foundation School created mezuzzot for their classrooms, though the required parchment was not placed within them.

Today, when Synagogues are not merely chapels for prayer but centers of Jewish communal life, including eating, meeting, schmoozing, learning and performing mitzvot, it has become accepted that our entry and the doors of our building should have mezuzzot.

The halacha is that when one owns a building, the mezuzzah should be placed on the entryway as soon as possible. We are not ready to occupy our new building, but we are ready to begin our consecration by the placement of our mezuzzah.

Many Jews even kiss the mezuzzah upon entering or leaving a building or room. This reflects an incident related in the Talmud about the great scholar Onkelos, the son of Kalonymus. When Caesar sent soldiers to put him to death he kissed the mezuzzah on the way out of his home and they asked why he did that. He replied, “A king of flesh and blood sits in the palace while his servants guard from outside. Yet our Lord allows His servants to sit inside while He guards from outside.” Hearing this, the soldiers asked Onkelos to convert them to Judaism.

So on this Chanukah, we will also celebrate Chanukat HaBayit, the consecration of our new facility. It is the beginning of our formal entry into our new home.

One more thing about Jews I wish to relate for this season. We do have trouble following instructions. We do love to be independent and find our own way of doing things. We enjoy pushing the envelope until it tears. That is one of the reasons we have so many differences among us. It is also one of the reasons we endure and thrive.

It was reported that a plane landed at Ben Gurion airport and the Captain announced, “Please remain seated with your seatbelt fastened until this plane is at a complete standstill and the seat belt sign has been turned off. To those of you standing in the aisles, we wish you a Happy Chanukah. To those who have remained in their seats, we wish you a Merry Christmas.”

May this season of light be one of bright new beginnings and deeper explorations into our rich traditions.

Chag Chanukah Sameach,

Rabbi Gary Glickstein