- Here in Israel, we take
some things for granted. Bomb shelters in every building,
feisty little street cats, little boxes on almost
every single doorpost. If you grew up here, you
might not even notice them. But when I first started
exploring Judaism, these little boxes known
as "mezuzot" fascinated me. And when I learned that each
mezuzah contains the essence of Judaism, I was even more curious. Now, that's a bold claim to make by a little box on a door. So let's break it down. What exactly is this thing and why do they all look different? As far as Jewish customs go, mezuzah seems pretty straightforward. Little scroll, little box,
stick them on the door. And just like magic, your
home is Jewish, right? Well, not exactly. In my early days as a convert, I was totally intimidated by Jewish laws. So when I learned about this mitzvah, it seemed like a no-brainer. It was easy enough to
buy a case and a scroll and stick them on my door. But while the act of putting
up a mezuzah is pretty simple, the ideas behind it run deep. - It's interesting to see the types of the mezuzahs that we have. We know that it's written on parchment and it's written special ink. There are two portions that are written. One is the "Shema" and
one is "Vehaya Im Shamoa". - The Shema and Vehaya Im
Shamoa are both Jewish verses that come straight from the Bible. You've probably heard about the Shema, Judaism's most iconic prayer. That's the big one that
even the least observant Jew probably knows. "Shema Yisrael Adonai
Eloheinu Adonai Ekhad" Here oh Israel the Lord is our God. The Lord is one. It's true, Monotheism is
kind of Judaism's thing. In fact, we're the first people to bring ethical monotheism to the world. The idea that there's only one God who's the ultimate arbiter
of morality and truth. So you could say that
monotheism is a pretty big deal for us, but why advertise
that on our doorposts? Why not just hang a big sign that says, "there's only one God". I asked my friend Jamie, who writes. (speaking in foreign language) For a living. Yep, that's a real job. But before he answered, he explained the Shema
a little more to me. Turns out it's not just about monotheism. It's about something deeper. - It's not like one in numbers. It's not one that could be divided. It's not one as opposed to two. It's not one of a collective of many, but there's nothing else but God. - This right here is
the essence of Judaism. The idea that there's nothing else but God, which means that he's in and around us like an
immersive experience. The Shema reminds us
that God is everywhere and that we're always
connected together as one. I love how deep this is, but what about the other
prayer in a Mezuzah. Vehaya Im Shahmoa - Indicates the instructions that HaShem basically provides us, including what he wants us to follow, what he wants us to do, and what we get as a result to us following basically the laws. - A list of laws might seem intimidating, but when you look a
little closer, you realize that this particular set of verses is really a list of Jewish values. What does God want from us? To have faith, to study
and talk about that faith and to educate the next
generation about that faith. So a mezuzah is a reminder
of essential Jewish values along with the core tenet of Judaism. But that doesn't explain why
we hang them on a doorpost. - We cause a separation between the home, which includes our Jewish
values and the outside, but not a separation in
the sense of division. A separation that we want the courage and their energy in order to influence our surroundings, the outside. - Now that's an idea. Of course, our doors are
the boundary between us and the rest of the world. Home is where we can be ourselves
and live out our values. It's our safe space, our private oasis, separate from the rest of the world. In fact, that separation is
part of how we define holiness. How do you know something
is holy or sacred? You draw a clear boundary around it. Shabbat is special because
it's the one day of the week where we're commanded to rest. We draw a boundary, no work today. That's part of what makes it so sacred. Well, it's the same thing with our homes. When we finally come
home after a long day, we're moving from the big outside world to holy space, a space that's just for us, and we get to decide what
that space looks like. So we set our intentions
right on the doorpost. In this house, in this space, we love God, study Torah
and live a Jewish life. I love the idea that this little scroll contains so much energy and intention that we're actually
strengthened by touching it. - It's not for the magic,
that's not why we do it. It's a connection to HaShem. - So if you're having a bad day, touching a mezuzah won't
make everything better. But like anything else in
life, you get what you put in. If you're touching a
mezuzah with the intention of connecting to HaShem and remembering your values, you can ground yourself in meaningful moments throughout your day. - The mezuzah only have the real effect when they are kosher, which means they were written by a sofer. It can't be made by machine. - If you're like, wait, what, I thought kosher has to do with food. Well, you're right, but it
also applies to holy books. Since Jamie writes holy
books for a living, I figured he'd be the
best person to explain how mezuzah can be kosher or unkosher. - It must be written on parchment, parchment from a kosher animal. - So you can't just print
out the on a piece of paper and stick it in your mezuzah. In order to be kosher, all mezuzah have to be
handwritten on parchment. And for all you vegans out
there, it's totally kosher to write a mezuzah using
