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Mezuzah: Difference between revisions
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# If the mezuzah was placed on the left side of the door it needs to be taken down and put up on the right side with a bracha.<ref>Hamezuzah Vehilchoteha 11:10, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 11:3</ref> | # If the mezuzah was placed on the left side of the door it needs to be taken down and put up on the right side with a bracha.<ref>Hamezuzah Vehilchoteha 11:10, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 11:3</ref> | ||
===Back Door=== | |||
# If there's a back door that opens to an enclosed backyard that is completely closed then the mezuzah should be placed on the right side going into the backyard.<ref>Chelkat Yakov YD 161 based on the Maharil. Even though the Bet Meir and Chavot Daat ask on the Maharil since most poskim accept the Maharil we follow his opinion. His opinion is based on the concept that you walk from the house to the backyard and since the back door is an entrance to the backyard which has no other entrance then the mezuzah must be on the right entering the backyard. [http://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/788640/rabbi-hershel-schachter/the-laws-of-mezuzah/ Rav Hershel Schachter in “The Laws of Mezuzah” (min 34-42)] agreed.</ref> | |||
# If the back door opens into a backyard that has a gate to a courtyard or street then the back door should have a mezuzah on the right side going into the house because the house is used more than the backyard.<ref>Chelkat Yakov YD 161 writes that even though the Maharil would insist that from the house to the courtyard you need to put up a mezuzah going into the courtyard, the Bet Meir, Chavot Daat, and many others would hold that since the house is used more than the courtyard then we view the back yard as an entrance to the house rather than an entrance of the courtyard. Since the house is used more than the courtyard that trumps the rule of the fact that the majority of the walking is from the house to the courtyard. [http://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/788640/rabbi-hershel-schachter/the-laws-of-mezuzah/ Rav Hershel Schachter in “The Laws of Mezuzah” (min 34-42)] agreed.</ref> | |||
===Straight or Diagonal=== | ===Straight or Diagonal=== | ||
# While Sephardim place the mezuzah straight up<ref> Rashi Menachot 33a s.v. pesula, Shulchan Aruch 289:6, Ben Ish Chai Ki Tavo Year 2 Halacha 7. This was also the minhag of the Gr"a (Biurei Hagra 289:14. Also see Orchos Rabbeinu 1:page 378:27) </ref>, Ashkenazim place it on a slant, with the top leaning towards the inside and the bottom towards the outside. <ref>Rabbenu Tam cited by Tosfot Menachot 33a s.v. ha, Rama 289:6, Levush 289:6, Chayei Adam 15:19, Minchas Elazar 1:36:1, Pitchei Mezuzahs 289:57, Chovat Hadar 9:footnote 20. Chovat Hadar 9:footnote 20 explains that the reason for this is that the opinion of Rashi says if you place it sideways it is not kosher, while Rabbenu Tam Menachot 33a s.v. ha holds that if it is straight up it is not kosher, so Ashkenazim try to fulfill the mitzvah according to both opinions. </ref> | # While Sephardim place the mezuzah straight up<ref> Rashi Menachot 33a s.v. pesula, Shulchan Aruch 289:6, Ben Ish Chai Ki Tavo Year 2 Halacha 7. This was also the minhag of the Gr"a (Biurei Hagra 289:14. Also see Orchos Rabbeinu 1:page 378:27) </ref>, Ashkenazim place it on a slant, with the top leaning towards the inside and the bottom towards the outside. <ref>Rabbenu Tam cited by Tosfot Menachot 33a s.v. ha, Rama 289:6, Levush 289:6, Chayei Adam 15:19, Minchas Elazar 1:36:1, Pitchei Mezuzahs 289:57, Chovat Hadar 9:footnote 20. Chovat Hadar 9:footnote 20 explains that the reason for this is that the opinion of Rashi says if you place it sideways it is not kosher, while Rabbenu Tam Menachot 33a s.v. ha holds that if it is straight up it is not kosher, so Ashkenazim try to fulfill the mitzvah according to both opinions. </ref> | ||
===Height=== | ===Height=== | ||
# The mezuzah should be placed at the beginning of the upper third of the height of the doorway<ref> Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 11:5, Rashi Menachot 33a s.v. “bitechila,” Rambam Hilchot Mezuzah 6:12, Tur 289, Prisha 289:6, Shulchan Aruch 289:2, Levush 289:2, Chayei Adam 15:17, Pitchei Mezuzahs 289:24, Chovat Hadar 8:2:4, Teshuvot Vihanhagot 2:539. See Yabia Omer YD 2:21 where Chacham Ovadia Yosef quotes poskim who say that if it was placed higher than the beginning of the top third it should be moved without a beracha to there, but himself disagrees. </ref> but it should be placed at least a [[Tefach]] from the top of the doorway. <ref> Tur 289, Shulchan Aruch 289:2, Levush 289:2, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 11:5 </ref> If it is not in the top third it isn't kosher. <ref> Beit Yosef 289, Shach 289:4, Taz 289:3. </ref> | # The mezuzah should be placed at the beginning of the upper third of the height of the doorway<ref> Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 11:5, Rashi Menachot 33a s.v. “bitechila,” Rambam Hilchot Mezuzah 6:12, Tur 289, Prisha 289:6, Shulchan Aruch 289:2, Levush 289:2, Chayei Adam 15:17, Pitchei Mezuzahs 289:24, Chovat Hadar 8:2:4, Teshuvot Vihanhagot 2:539. See Yabia Omer YD 2:21 where Chacham Ovadia Yosef quotes poskim who say that if it was placed higher than the beginning of the top third it should be moved without a beracha to there, but himself disagrees. </ref> but it should be placed at least a [[Tefach]] from the top of the doorway. <ref> Tur 289, Shulchan Aruch 289:2, Levush 289:2, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 11:5 </ref> If it is not in the top third it isn't kosher. <ref> Beit Yosef 289, Shach 289:4, Taz 289:3. </ref> | ||
