No. A Love Crime! Oh puleeeeeese! Eleven mezuzahs were torched (not accidentally) on the outside doorposts of Jewish apartments in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York on April 7th. This date just happens to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day which recalls the millions of Jews exterminated during the Nazi regime in Europe during World War II. […]
Category Archives: Mezuzah Stories
Equatorial Guinea? Where in the world is that? This corner of the globe lies in a very remote part of Africa which some say, upon setting foot there, feels like a moon landing. This territory was, in olden times, a poverty ridden Spanish colony in the port city of Bata. But have no fear. The […]
Providence Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California, a Catholic-run facility, was the first San Fernando Valley hospital to hang mezuzahs in all patient areas, even though only 20 to 25 per cent of the patient population is Jewish! “Our patients do not have to check their faith at the door,” according to Shawn Kiley, director […]
Temple Beth El in Quincy, Massachusetts is looking for a few good Jewish homes for its fine arts and Judaica collection. Sadly, this synagogue is closing its doors due to the shrinking numbers of the Jewish population in the town and its environs. A silver candelabrum, colorful mosaics, woven tapestries, silver crowns for Torah scrolls, […]
Ben Gurion Airport in Israel had mezuzahs put up at the new customs inspection depot during the week of January 20th. Customs workers, headed by manger Raphael Gabbai , made sure that a kosher mezuzah was put in every single doorway, not just on the main entrance. Rabbi Yaakov Glauberman gave his blessings and spoke […]
In ancient times it was a Jewish custom recorded in the Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrash to carry a mezuzah in a walking stick for protection. It was used for personal spiritual fortification, and not solely to fulfill the halacha of being affixed to the doorways of buildings where Jews reside. It is easily understood that […]
Boy oh boy, buyer beware! Don’t be a target for an embarrassing scam which will allow you the opportunity to part with your money while you are on a picturesque, once in a lifetime, spiritually uplifting vacation in Fez, Morocco. Yes, you may be carried away by nostalgia, and where better to buy an ancient, […]
When was the first recorded instance of the custom of someone placing a hand on the mezuzah and then kissing it? It is found in the Talmudic account about the famous Roman convert to Judaism, Onkelos. He was doing this as he was being led out of his home by the third set of Caesar’s […]
While this is not a book club blog, I just had to let you readers know that there is a book out there by the above title disclosing riveting stories of very, very “secret Jews.” In many cases, they were known to each other only by false, misleading, or confusing names, such as the ‘titular […]
Yes, folks. That’s what Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita has been talking about of late. Political parties in Israel are now preparing to air their TV ads for the upcoming elections scheduled to take place in the Knesset. He has been quoted as saying that, “When a man buys a home, he does not […]