Mezuzah: Difference between revisions

==How the Mezuzah Should Be Placed==

===Outer Tefach===

#The mezuzah should be placed on the outer [[tefach]] of the doorpost. <ref>Gemara Menachot 32b, Tur 289, Shulchan Aruch 289:2, Levush 289:2, Chayei Adam 15:17, Aruch Hashulchan 289:9. Taz 289:3 writes that the mezuzah is still kosher if the mezuzah isn't on the outer [[tefach]]. </ref>

#If it can't be placed on the doorpost, it should be drilled into the doorpost. If it can not be drilled into the doorpost it should be attached to the wall within one [[tefach]] of the doorway. It should be on the outside wall as one enters the room and not the inside wall.<ref>The Complete Mezuzah Guide p. 74 by R' Elefant based on Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 289:4</ref>

===Which Is the Right Side?===

#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 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>Maharil (responsa 94), Bet Yosef 289:3, Taz 289:3, Chelkat Yakov YD 161, Yabia Omer 6:23:6. The Chelkat Yakov writes that 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.  

#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>The Maharil (responsa 94) wrote that if the back door opens into a backyard that has a gate to a street then the direction of the mezuzah is determined by which way the door opens. Taz 289:3 quotes it. Chelkat Yakov YD 161 writes that even though the Maharil writes that when there are two doors to a backyard the mezuzah is determined by the way the door opens, the Levush holds that we would put up the mezuzah going into the house since it is used more than the backyard. Furthermore, the Bet Meir and Chavot Daat disagree with the Maharil altogether even when the backyard has no other exit. Therefore, the Chelkat Yakov concludes that 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. Igrot Moshe YD 1:181 and Yeshuot Malko (Mezuzah 6:1) agreed with the distinction of the Chelkat Yakov of accepting the first case of the Maharil but not when the courtyard is open to the street. [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>

#A roofed front porch that is open to the front yard or street and opens up to the house is obligated in a mezuzah. If it has 4 amot by 4 amot of space it is obligated in a mezuzah with a bracha. If the area it surrounds is 16 square amot, one should put up a mezuzah without a bracha.<ref>HaMezuzah VeHilchoteha 3:10</ref>

#Even if the balcony is less than 4x4 amot and isn't roofed, according to Sephardim, the mezuzah should be placed on the right side going from the house to the balcony.<ref>Yabia Omer 4:23:6, Or Letzion 1:14, Hamezuzah Vehilchoteha 3:11. Or Letzion 1:14 writes that the minhag is to put a mezuzah on the right going from the house to the balcony. He explains that if the balcony is less than 4x4 amot it isn't considered obligated in a mezuzah in it of itself. Additionally, if it doesn't have a roof it isn't obligated in it of itself. However, since the balcony opens to the house which is obligated we can treat the balcony like a foyer (bet shaar) before the house which is obligated even if it is less than 4x4. However, the dispute is why the foyer is obligated. According to the Tosfot and Rosh it is only obligated rabbinically but it is obligated as a structure that is useful for its designated purpose. However, according to the Rambam, it is obligated biblically because it opens to a house. According to the Rambam the mezuzah should be placed on the right side going in from the balcony since the balcony is only obligated as it serves the house. However, according to the Tosfot and Rosh the mezuzah should be placed on the right side going from the house to the balcony as it is obligated in it of itself. Yet, the minhag is just to put a mezuzah on the right side going from the house to the balcony like the Rosh since perhaps we follow the Rosh and even if we don't we follow the opinion of the Chikrei Lev who holds that the balcony door can't be considered an entrance for the house since you can only use it if you first exited through it. He quotes that this was also the opinion of the Rosh Yeshiva of Porat Yosef, Rav Ezra Attiyah. </ref> Ashkenazim hold that if the balcony is less than the equivalent of 16 square amot the mezuzah should be put on the right side going from the balcony into the house. But if it is more than the equivalent of 16 square amot the mezuzah is placed on the right side going from the house out to the balcony.<ref>Hamezuzah Vehilchoteha ch. 3 fnt. 19 cites the Chiko Mamtakim p. 359 who quotes Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach has holding that a balcony that is 4x4 amot square or the equivalent should have the mezuzah from the house to the balcony like the Maharil, but if the balcony is smaller than that it should have a mezuzah on the right side from the balcony to the house like the Bet Meir, Chazon Ish, and Rabbi Akiva Eiger. Inside Stam p. 212 quotes that Rav Moshe Feinstein, Or Letzion 1:14, and Minchat Yitzchak 1:8-9 that the mezuzah should be put on the right side going out. He also quotes that Rav Elyashiv, Rav Wosner, and Rav Nissim Karelitz held that the mezuzah should be put on the left side going out.</ref>

