Is the Mezuzah an Amulet?

What about mezuzot? These scrolls, affixed to the doorposts(1) of Jewish homes, gates, and the doorframes of inner rooms are one of the most widely practiced Jewish obligations. Even non-observant Jews, with little connection to the text contained inside’s sense of obligation in the mitzvot and the reward and punishment following the observance and neglect of said mitzvot, will often affix a mezuzah or at least a mezuzah case to their doorposts.(2) It is the marker of a Jewish home. Its origins might be in the Biblical story of the sacrificial lamb’s blood placed on the doorposts of the Israelites' homes in Egypt, indicating to Hashem that Israelites dwelled inside and that Hashem should passover those houses, thus sparing them from the plague of the firstborn. They are in fact commanded to place the blood “אֶל־הַמַּשְׁקוֹף֙ וְאֶל־שְׁתֵּ֣י הַמְּזוּזֹ֔ת” “on the upper beam and the two mezuzot (doorposts)”(3)

Further, there has developed a scribal practice that is now codified as law, that the outside of the mezuzah scroll, and now often on the box that contains the mezuzah, has written on it the word שַׁדַּי, a name of Hashem often translated as the Almighty. Folk etymology and now mezuzah cases such as this one, render the word into an acronym: שׁוֹמֵר דַּלְתוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל, meaning Guardian of the Doors of Israel (the Jews). This assumption, that the mezuzah protects the house and its inhabitants, taken to its extreme logical conclusion, is what causes (hopefully, well-intentioned) people to ask others who have suffered a tragedy, like a house fire, if they have been scrupulous in the obligation to check their mezuzot.(4) This has its origins in the Bavli in Tractate Menachot 33b:

אמר רבא: מצוה להניחה בטפח הסמוך לרה"ר.

מאי טעמא?

רבנן אמרי: כדי שיפגע במזוזה מיד,

רב חנינא מסורא אומר: כי היכי דתינטריה.

אמר רבי חנינא: בוא וראה שלא כמדת הקדוש ברוך הוא מדת בשר ודם.

מדת בשר ודם - מלך יושב מבפנים ועם משמרין אותו מבחוץ.

מדת הקדוש ברוך הוא אינו כן, עבדיו יושבין מבפנים והוא משמרן מבחוץ, שנאמר: ה' שומרך ה' צלך על יד ימינך:


Said Rava: It is an obligation to affix the mezuzah on the doorpost within the outermost handbreadth to the public domain.(5)

The Stam(6) asks: What is the reason for this?

Our Rabbis say: So that she will encounter the mezuzah immediately(7) upon walking into the house.

Said Rabbi Hanina from the city of Sura: So that he will be protected by it.

Said Rabbi Hanina, offering an alternative and more colorful explanation in the form of a mashal, a parable: Come and see that the ways of the Holy Blessed One are unlike the ways of those of humans.(8)

The way of humans is that a human king sits inside his palace and the common folk guard him by standing outside the palace.

The way of the Holy Blessed One is not like that, rather Hashem’s servants (us) sit inside the palace (our homes) and Hashem guards them from the outside, as it says in Psalms 121:5, “Hashem is your guardian, Hashem is your protection at your right hand.”(9)(10)

Thus it was established that the mezuzah served to protect the inhabitants of the homes that bore them as well as the houses themselves.(11) This belief developed in the subsequent centuries to treat the mezuzah as a depository for blessings and invocation of angels to further the protective nature of the text. It was so common to include additional words and names within the mezuzah text that a procedure is recorded in the 12th century Sefer Yereim (Book of Those in Awe), a halakhic(12) text by Rabbi Eliezer ben Samuel of Metz, one of the Tosafot, the premier Talmudic commentators of the time and a personal student of the founder of that endeavor, the great Rabbenu Tam(13). All of this is to say, by way of introduction, that Rabbi Eliezer of Metz was not a fringe or dismissable figure, so we can assume that the procedure he codified was practiced commonly, at the very least in his own community, if not in the broader Jewish world at that time. He writes(14):

