Mezuzah: Difference between revisions
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===Bathrooms and Bedrooms=== | ===Bathrooms and Bedrooms=== | ||
# A mezuzah should not be put up by the doorway to a bathroom, mikveh room, or a room people wash in and stand there undressed.<ref> Yoma 11b, Shulchan Aruch YD 286:4, Aruch HaShulchan YD 286:5, Yalkut Yosef 285:43</ref> | # A mezuzah should not be put up by the doorway to a bathroom, mikveh room, or a room people wash in and stand there undressed.<ref> Yoma 11b, Shulchan Aruch YD 286:4, Aruch HaShulchan YD 286:5, Yalkut Yosef 285:43</ref> | ||
# A bedroom should have a mezuzah.<ref>Shulchan Aruch YD 285:5</ref> However, when a couple is together if the mezuzah is on the inside of the door it should be covered.<Ref>Yalkut Yosef YD 285:41</ref> | # A bedroom should have a mezuzah.<ref>Shulchan Aruch YD 285:5, Aruch Hashulchan 286:13</ref> However, when a couple is together if the mezuzah is on the inside of the door it should be covered with a single covering. If the mezuzah scroll is already covered with a single non-clear cover such as metal or non-clear plastic that is sufficient. However, if the scroll is in clear plastic and the case is clear it should be covered with something non-clear.<Ref>Aruch Hashulchan 286:12-15 proves that the Bet Yosef's opinion that the bedroom needs a mezuzah and it is sufficient to have it covered with one covering. Yalkut Yosef YD 285:41 and Halichot Olam v. 8 p. 302 agree. Ben Ish Chai (Shana Sheniya, Ki Tavo, no. 16) writes that such is the minhag.</ref>Some poskim hold that the mezuzah should be covered with a double covering and so even if the case isn't clear the mezuzah needs another cover. According to these poskim, even if the scroll is rolled up and the case isn't clear that only counts as one cover since they are both meant and usually used for the mezuzah. Therefore, before the couple is together the mezuzah should be covered with an external covering such as a piece of clothing. Even if the case is clear it counts as a single cover. <ref>Divrei Chamudot (Mezuzah no. 46), Magen Avraham 40:2, Ben Ish Chai (Shana Sheniya, Ki Tavo, no. 16) citing the Yad Ketana 13</ref> | ||
===Shul and Bet Midrash=== | ===Shul and Bet Midrash=== | ||
# A shul doesn't need a mezuzah unless people live in the shul building.<ref>The Gemara Yoma 11a establishes that a shul that no one lives in doesn't need a mezuzah. The Gemara 11b implies that the reason for this is that only a house that belongs to clearly designated owners needs a mezuzah excluding a shul that belongs to the community or public. Tosfot 11b s.v. shein accepts this understanding and says that a privately owned shul would require a mezuzah. He uses this idea to explain the Yerushalmi Megillah which speaks about a mezuzah on a shul unlike the Gemara Yoma and Brachot 47a that assumed that a shul doesn't need a mezuzah. The Rif (Hilchot Mezuzah 6b), Rosh (Mezuzah 6b), and Rambam (Mezuzah 6:6) distinguish between a shul in a city is exempt but in a village it is obligated because most likely people live in the shul building. The Shulchan Aruch YD 286:3 concludes that a shul does not require a mezuzah. | # A shul doesn't need a mezuzah unless people live in the shul building.<ref>The Gemara Yoma 11a establishes that a shul that no one lives in doesn't need a mezuzah. The Gemara 11b implies that the reason for this is that only a house that belongs to clearly designated owners needs a mezuzah excluding a shul that belongs to the community or public. Tosfot 11b s.v. shein accepts this understanding and says that a privately owned shul would require a mezuzah. He uses this idea to explain the Yerushalmi Megillah which speaks about a mezuzah on a shul unlike the Gemara Yoma and Brachot 47a that assumed that a shul doesn't need a mezuzah. The Rif (Hilchot Mezuzah 6b), Rosh (Mezuzah 6b), and Rambam (Mezuzah 6:6) distinguish between a shul in a city is exempt but in a village it is obligated because most likely people live in the shul building. The Shulchan Aruch YD 286:3 concludes that a shul does not require a mezuzah. | ||
