MEZUZA, pl. MEZUZOTH (nntn, mnin), the place on which the Mosaic law enjoins the Israel ites to write passages of Scriptures, Dent. vt. 9 , Xi. 20.
I. Simification of the Word, and Design of the Injunction.---The word rim (from 11l, to push about, to move) denotes either that which is most prominent, hence the post of a door, or that on which the door moves, or on which the hinges turn—hence a door-post. This is the sense in which it occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures. From the fact, however, that on it were written passages of the law, the term illezuza came afterwards synedo chically to denote the writing itself, or the passages of Scripture affixed to the door-post, and this is the sense in which the word is used in the Chaldee paraphrases, and in the Jewish writings generally. As books were exceedingly rare and expensive in ancient times, and could only be possessed by very few, the practice obtained, among the nations of antiquity, and still prevails in the East, of writing, engraving, or painting, such sacred mottoes or sage maxims over the doors of dwellings as the parents were especially anxious to record or to impart to their children. Thus, the ancient Egyptians had brief hieroglyphical legends over their doorways (Wilkinson, Manners and Customs of Ancient Egypt, ii. ioz; Wathen, p. toi), the Greeks and Romans had inscriptions over their doors (Virgil, Georg., iii. 26, seq.) Other nations had their laws written upon their gates (Huetius, Demonstratio Evangelica, p. 58) ; and the Moslems to the present day, never set up a gate, cover a fountain, build a bridge, or erect a house, without writing on it choice sentences from the Koran, or from their best poets' (Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 98). Now Moses in this instance, as in many other ses, availed himself of a prevalent custom, in order to keep the divine precepts ever before the eyes of the people, and to enable them to instruct their children in the law of God. Hence Maimo nides beautifully remarks, The commandment about the ilfezuza is binding on every one. For whenever an Israelite comes into the house, or goes out, he, seeing on it the name of the Holy One, blessed be he, will thereby be reminded of his love ; and when he awakenF from his sleep, and from his thoughts about the vanities of time, he will thereby be led to remember, that there is nothing which endures for ever and throughout all eternity except the knowledge of the everlasting Rock, and he will reflect and walk in the paths of righteousness' (lad Ila-Chezaka, Hilchoth Tefillin, vi. 13).
2. The :Manner in which this Injunction has been and still is observed—That the Jews of old literally observed this injunction is not only evident from the above-mentioned prevailing custom of antiquity, but also from Josephus, who distinctly says that the Jews inscribe the greatest blessings of God upon their doors' (Antiq. iv. 8. 13) ; from the Chaldee paraphrase of Onkelos, who translates Dent. vi. 9, xi. 20, and thou shalt write them upon scrolls, and affix them on the door-posts of thy houses and thy gates ;' from the Jerusalem Targum, Jonathan ben Uziel, Jerusalem Talmud (Pea, i. 1), Babylonian Talmud (Erzibin, 96 b ; Aboda Sora, II a), etc. These authorities, more over, show that the Hebrews, at least after the Babylonish captivity, and at the time of Christ, wrote the passages containing this injunction on a piece of parchment, and affixed it to the door posts, and that this Mezuza, as it is called, is sub stantially the same as the Jews now have it, which is made in the following manner :—On the inside of a piece of square parchment, prepared by a Jew especially for this purpose, are written Dem. vi.
and xi. 13-21, whilst on the outside are written the divine name the Almighty, on the place where the first passage ends, and the words tom= Iro Kuzu Benzuchzaz Kuzu, to the left at the bottom. Thus written, the schedule is then rolled up in such a manner that the divine name is outside, and is put into a reed, or hollow cylinder made of lead, brass, or silver, varying in costliness according to the circumstances of the people. In this tube there is a little hole, just large enough to show the divine name, which is protected by a piece of glass, forming as it were a little window through which is seen. Such a Illezuza must be affixed to the right hand door-post of every door in the house by a nail at each end. The fixing of it is accompanied by the following prayer, Behold I prepare my hands to perform the commandment which my Creator has given me about the Illezuza. In the name of the one, holy, most blessed God and his Shechinah, who is concealed, mysterious, and incorporated in the name of all Israel. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our God, king of the universe, who has sanctified us by thy commandments, and has enjoined us to affix the Illezuza l' Like the Greeks and Romans, who attached amulets to the jambs of the doors, and ascribed to them magic power, the Jews from a very early period believed that the Nezuza guarded the house against the en trance of diseases and evil spirits, as may be seen from the remarks in the Talmud (-n nr.r1 ;num Win ,erusalem Pea, i. 1 ; and +7, Babylonian Aboda Sara, II a ; Menachoth, 33 b, to which Rashi adds ronn 59 in) and the Chaldee paraphrase of the Song of Solomon viii. 3, which is, ' I have affixed the Mezzeza to the right side of my door, in the third part thereof, towards the inside, so that the evil spirits may have no power to hurt me.' Hence the divine name is made to denote the Guar dian of the dwellings of Israel, the V standing for 1171C1, the 1 for 111'1, and the for 5,41C)+, ac cording to the exegetical rule called (=notarium from notarizes, a short-hand writer, one who writes with abbreviations), which regards every letter of a word as an initial or abbreviation of a word • whilst the words 1T17 1D71171 1/17, sup posed to be the name of the guardian angel, or of God himself, are made to stand for 1]+75,4 rnr Min+, yehovah our God is yehovah, by another exe getical rule which exchanges each letter of a word with its immediate predecessor in the alphabet ; e. the 7 in 1I17 is exchanged for 4, the 1 for 1, the T for 1, and the 1 for ii, thus yielding MM. Every pious Jew, as often as he passes the Mezuza, in leaving the house or in entering it, touches the divine name with the finger of his right hand, puts it to his mouth, and kisses it, saying in Hebrew, The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth, and for ever more' (Ps. mod. 8) ; and when leaving on a busi ness expedition, he says, after touching it, '*t.t 1117 tozinn in thy name Ku. zu Bemuchzaz Kuzu (= God), I go out and shall prosper.' 3. literature.— Maimonides, lad Ha-Chezaka Hilchoth Tefillin U-Mezuza Ve-Sepher Torn, v. vi.; 7orc Dea, sections 285-295 ; the Jewish ritual en• titled Derech Ha-Chajzzu, containing a summary of all the laws connected with the Jewish obser vances, Vienna 1859, p• 31, ff.—C. D. G.