#The questions to clarify for whether a closet is obligated in a mezuzah and as to which side the mezuzah is placed depends on the following:

##Most poskim hold that an area that has 16 square amot, even if it doesn't have 4x4 amot in any one place, is obligated in a mezuzah<ref>The Rambam (Mezuzah 6:2) holds that an area that is 2x8 amot is obligated in a mezuzah as would any area that is larger than 16 square amot. The Rosh (Mezuzah no. 16) disagrees and holds that unless it is 4x4 amot square it isn’t obligated. Rashba (responsa 5:110) agrees. Shulchan Aruch Y.D. 286:13 holds like the Rambam. Levush 286:13 agrees. The Shach 286:23 holds that it is obligated but the mezuzah should be put up without a bracha. Chayei Adam 15:6, Aruch Hashulchan YD 286:21, Halichot Olam v. 8. p. 282, and Yalkut Yosef 285:24 agree. Rav Wosner (Kovetz Mbet Levi p. 129) agrees. Eliya Rabba 366:5 also seems to agree with the Shach.  

*Chatom Sofer YD 280 and Maamar Mordechai 634:2 defend the Shulchan Aruch against the Taz. Gra 286:13 understands the Rambam like the Rosh but holds like the Rosh. Maharalbach 110 rules like the Rambam. Magen Avraham 366:6 assumes like the Shulchan Aruch, while Magen Avraham 398:6 assumes like the Taz. Additionally, according to the Chamudei Doniel obviously an area that is 2x8 is obligated if it is usable since according to his opinion if it is usable it is obligated even if it is less than 4x4.</ref> going into the closet without a bracha.<ref>In light of the Rabbi Akiva Eiger the closet should have a mezuzah on the right going out of the closet, but since according to the Rambam this closet needs a mezuzah going into the closet and the Chamudei Doniel would also have the mezuzah placed going in, many poskim hold that the mezuzah is placed going into the closet. This is the opinion of Rav Shlomo Zalman (cited by Hamezuzah Vehilchoteha ch. 3 fnt. 19), Teshuvot Vehanhagot 1:653, and Agur Bohalecha 19:7.</ref> It doesn't matter what shape it is in as long as it is usable.<ref>Rishon Letzion Sukkah 3a and 8a writes that obviously even for the Rambam it has to be usable. Therefore, a 1x16 amot house isn't obligated in a mezuzah since it is unusable, however, a 2x8 house is obligated. He also has a nuance that for a rectangle we calculate total area, but for a circle or other shapes we have to inscribe a rectangle inside that shape and use the area of that rectangle. However, the other poskim quoted in the previous footnote in understanding the Rambam did not make such a distinction.</ref>

##A walk-in closet that is not 4x4 amot and doesn't even have the area of 4x4 amot, according to most poskim it is completely exempt from a mezuzah, though some say it is obligated since it is useful the way it is.<ref>Chamudei Doniel (Pitchei Teshuva 286:11) writes that an area that is meant to be used the way it is even if it is less than 4x4 amot is obligated in a mezuzah. Rashash Sukkah 3b s.v. may agrees. Maharam Shik 287 accepts the Chamudei Doniel. Agur Bohalecha quotes Minchat Yitzchak 1:8, 3:103, Even Yisrael 7:34, and Chovat Hadar 8:6 as being concerned for the opinion of the Chamudei Doniel. Or Letzion 1:14 only accepts the Chamudei Doniel regarding a small room open to a house.

