Recently, because of COVID, people have brought into question the custom of kissing the Mezuzah.  What is the significance of this custom? My father, who was a Talmid of Rav Hutner, ZT’L, was not big into PDRP, Public Displays of Religious Piety, and so he would not kiss the mezuzah amongst other practices.  He would say, the chovos halevavos, duties of the heart, are more important than a tangible act.  Fair enough, but what is the significance of a mezuzah, and how should one behave in order to maximize it? 

The Gemara on amud aleph notes that when the Paschal sacrifice was brought in Egypt there was no altar.  The altar they used was, “three parts of the door upon which the blood was sprinkled that took the place of three altars there in Egypt.”

That got me thinking about the doorposts as a religious object.  A doorway is psychologically powerful.  It implies an entering or exiting, that is moving out or moving into a space. Maseches Derech Eretz Rabbah (4:1) counsels us to maintain proper comportment and attitude when we enter and when we exit.

The Torah rarely provides explanations for the commandments, however some rituals are so obviously symbolic that one would have to be completely obtuse to not grasp their intent. Tefilin and Mezuzos are one of those mitzvos that literally have their instruction manual built inside. It specifically instructs us to place the words of the Shema on our hearts and our heads and our doorposts. 

People revere mezuzos, check mezuzos, kiss mezuzos, and even dubiously use them as talismans (which Maimonides abhorred, Hilkhos Tefilin 5:4). But do we actually THINK AND MEDITATE about what is inside them before we enter or leave our homes or before we pray? 

Research has shown that the first few minutes of departure and reunification, and its attendant rituals, make an enormous impact on the couple’s sense of togetherness and intimacy. A kiss on the cheek or a warm moment of eye contact when leaving for the day and when returning is powerful. 

The Mezuzah and Tefilin are quietly “screaming at us״ on a daily basis to stop and pay attention to the fundamentals of life before we pray, when we venture outside, when we return home, when we wake up and when we go to rest.  This is true in regard to our intimacy with family, our spouses or with G-d.  We should endeavor to leave and return home in a mindful state. Consider walking into the house WITHOUT your phone in your hand and to even silence it for the first few minutes after entering.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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