The Message of a Mitsvah: The Mezuzah in Rabbinic Literature

Abstract: The present study deals with different aspects of the mitsvat mezuzah in Rabbinic literature from the first to the sixteenth centuries, with some emphasis on the medieval sources. Through a charting of statements regarding the mezuzah as an object, and the mitsvat mezuzah and its fulfilment, an overview is given of the development of the mezuzah and the perception of it. Special attention is given to the appearance of additions to the written content of the mezuzah: on the outside of the parchment, divine names; on the inside, different signs, hexagrams and pentagrams and Biblical verses. These additions begin to appear in the early medieval sources; the additions on the outside are present to this day but on the inside they are not in use from the 13th century onwards. The charting of the notions shows that the mezuzah in the Talmudic literature was strongly connected to thoughts of reward and punishment in terms of protection and longevity. Also the lack of protection and untimely death were mentioned. It can therefore be assumed that the notion in the later material of the mezuzah as protective was not a result of it being believed to have ‘magical’ powers through the additions or to originally have been an amulet, but rather as a result of the Talmudic discussions, which are reiterated throughout the period under investigation. The similarities between amulets and certain mezuzot do not indicate that the mezuzah ever was or had become an amulet, but were merely a result of these notions: both the mezuzah and the amulet protect against demons, the most general cause of sickness and untimely death in the early Rabbinic literature. The study also draws attention to the fact that the designation of the additions to the inside of the mezuzah as ‘Kabbalistic’ or mystical is not tenable, as few of the mystical works investigated give any attention to them. Nor can the notions or additions be said to be the result of popular influences on the Rabbinic authors, since they are found in works originating in Rabbinic circles, intended for other Rabbinic readers or as halakhic guides for the lay-people. The notions and additions described must therefore be regarded as an integral part of the Rabbinic framework.