RBS Mezuzah Doctor

20/01/2021

Question: I rented an apartment. When I moved in the owner did not have any mezuzos up. I bought my own for the apartment. When I left I took my mezuzos with me. Did I do something wrong?

Answer: I’m sure you’re a wonderful, well intentioned person, but to be honest with you, you DID do something VERY incorrect.

A house or apartment with no mezuzos up, which is owned by a Jew or will be rented to a Jew, is considered hazardous to enter. The Talmud (Bava Metzia 102a) tells us something frightening: “If one rents a house out to his fellow (Jew) it is incumbent upon the tenant to prepare a mezuzah for it. And when the tenant leaves (when the lease is terminated) He should NOT take the mezuzah in his hand and leave with it. And there was once an incident involving one who took his mezuzah in his hand and left (at the termination of his lease) and in the end he buried his wife and his two sons.

Tosefos explain (ibid. 101b) that is forbidden to take the mezuzah because mazikim (destructive spiritual forces) enter a home that has no mezuzah, and when one removes the mezuzah it is as if he himself brings harm to those who enter it afterwards (and are put in harms way). The Ritva explains the man in the incident was punished measure for measure, since he endangered his fellow by removing the protection afforded by the mezuzah, he himself suffered grievous losses.
So, one must never ever leave a home owned by a Jewish landlord without a mezuzah (Yoreh De’ah 291:2) even if the landlord refuses to reimburse you. Now, the Ramah clarifies that although a vacating tenant is forbidden to take his mezuzos with him he does have the right to demand that the landlord reimburse him for them. But, if the landlord refuses to do so, he is still forbidden to take them with him and must leave them behind.

***My aim is to be helpful and informative. Please ask a qualified Rabbi/Posek to rule on your specific halachic situation.

31/03/2020

Now is the time!
Drop-off mezuzah checking by the Rbs Mezuzah Doctor. Get them checked and ready before Pesach!
Contact R' Daniel Krentzman today at 054-845-6019.

13/02/2019

Q: The sofer I’m buying my mezuzos from says they are ready but he needs more time to do a “Computer Check” on them.
What is that? (Related Question: How many hearts does a person have? See my answer to understand why these two questions are related)...

A: Thank G-d that with technological advances “Computer Check” programs allow a scan to be made of the mezuzah or tefillin etc. which is then checked for extra or missing letters or mixed-up letters. Although a finer human examination is still required in addition to a “Computer Check” this tool has dramatically reduced the amount of invalidating spelling errors found in STaM today. Sadly, there are still many mezuzos which were not given a Computer Check before they were sold and human error (or negligence at times) failed to spot them before they ended up on peoples’ doors.
Just this week I checked a mezuzah which made me question how many hearts does a person have? ChaZaL teach us that when the Torah tells us to love G-d “bichol Levavchem”, “with all your hearts,” in plural, it implies that we have two “hearts” as it were. The yetzer Hara part and the yetzer Tov part, both of which should be involved in loving G-d.
But in this mezuzah the sofer inserted an extra third “beis” into the word, making it “Levavavchem” which had me wondering how many hearts does a person have? This invalidating mistake could easily have been spotted in a Computer Check before it was sold, but I had to discover it by human examination far too long afterward.
So, when purchasing mezuzos or tefillin please make sure to inquire if they have been checked by computer scan first!

28/08/2018

Question: How big does a room have to be to require a mezuzah? I have a large walk-in closet and a not so large storage space. Do these need a mezuzah?

Answer: Generally, any room (excluding a bathroom or the like) that is four by four “amos” requires a mezuzah. Practically this comes out to six feet by six feet according R’ Chaim Na’eh (who holds an amah is 18 inches) or according to the Chazon Ish eight feet by eight feet (since he holds an amah to be 24 inches). If you don’t have a sufficient measuring tape you can tell if the space is big enough by extending your arms out as far as you can in both directions. If you have enough space to move around in a circle in any direction with your arms fully extended it almost certainly is four by four amos (since that is the amount of space the average person fills up with their body and arms) and the room requires a mezuzah. (This is meant to be informative and helpful. For actual halachic decisions in such matters please consult a Posek).