ולבד ההלכות של מסכת מנחות האמורות במזוזה הורגלו העולם לתוספת שמירת הבית לכתוב בסוף השורות חותמות ושמות כל [של] מלאכים ואינם עכובא אף לא מצוה אלא תוספת שמירה. וזו צורת המזוזה וחותמיה: שמע וגו' ואהבת וגו' לאלו ב' מקראות כותב וחותם יה יה יה כותב והיו הדברים וגו' ושננתם לבניך ודברת בם בשבתך בביתך ובלכתך בדרך וחותם מיכאל כותב ובשכבך ובקומך וקשרתם לאות על ידך והיו לטוטפות וחותם גבריאל וחותם זה כותב בין עיניך וכתבתם על מזוזות ביתך ובשעריך וחותם יה יה יה כותב והיה אם שמוע תשמעו אל מצותי אשר אנכי וחותם עזריאל כותב מצוה אתכם היום לאהבה את ה' אלהיכם ולעבדו בכל לבבכם ובכל נפשכם ונתתי מטר ארצכם בעתו יורה ומלקוש ואספת דגנך ותירשך ויצהריך ונתתי וחותם צדקיאל ם ם כותב עשב בשדך לבהמתך ואכלת ושבעת השמרו לכם וחותם יה יה כותב פן יפתה לבבכם וסרתם ועבדתם אלהים אחרים והשתחויתם להם וחרה אף ה' בכם ועצר את השמים ולא יהיה מטר והאדמה לא תתן את יבולה וחותם שרפיאל כותב ואבדתם מהרה מעל הארץ הטובה אשר ה' נותן לכם ושמתם את דברי אלה על לבבכם ועל נפשכם וקשרתם אותם לאות על ידכם והיו לטוטפות בין עיניכם ולמדתם אותם את בניכם לדבר בם בשבתך בביתך ובלכתך וחותם רפאל כותב בדרך בשכבך ובקומך וכתבתם על מזוזות ביתך וחותם ם ם כותב ובשעריך למען ירבו ימיכם וימי בניכם על האדמה וחותם ענאל וכותב אשר נשבע ה' לאבותיכם לתת להם כימי השמים וכותב על הארץ בסוף שיטה או בתחלת שיטה וחותם /במקור מופיעים שרטוטים/ הרי כתבנו צורת המזוזה וחותמיה.

Specifically regarding the laws of Tractate Menachot that talks about mezuzah, it is commonly practiced in the world to enhance the protection of the home by writing at the ends of lines seals (signatures, symbols?)(15) and the names of all the angels. This is not a required practice, since it is not a mitzvah, but nevertheless it enhances the protection of the house.

And this is the form of the mezuzah and its seals: [Instead of translating the text of the mezuzah and the names of the angels, I am going to illustrate what the text would look like with the names inserted. For reference, the standard mezuzah is composed of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21.]

שמע ישראל ה' אלהינו ה' אחד יה יה יה(16) ואהבת את

ה' אלהיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאדך יה יה יה והיו

הדברים האלה אשׁר אנכי מצוך היוֹם על לבבך ושננתם

לבניך ודברת בם בשׁבתך בביתך ובלכתך בדרך מיכאל(17)

ובשכבך ובקומֶך וקשרתם לאות על ידך והיו לטוטפות גבריאל(18)

בין עיניך וכתבתם על מזוזות ביתך ובשעריך יה יה יה

והיה אם שמוע תשמעו אל מצותי אשר אנכי עזריאל(19)

מצוה אתכם היום לאהבה את ה' אלהיכם ולעבדו

בכל לבבכם ובכל נפשכם ונתתי מטר ארצכם בעתו

יורה ומלקוש ואספת דגנך ותירשך ויצהריך ונתתי צדקיאל ם ם(20)

עשב בשדך לבהמתך ואכלת ושבעת השמרו לכם יה יה

פן יפתה לבבכם וסרתם ועבדתם אלהים אחרים

והשתחויתם להם וחרה אף ה' בכם ועצר את

השמים ולא יהיה מטר והאדמה לא תתן את יבולה שרפיאל(21)

ואבדתם מהרה מעל הארץ הטובה אשר ה' נותן לכם

ושמתם את דברי אלה על לבבכם ועל נפשכם וקשרתם

אתם לאות על ידכם והיו לטוטפות בין עיניכם ולמדתם

אתם את בניכם לדבר בם בשבתך בביתך ובלכתך רפאל(22)

בדרך בשכבך ובקומך וכתבתם על מזוזות ביתך ם ם

ובשעריך למען ירבו ימיכם וימי בניכם על האדמה ענאל(23)

אשר נשבע ה' לאבותיכם לתת להם כימי השמים

על הארץ

This text is a fascinating relic. Apparently, enough people practiced this addition of angelic names to their mezuzot that Rabbi Eliezer of Metz thought it necessary to write about the practice, even though it is not legally required, in his law code. This suggests that it was an acceptable and, if we take his words seriously, laudable practice, because it served to increase the protection that the mezuzah offered. Evidently, the mezuzah was considered a kamea in 12th century France and it was even used as a canvas to write an even more mystical amulet. It can be assumed that this was a widespread practice, especially because of the response that was written about it.

In his law code, the Mishneh Torah, the Rambam(24) writes a tirade against the practice described by Rabbi Eliezer of Metz. It is found in the section of the law code regarding the laws of tefillin, mezuzot, and Torah scrolls(25):

מנהג פשוט שכותבים על המזוזה מבחוץ כנגד הריוח שבין פרשה לפרשה שדי ואין בזה הפסד לפי שהוא מבחוץ, אבל אלו שכותבין מבפנים שמות המלאכים או שמות קדושים או פסוק או חותמות הרי הן בכלל מי שאין להם חלק לעולם הבא, שאלו הטפשים לא די להם שבטלו המצוה אלא שעשו מצוה גדולה שהיא יחוד השם של הקדוש ברוך הוא ואהבתו ועבודתו כאילו הוא קמיע של הניית עצמן כמו שעלה על לבם הסכל שזהו דבר המהנה בהבלי העולם.

