mezuzah

It finally happened. Last night, after a couple of months of watching me enter and exit my home, Mike finally asked what that thing is on the doorpost.

My mezuzah:


Truth be told, I’d been watching him watching me. I figured his curiosity would get the better of him eventually.

I gave a brief explanation of the traditional function of the mezuzah — which is adequately covered by Wikipedia — being that the case encloses a scroll on which is written the passage from Deuteronomy containing the Shema.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord is God, the Lord is One.

I think that may have been too much religiosity for the atheist boyfriend to take, so we didn’t get too far into why I have such a thing and its personal meaning to me.

But that’s what blogs are for.

I affixed this mezuzah case to my doorpost at the end of last November. Yes, more than thirty days had elapsed since I’d moved into my home, but I wasn’t a “conscious Jew” at the time. No, my conversion to Judaism is not yet complete; there’s not even a firm timetable for that as I continue to work and explore with my rabbi. But this is part of my ramping up process — for lack of better terminology — and the mezuzah fits quite nicely with my own spirituality.

Even with my conversion into Judaism, I’m not a particularly religious person. I remain, however, very spiritual and am finding personal meaning and significance in traditional observance.

Stopping to acknowledge the mezuzah on my way in and out of the house is an easy way for me to remember Universality — particularly as I’m rushing about or am preoccupied with the various, mundane problems and emergencies that inevitably arise. When I reach for that mezuzah case on the doorpost, in a fraction of a second I am transported out of my head and into my heart and soul.

Call it a Biblical commandment if you want to, but for me the most important word of the Shema is “One.” As in, We Are All One. There is nothing that is not contained in and does not emanate from the Universal One. Separation — as well as conflict, lack and pain — is just an illusion.

That’s an invaluable reminder, today and everyday.