By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times

THE TALMUD TELLS us that there is an obligation for a Mezuzah of a private individual to be checked twice every seven years (i.e. every 3 and ½ years) and a public Mezuzah must be checked twice every fifty years (i.e. every twenty-five years).

Rashi (Yuma 11a) explains that there are two concerns: “Perhaps it became decayed or was stolen.”

Some commentaries have understood this Rashi to mean that he is giving two possibilities for the obligation. They explain that according to the second explanation of Rashi, there is no need to actually open up the Mezuzah and examine its letters. Merely ascertaining whether the Mezuzah is still in place and has not been stolen is sufficient. This opinion does not understand Rashi as explaining that there are in fact two concerns that the obligation is addressing .

Most authorities, however, disagree with this reading of the Rashi. They explain that the import of the Rashi clearly demonstrates that there is only one explanation and the word “or” is addressing a second concern .

Regardless of the reading of the Rashi, the Rambam explains that the obligation is perhaps the Mezuzah disintegrated or became decayed. This ruling of the Rambam is the authoritative halachic opinion . Therefore, one is obligated to have the Mezuzah actually opened and the letters of the Mezuzah should be carefully examined for cracks, disintegration and decay.

Private Mezuzah

Although the obligation for a private individual is to examine the Mezuzos every 3-½ years, if the location is given to excessive moisture it should be checked more often .

Even if a person had three of his Mezuzos checked and they were all found to be kosher he must still check the rest of his Mezuzos. We cannot make a legal assumption that if these three are valid then the others must likewise be valid. The reason is that the humidity, temperature and infestation factors of two areas are never equal .

Although the Mezuzah may be checked all year round, the custom is that it be checked in the month of Elul . Some have the custom that the Mezuzah is checked in Nissan and that the Tefillin are checked in Elul . Regardless, the Mezuzah should be checked before the three and one half years are up .

Distinguished people have the custom to check their Mezuzos each year .

Public Mezuzah

A public Mezuzah should be checked twice every fifty years (i.e. every 25 years). The reason why a public Mezuzah is not checked so often is because we are afraid that if too much of a burden is placed on people they may reject the responsibility and state that someone else should do it . This refers to the city gates, public courtyards, and public thoroughfares. Nowadays, it is rare that these exist in exclusively Jewish areas. However, a Mezuzah in a shul, or Bais Midrash has the status of a public Mezuzah. A shul, Yeshiva or Bais Midrash that has paid administrators is not considered a public Mezuzah. These Mezuzahs are checked twice every seven years .

A house owned by many partners is not considered a public Mezuzah.

Preferable Manner in Checking

Ideally a person should have a Sofer (or he may do so himself) come to his house and remove, check and reaffix each Mezuzah one at a time in order to minimize the downtime of not having a Mezuzah on a room. If this is not possible he should only remove the amount of Mezuzos that the Sofer will be able to check on the spot . Obviously, this can only be done by appointment. This should be done even if it means that he must bring in the Mezuzos one at a time.

If these methods cannot be employed, then he should avoid leaving his home without Mezuzos by borrowing Mezuzos from a Mezuzah Gemach (a Mezuzah lending institution). Another suggestion is to purchase one new extra Mezuzah and mail each of his older Mezuzos one at a time until they are all checked.

The prevalent custom of removing all of ones Mezuzos for checking purposes and leaving a home without a Mezuzah for a long period of time is highly questionable.

General Concepts in Checking

As mentioned earlier, even if a person affixed many Mezuzos at the same time, all of them require checking.

The Mezuzah should be thoroughly checked for mistakes, such as missing or extra letters and improperly formed letters. Once this is done, however, it need only be checked for cracks and damage in the future .

If a rip appears in the Mezuzah but is not on or between the letters and it is two lines or less the Mezuzah is still valid .

If someone removes a Mezuzah in order to check it immediately, a blessing is not recited when it is put back. If a few hours will elapse before it is checked a blessing is recited . If it is replaced with a different Mezuzah then a blessing is certainly recited. One should make sure that Mezuzos are not switched from a room that was not fully required in a Mezuzah with a Mezuzah that was on a room where the obligation was clearly required. This would be a violation of dishonoring the object of the Mitzvah (the Mezuzah).

Before painting a room the Mezuzah should be removed to ensure that the Mezuzah is protected .