It is common practice to write on the reverse side of the mezuzah, opposite the gap between the two sections(26) the word Shaddai. This is not problematic, since it is on the reverse side, but those people who write inside the text the names of angels, or the names of holy people, or additional verses, or signs, behold they have no share in the World to Come!(27) For not only have these idiots nullified the mitzvah of mezuzah, but they have taken this great mitzvah, of unifying the Name of the Holy Blessed One and loving Hashem and serving Hashem,(28) and turned it into a kamea to benefit themselves. They really think that this will help them with the vanities of the world.(29)

Rambam makes a strong case against turning the mezuzah into a kamea just for one’s own purposes. The language he uses in denouncing this practice could not be stronger. Mezuzah is a mitzvah, about Hashem’s unity, that would be corrupted and even negated if other forces, like angels, were invoked and included in the text. I agree; I will never write a mezuzah with any additions to the text. While the rabbis of the Bavli, based on the text included in Tractate Menachot, agree that the mezuzah serves a protective purpose, it is not a kamea like any other. Treating the mezuzah as such is a degradation to the mitzvah.(30)


  1. The word מזוזה means doorpost.
  2. This is personal anecdotal evidence, I have many non-observant and even avowed atheist family members who feel a connection to a mezuzah on their doors.
  3. Exodus 12:22
  4. For me, this echoes the text about the young widow and her husband’s tefillin. We assume that an observant person will be protected from harm and when they are not, we search for some kind of explanation. This theology is dangerous, as often articulated by my homiletics teacher Rabbi Ed Feinstein, but that is a topic for another day and another subject of Jewish discourse.
  5. As soon as I wrote this section of the translation, I rushed outside to photograph the placement of my own apartment door’s mezuzah to use as a visual aid. I found it placed too close to the door and not far enough to the outside. I exclaimed a knowing and self-deprecatingly humorous, “Oh!” I removed it, used it as an opportunity to check the mezuzah, and later reaffixed it in a new location. You can see in the photograph where it was originally and incorrectly attached to the wall.
  6. Literally “the anonymous”, the anonymous editors of the Bavli, who worked as late as the 7th century CE. I credit my teacher Rabbi Dr. Aryeh Cohen for his insistence that all of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies’s Talmud Concentration students have a grounding in the academic study of the dating of the closing of the Babylonian Talmud.
  7. Literally “at hand”, which forms a nice image with the practice of reaching out to touch the mezuzah and kiss one’s fingertips every time a mezuzah is encountered.
  8. Literally “those of flesh and blood”.
  9. This is from my favorite psalm, which is in general about Hashem’s protection of Israel and the Jewish people. It contains images of having no fear, that Hashem will protect your feet from tripping and protect you when you go to sleep. The verse is primarily used as a prooftext here not only because the mezuzah is an indication of Hashem’s guardianship of the Jewish home, but here Hashem is actually guarding a person’s right hand, since the mezuzah is attached to the right-hand doorpost and not the left.
  10. Translation is my own as are all that are not otherwise cited.
  11. Like from a fire, as indicated by the folk belief.
  12. Of or relating to Jewish law
  13. Rabbi Jacob ben Meir, who also lived in 12th century France. His grandfather was Rashi, whom I quoted earlier.
  14. Section 400 (Old Printing 18)
  15. In any event, it is referring to writing names of angels at the end of the lines.
  16. Another name of God, repeated 3 times
  17. Michael
  18. Gabriel
  19. Azriel
  20. Tzadkiel and two final mems, perhaps representing “Amen”
  21. Shraphiel
  22. Raphael
  23. Anael
  24. Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, also known as Moses Maimonides, 12th century Egypt and Spain’s (and perhaps the Jewish people’s) most famous rabbi, legal scholar, philosopher, physician, and rationalist.
  25. 5:4
  26. That is, between Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21.
  27. This is one of the worst curses that can be said about another Jew. It is on par with damnation.
  28. Which, for the Rambam is what the mitzvah of mezuzah, writing the words of the Shema, the ultimate unification of God’s name, is all about.
  29. I hear him scoff and see him cross his arms proudly and defiantly as he writes this.
  30. I did not realize how easily derived the practice of adding to the mezuzah text was until I had a conversation with my cousin Amy Goldman about my research. She, with much respect towards my work, asked if it was possible to include blessings for the family and home in the text of the mezuzah, as it seemed like a fitting place for such a blessing. I calmly replied, “No,” and proceeded to teach her the Rambam text I just referenced. She understood and appreciated my knowledge and commitment to essence of the mitzvah. I have no objections to writing blessings for the home, they just need to be kept separate from the Torah-mandated mitzvah of the mezuzah.

My own mezuzah, at my apartment in Los Angeles, now moved to its proper location in the outermost handbreadth to the public domain. The additional white bar on the right side is a drain pipe, not part of the wall. Maybe I should fix the paint on the door frame.