19/08/2018

Question: When I unwrap/tear apart the plastic or wax paper covering protecting a mezuzah to check it, can I throw it away or do I need to do something else with it?

Answer: It’s great that you are fulfilling the long-standing practice of checking your mezuzos during the month of Elul.
But it is very important to remember that the plastic or wax paper covering the mezuzah, which you intend to replace with a newer wrapping, is halachically considered “tashmishay kedusha”, “an accessory to a holy article” just like the cover of tefillin or a sefer Torah and must be placed in “genizah” (buried in the ground) and not merely thrown away in the garbage.

26/11/2017

Question: I’m Sefardi in my minhagim and have, Baruch Hashem, just bought a home. It was previously owned by someone who keeps minhag Ashkenaz and he was kind enough to leave his Ashkenazi mezuzos up on the house and include them in the sale. I would really love to save the expense of getting new mezuzos but my friend told me that there may be an issue with me having these mezuzos which are not my minhag. What do you know about this?

Answer: Your friend was right to caution you. There may be a fairly serious issue involved in using these as your mezuzos. To explain...

Mezuzos are made up of two parshios in the Torah, one placed right after another. In between these two parshios is a required parsha-break. There is a dispute among the Rishonim about how to space this break so that it is halachically valid. The Rambam and the Rosh are divided on this issue and each one’s approach is exclusive, invalidating the other. The Shulchan Aruch (32:36) unable to find an approach that could accommodate both opinions sided with the Rambam. According to all opinions “Rambam” spacing is valid across the board, whether one is Sefardi or Ashkenazi.

However, it gets more interesting. Without getting into too much detail, the Taz, one of the later prominent Ashkenazi poskim, came up with an approach which he claimed would be valid according to both the Rambam and the Rosh, essentially creating an ideal (lichatchila) parsha break, commonly called “Taz” spacing. The problem is that this novel approach was widely rejected by the Sefardi poskim, especially since the Shulchan Aruch never made mention of a middle-way solution and thus took the Rambam’s side in exception to the Rosh. But amongst many Ashkenazi poskim, the Taz’s approach was accepted and remains the prevailing minhag. So, if an Ashkenazi finds Sefardi mezuzos up with Rambam spacing, then that is still halachically valid for him, although preferably, the minhag supports Taz spacing. But a Sefardi who finds Ashkenazi mezuzos on his home with the common Taz spacing is not allowed to rely upon the Ashkenazi minhag which was rejected by the Sefardi poskim including the Shulchan Aruch himself, except perhaps in the most extenuating of circumstances (Sha’as HaDechak).

So, after all that’s been said, you, as someone who keeps Sefardi minhag are recommended to check those mezuzos and determine if they are spaced in line with the approach of the Taz. If they are then those mezuzos should be replaced with ones spaced in line with the approach of the Rambam.

*This is meant to be informative and helpful. For actual halachic decisions in such matters please consult a Posek.*

27/03/2017

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@ 054-845-6019 to get the deal!
https://www.facebook.com/RBSMezuzahDoctor/

Mezuzah and Tefillin checking and repairs in Beit Shemesh and Ramat Beit Shemesh. House calls available. We are a registered business and can give receipts. Call R' Daniel Krentzman at 054 845 6019.

06/03/2017

Tip # 8 from the RBS Mezuzah Doctor:
Question: I know that I’m supposed to place the mezuzah on the top third of the height of the doorway. What do I do if the doorway reaches very high up; so high that the mezuzah would be way up above human reach and sight if I placed it in the top third?