*Orchot Rabbenu v. 3 p. 165 quotes the Chazon Ish as holding that we do not hold like the Chamudei Doniel. See Agur Bohalecha who discusses this further but generally agrees that the Chazon Ish disregarded the Chamudei Doniel. [http://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/839765/rabbi-baruch-simon/%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9F-%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%9D-%D7%A7%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A2%D7%AA-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%96%D7%95%D7%96%D7%94/ Rabbi Simon in an article on mezuzot] agrees.</ref> Therefore, strictly speaking it doesn't need a mezuzah, but many poskim are strict to place a mezuzah going out from the closet into the room that itself is obligated in a mezuzah.<ref>Rabbi Akiva Eiger 286:13 writes that since the area is exempt from a mezuzah it can still be considered an entrance into the room. Shiltei Giborim (Hilchot Mezuzah 6b) cites the Riaz who holds of the same concept. The Chazon Ish YD 168:5 and 169:2 agrees and adds that accordingly the mezuzah should be placed on the left side, which is the right side going from the exempt area into the room. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (cited by Hamezuzah Vehilchoteha ch. 3 fnt. 19), Rav Wosner (Shevet Halevi 2:152, 2:156:286:13), Rav Elyashiv (Kovetz Teshuvot 2:6:3), Rav Shternbuch (Teshuvot Vehanhagot 1:653), [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)], Rav Aharon Lichtenstein (cited by [https://www.koltorah.org/halachah/do-walk-in-closets-and-porches-require-a-mezuzah-by-rabbi-chaim-jachter Rabbi Jachter]), Binyan Tzion 99, and Rav Heinemann (Star-K Kashrut Kurrents Winter 5779 p. 2; Guide to Halachos p. 101) agree.  

*Orchot Rabbenu v. 3 p. 165 quotes the Steipler ruled like the Rabbi Akiva Eiger. Shevet Halevi 2:152 understands that the Bet Meir 289 agrees with Rabbi Akiva Eiger.

*There is a possibility that the mezuzah should be placed from the big room into the small room. That is an idea Sfat Emet YD 289 suggested and Agur Bohalecha 19:6 in fact posits is the opinion of Rabbi Akiva Eiger. In practice, he agrees with the Chazon Ish to put the mezuzah going into the big room.</ref> Either way, the mezuzah is put up without a bracha.<ref>Agur Bohalecha 19:6 and Teshuvot Vehanahgot 1:653 unlike Shevet Halevi 2:152 who writes that one can recite a bracha following Rabbi Akiva Eiger.</ref> According to Sephardim, the closet is exempt.<ref>Halichot Olam v. 8 p. 282 and Yalkut Yosef 285:21 writes that a room that is less than 4x4 amot is exempt. Therefore, Mezuzah Vhilchoteha writes that a walk-in closet that isn't 4x4 amot is completely exempt for Sephardim. If one wanted to be strict, this could be related to the discussion of a balcony that is less than 4x4. Or Letzion YD 1:14 writes that he partially rejects the Chamudei Doniel, but through his understanding of the topic, agrees in practice to place a mezuzah on the right going into a balcony that is exempt because it is less than 4x4 amot or isn't roofed. His reasoning is that according to the Rosh the balcony should be obligated since it is useful and the Chikrei Lev argues with Rabbi Akiva Eiger that the mezuzah is not place on the right side coming off the balcony. Yabia Omer 4:23:6 also writes that strictly speaking the balcony that is less than 16 square amot is exempt, but if one wants to be strict one should put it on the right side. going into the house.</ref>

#A closet that you do not walk into is exempt from a mezuzah.<ref>Shaarei Hamezuzah 10:16, Agur Bohalecha 19:10, Mezuzah Vehilchoteha 3:8</ref>

==Having One's Mezuzot Checked==