the skin of an animal that died of natural causes. That way you are not
actually killing an animal, but you're still fulfilling
all the traditional values. There's no such thing as
white out when you're writing an ancient text on a
scroll made of animal skin. So you have to be able
to scrape off the ink in case make any mistakes,
because a typo in a mezuzah or a Torah scroll for that
matter, is a very big deal. But it goes even deeper than that. If the person writing the
mezuzah did a perfect job but didn't have the right
intentions, it doesn't count and they have to start all over again. - Let's say I just wrote in a Torah and then I put that aside,
and I go to write a mezuzah, and I think I'm still writing a Torah. The mezuzah is not kosher. Any name of God that you write, you have to do that with intention, and that intention must
be verbally declared. - There it is again,
intentions, intentions. That's why everything has to
be perfect when you're crafting a mezuzah from the ink to the parchment, to the very quill that you're using. There's even intention behind
how you write the letters. When I bought my first
mezuzah 18 years ago, I didn't realize there
were such differences in the lettering of each scroll. These might look more or less the same, and they're both completely kosher. But the more I learned,
the more I realized that even these subtle variations
carry their own meanings. So when I moved into my
first home in Israel, I decided to take a fresh look at what kind of mezuzah I was hanging, and even how I was hanging them. I wanted to be more thoughtful. So I researched a
different types of writing and lettering and chose the
one that spoke to me most. Turns out you can make a
mezuzah out of almost anything. - This is the mezuzah I mentioned before that is originated in Gaza. It was a missile that landed in Sderot and someone took whatever
remain from the missiles. And this is the mezuzah
itself is concealed here. - You've probably noticed that every single mezuzah looks different. Some are massive, like this guy. Some are tiny, some have
letters on them and some don't. So what kind of intention applies
to the outside of mezuzah? I spoke to Nicole, who designs
colorful mezuzah coverings to ask her this question. She makes her cases out of epoxy resin, which is kind of like plastic
and kind of like acrylic and kind of its own thing. This is what a resin mezuzah looks like. And we even made some together
while Nicole explained why she got into making
these little works of art. - It's not meant to be like, let's be in a box and let's
all do the same thing. We have a whole breadth of
colors and designs and styles. And you know, I was hearing before about all the
different types of mezuzot that are around different parts
of Israel that you can see and that it's really an opportunity to connect with HaShem
in our own personal way. - I love the idea of
personalizing mitzvah, and one of my favorite concepts in Judaism is called Hidur Mitzvah, which means beautifying the commandments. It's a way to personalize
our relationship to Torah and mitzvah by adding a personal touch of style into the mix. And that's why studios
like Nicole's exist. - The idea is that when
somebody comes into their home or within their home,
they're walking around, they're seeing the mezuzah, it should bring them a sense of joy. It should bring them a
deeper level of connection, ultimately with HaShem. So the idea of hidur mitzvah is that we're not just
going through the motions. It's not just this is the Torah and this is what we're supposed to do, and it says we're supposed to put mezuzot on our doors, and so we're gonna do it. It's, I'm excited about
this, I love Judaism. It's about a relationship with HaShem. - I love the concept of
bringing joy into the mitzvah and having it feel like your own. It's another reason this mitzvah felt so much more accessible
than others to me. As a Korean convert, I had a really hard time
connecting with Judaica, which often looked
European or Middle Eastern and just not my style. So when I realized I could
pick out my own mezuzah case, I was really excited to find one that could blend into my home. For me, minimal and
modern is the way to go, but for some people, bigger is better. And that's why mezuzahs like this exist. - The glory of HaShem
is recognized much more when it comes to a bigger mezuzah. And that's why many people have the custom that in the entrance to their homes, they do put a bit of a larger mezuzah because again, we want
to show that we are proud and happy to fulfill our mitzvot. - Yeah, nice. - So I think it's nice,
especially when it comes to the front building or the front door, making it noticeable as much as possible and being proud. You know, especially these days and especially in places
that we have the ability to be proud about our Judaism
and to show it to everyone. This is perhaps the the best way to do it. - In some ways, a mezuzah
is like an announcement. This is a Jewish home, in
other ways, it's a celebration. I'm Jewish and I'm proud. I'm putting a sign on my
door for everyone to see, because ultimately that's what
this mitzvah is all about. It's a reminder of how
lucky we are to be Jewish and to build Jewish homes. It's a lesson in mindfulness,
a way to keep God and holiness at the
forefront of our thoughts. It gives us an opportunity to set our intentions every
single time we enter a room. So the next time you see a mezuzah, don't just take it for granted even if it's one among many,
your home is a sacred place where you can live out your values, and we should all be striving to be true to those values every single day.
