Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of mezuzahs, small narrow cases containing a parchment (called a klaf) inscribed with the Shema prayer. The case is traditionally attached to the doorpost of a Jewish house.
Mezuzah
The Latest
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The Schmooze Introducing the ‘Christooza’ — Yes, It’s a Cross Mezuzah.
Apparently, Christians have mezuzah-envy. Or so it would seem to one Henry Zabarsky, inventor of the “Christooza.” If you couldn’t guess from the name, it’s a portmanteau of Christian and Mezuzah, or Christooza. “I was visiting a client in Rockaway,” Zabarsky, a Jewish financial advisor from Queens, told the New York Post. “She’s very religious…
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Fast Forward Landlord’s ‘No Mezuzah’ Rule Sparks Lawsuit
An Orthodox Jewish man from suburban New York City sued his landlord for demanding that he remove the mezuzah from his apartment’s doorpost. Arye Sachs of North Babylon on Long Island filed a lawsuit this week in Brooklyn federal court, the New York Post reported. In the lawsuit, Sachs said his landlord ordered him to…
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Fast Forward Brooklyn Mezuzah-Burning Suspect Takes to Facebook: ‘I Don’t Hate Jews’
A man arrested for allegedly setting mezuzahs on fire in a Brooklyn apartment building addressed the accusations on his Facebook page. Rubin Ubiles, 35, was taken in for questioning on Wednesday and later arrested. Eleven mezuzahs were set afire on Monday afternoon – the day Israel observed Holocaust Remembrance Day – in public housing located…
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The Schmooze Rick Perry’s Mezuzah
First there was the Sarah Palin sheitel. Now there’s the Rick Perry mezuzah. Los Angeles-based MezuzahStore.com has created a large stone mezuzah in honor of the Texas governor, a tribute that follows Perry’s June signing of a law that explicitly protects the right of state residents to post religious objects outside their doors. The law…
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Life Senators Hatch and Reid: Mormons With Mezuzahs
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch isn’t the only Mormon legislator with a soft spot for Jewish traditions. Senate majority leader Harry Reid’s wife, Landra (née Gould), was raised Jewish, and the Reid family has a mezuzah on the doorpost of their Searchlight, Nev. home in honor of that heritage, a spokeswoman for Senator Reid confirmed. (Senator…
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Life Write Them Upon The Doorposts of Your … Space Station
The seven astronauts aboard the shuttle Endeavor signed on to repair the International Space Station on their recent journey into space. But one of them, Garrett Reisman, also decided to pursue his own personal interior design agenda upon arrival: He put up a mezuzah. “I did not consult any rabbi, so I hope I did…
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