Answer: If the doorway is exceptionally high you need not climb a ladder and put it on the top third. Rather, the mezuzah should be placed at shoulder-height of a regular person. Some say the person living there should place the mezuzah at their own personal shoulder-height.
*This is meant to be informative and helpful. For actual halachic decisions in such matters please consult a Posek.*

19/02/2017

Tip # 7 from the RBS Mezuzah Doctor: Here’s the explanation of last week’s tip that when buying a relatively inexpensive Megillah one should inspect the quality of the writing by scrolling to the end first and move backwards to the beginning.

Well, when a sofer is first starting out writing he generally writes a megillas Esther because, unlike mezuzos or tefillin, a megillas Esther has no un-erasable name of G-d and because mistakes made at any point can be corrected. The sofer then gets to practice writing without concern he’ll lose his work if he makes a mistake; and in the end he can sell the Megillah. But, because the sofer is just getting started in writing his handwriting skills have not yet solidified and his rate of improvement is more dramatic over a short period of time. To put it simply, with each column he writes, a beginning sofer’s writing quality noticeably changes. It goes from somewhat sloppy and inexperienced to slightly better and better until by the end the quality appears at its best.

Because of this phenomenon beginning sofrim very often start writing a Megillah from the end and move toward the beginning so that the first part of the Megillah appears at its best when the customer inspects it for purchase. He looks at the first two or three columns and assumes that the quality he sees is consistent throughout the whole thing. However if he would look at the end first he is likely to see the clumsy writing and corrected mistakes of a novice sofer still learning the ropes and may not be very impressed with the quality.

So check from the end of the Megillah all the way to the beginning before buying it. If the one selling the megillah isn’t comfortable with you checking from the end to the beginning be concerned that he might not want you to see something that would jeopardize the sale.

14/02/2017

Tip # 6 from the RBS Mezuzah Doctor:
Here’s an important practical piece of advice for when buying a Megillas Esther that could save you a lot of heartache.

When buying a relatively inexpensive Megillah don’t just open it up and look at the quality of the first column or two of the Megillah. Ignore the beginning and scroll to the very end of the Megillah and begin inspecting the quality of the writing from the end to the beginning. Why perform such a strange procedure you may ask? You try and figure it out and next week I’ll explain why.

06/02/2017

Tip # 5 from the RBS Mezuzah Doctor:
Question: I am the renter of an apartment. When I arrived and found no mezuzos up I bought my own mezuzos and put them up. Now my lease is over and I’m moving. Can I take my mezuzos with me or do I have to leave them behind because it is forbidden to leave a home without mezuzos?

Answer: It is forbidden to leave a home without mezuzos up and even a renter who put up his own should not take them down when he leaves (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 292:2). If the renter feels that the monetary loss to him is severe he may request that the owner of the apartment compensate him for the cost of the mezuzos he leaves behind (Ramah, ibid). If the mezuzos purchased were costly another option is to purchase inexpensive but kosher mezuzos and replace his personal ones with those. There exist some lenient opinions that allow the exiting renter to take the mezuzos with him if none of the above options are possible and he will be unable to acquire new ones for his next home; but this option should only be relied upon as an absolute LAST RESORT. *This is meant to be informative and helpful. For actual halachic decisions in such matters please consult a Posek.

30/01/2017

Tip # 4 from the RBS Mezuzah Doctor:

Question: I began renting an apartment and when I arrived there were no mezuzos on the doors! The owner says he’s not going to buy mezuzos for me and it’s my problem. Is the owner of the apartment halachically responsible to put them up or am I?

Answer: Although in this theoretical case the owner has acted wrongly and irresponsibly by allowing an apartment he owns (even an empty one) to remain without mezuzos (which is considered spiritually dangerous!) once you have begun officially renting the apartment the halachic obligation falls upon you, the renter, to put up mezuzos at your own expense (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 292:2).
So before agreeing to rent an apartment it may be wise to make sure that there will be mezuzos up beforehand at the owner’s expense.
*This is meant to be informative and helpful. For actual halachic decisions in such matters please consult a Posek.*