If someone’s Mezuzah is found to be invalid and he is unable to obtain another one for some time, some rule that he may affix the invalid one to avoid embarrassment until he obtains a kosher one . Although one does not fulfill the Mitzvah of Mezuzah, this may be preferable. The reason is that some authorities are of the opinion that there is a concept in the Torah called “Chatzi Mitzvah- Half a Mitzvah .” Although one is biblically forbidden from thinking that he is performing the Mitzvah of Mezuzah , the performance of “Chatzi Mitzvah” is still something for which a person receives merit. Others say that one should just affix the Mezuzah cover and not an invalid Mezuzah.

If a Mezuzah is so firmly attached to the doorpost that one cannot removed it for inspection, it is forbidden to attach another Mezuzah to the doorpost because of the prohibition of adding to the Torah (Bal Tosif) .

The inspection need not necessarily be performed by a scribe (sofer). Any Jew that is familiar with the laws of what constitutes an invalid letter may inspect the Mezuzah after it was already inspected once .

One should not write anything on either side of the Mezuzah, even a date as to when the Mezuzah was last inspected or when it needs to be inspected again . Many Sofrim put a pencil mark on the opposite side of the Mezuzah to indicate that the Mezuzah was checked. Ideally, this check mark should be erased before the Mezuzah is re-affixed.

In addition to the regular inspection of Mezuzos it is a custom in Israel that if one sees personal misfortune, either for himself or for family members, he should inspect his Mezuzos. This is not a recent innovation as some people believe. It is a custom that is mentioned as far back as the days of the Maharil .

What to Look For

The Mezuzah has 170 words. This is equal in Gematriah to the word “MiSinai” from Sinai, indicating that even if one of these words is missing, the Mezuzah is biblically invalid. The Mezuzah has 713 letters .

The Mezuzah’s letters (and consequently the Mezuzah) are described as either invalid, valid, or the issue must be resolved by showing the letter to a child. This is called Sheailas tinok. [There is also a fourth category where one must show the letter to a halachic decisor. This is called Sheailas chochom.]

The source of the law that certain types of letters must be shown to a child is from a passage in the Talmud (Menachos 29b):

Raami the son of Tamri had a vov in the word Vayaharog that broke. He came before Rabbi Zeira. (Rabbi Zeira) told him: “Go bring a child that is neither very bright nor stupid. If he reads it as vayaharog then it is kosher. If he reads it as yeyareg it is invalid.”

From this section of the Talmud we can derive a number of insights. The child that is asked to read the letter must be proficient in identifying the letters and in reading it properly. Yet the child should not be intelligent or mature enough to be able to decipher the letter using contextual clues . It is to this type of child to which the Halachos below refer.

If the child does not recognize the letter immediately, but only recognized it after contemplating it, we view the situation as if the child was never asked and the question should be presented to a different child . One may rely upon a majority of Tinokos as well .

When the letter is shown to the child one should cover the letters that precede and follow the letter in question . When the letters can only be identified in relation to the other letters such as a vov being to short or a zayin may look like an Final nun, the letters re not covered .

Some Halachos to Know:

• Rishumo nikar – If a letter was erased but its outline is discernable to the extent that a child can still identify it, the Mezuzah is still valid .
• A discolored letter- If the black ink came off a letter and what is left has a reddish hue, this is considered a change in the letter’s appearance and the Mezuzah is invalid . However, if the color of the ink merely changed because of age, the Mezuzah is still perfectly valid . Also, if even some of the black remains, the Mezuzah is still valid .
• If the Mezuzah became water-damaged and stains appear on the Mezuzah that do not affect the appearance of the letters – the Mezuzah is still valid .
• If the crack cannot be detected by the naked eye and can only be seen by putting it against the sun, it is still considered kosher .

Corrections:

There are a number of psulim, errors, that may be corrected in an otherwise invalid Mezuzah . These corrections should only be initiated by a competent sofer. One must also realize that if the sofer made these errors at the outset, his knowledge and ability to adhere to the other complexities of writing a Mezuzah may be called into question.

For example, under certain circumstances, a kotzo shel may be added and yeseiros may be erased. Also, when two words are too close together, ink may be scratched off from each side. Another example is that according to Rabbi Akiva Eiger, letters that are cracked may be corrected even if it is immediately recognizable where the split does not turn the letter into two other halachically kosher letters. If a tinok can read it properly Rabbi Akiva Eiger holds it may be fixed. Although the Pri Magadid disagrees the Mishna Brurah 32:122 rules like Rabbi Eiger. If it is not immediately recognizable, it may be fixed immediately (SA OC 32:25). A letter that is split into two halachically valid letters may be fixed according to Rabbi Eiger if it is not immediately recognizable and a tinok can read it properly. The PMG disagrees, bu the the Biur Halacha rules like Rabbi Eiger. Two examples of this are a tzadik (yud and a nun) and mem (chof and vov).

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