Tonight will be on the mitzvah of mezuzah, and we're not going to discuss obviously the halachot of mezuzah. There are many many halachot, there's a whole section in Shulchan Aruch that deals with הלכות מזוזה, but we are going to talk more about the significance of mezuzah and what's behind the mezuzah. We all know that the mitzvah of mezuzah is learned out from the pasuk where it says, וכתבתם על מזוזות ביתך ובשעריך, you should write it on the doorposts of your houses and of your gates. And since this is written in both portions of Kriat Shema, the first parashah of שמע, שמע ישראל, ואהבת את ה' אלקיך, the end of that portion it says you should write it on your doorposts, and then on the second portion of שמע, והיה אם שמוע, also towards the end it says that you shall write this on the doorposts of your houses. And therefore, these are the two portions of the Torah which are written on the mezuzah. That means that on the piece of parchment which is the mezuzah, not like people think that the case is the mezuzah, the case is really nothing, it's the piece of parchment that the scribe, the sofer, writes the portions of the Torah, that's the mezuzah. So, on that part we have the first portion, first parashah of שמע ישראל, of Kriat Shema, and the second one, והיה אם שמוע. And we put that on the doorposts of our homes, of the doors. Actually, the word mezuzah means doorpost. That's all it means. Mezuzah doesn't mean a scroll a piece of scroll or parchment or paper or whatever it is. The word mezuzah means the doorpost, the side of the door is called a mezuzah. And being that this is written and put on the doorposts, that's why we call this mezuzah, but the name of the mitzvah is the mitzvah of mezuzah. We are supposed to write these two portions of Shema on the piece of parchment, and it's supposed to be put on the right side of the entrance of the door. That means that the way you enter, on the right side, that's where you put the mezuzah up. To mention minhag Chabad, the Lubavitcher minhag is in certain things it makes it easier, that whenever you have a door, then you would have to put the mezuzah on the right side of the way the door opens. Because many times we have difficulties figuring out what's called the right side of the entrance. There's a room that you could enter from this side, you could enter from that side, and you enter this way, you enter that way, and it's very hard to decide what is considered the entrance and you have to make it on the right side. So, our minhag is that whenever there is an entrance that has a door, and the door obviously swings one way, so whichever way the door opens it's considered that that is the entrance. And if the door opens in, then you would make the mezuzah on the right side of the door swinging in. If the same room, the same position, the door would open to the outside, then you would have to make the mezuzah on the other side, because that would be considered the entrance. It's all except the first front door. That front door, everyone agrees the right side of your entering from the outside is called the right side of your entrance, but all other doors of the house, according to minhag Chabad, it depends on the היכר ציר we call it, depends on the way the door swings. Other people don't have that minhag, and therefore they always have to decide, and not always is it easy to decide, and sometimes they have to ask a shaylah by a rav to decide which is called the right side of your entrance. Even according to our minhag sometimes there's a difficulty, when there is no door. For instance, you have we call it צורת הפתח, you have doorposts which are the two mezuzot and a משקוף which is the top, but there is no door there, which requires a mezuzah anyway, but here you have to decide what's called the right side of your entrance. Or if you have a swinging door that swings back and forth, in and out, or if you have a sliding door. But the main thing is that it has to be on the right side of the entrance, and then there are different minhagim of what's considered the right side of your entrance.

Concerning this mitzvah of mezuzah, it says in Shulchan Aruch, and I'm quoting, כל הזהיר בה יאריך ימיו וימי בניו. Anybody who's careful with the mitzvah of mezuzah will live long, and his children will live long. And it's all based on the pasuk. After the pasuk says you should write this on the doorposts, the pasuk continues למען ירבו ימיכם וימי בניכם, that your days So actually, the pasuk itself tells us very clearly that for keeping the mitzvah of mezuzah, you get arichut yamim, you live long. But this is not an exception by mezuzah, we find this by other mitzvot also. For instance, the mitzvah of kibud av va'em, of listening, honoring your father and mother, the Torah also says that for that, you will live long. Concerning mezuzah, we find other things which are special. One of the things, for instance, the Zohar quotes concerning the mitzvah of mezuzah, the pasuk: השם ישמור צאתך ובואך מעתה ועד עולם. Hashem will guard or watch your going out and coming in from now and forever, which means that because of the mezuzah, the Zohar says, Hashem watches the person. But the interesting part of it is here, that not only does Hashem protect the Yid while he is in the house because of his mezuzah, but even if he is outside of the house, Hashem protects him because of the mezuzah. We would imagine that since the mezuzah protects the home, so it protects everything in the house. So if you're in the house, it protects you. But here the pasuk says: השם ישמור צאתך ובואך. Hashem will watch your going out, that means even when you're outside, Hashem will watch. So the mitzvah of mezuzah has this special segulah that it protects a person wherever the person is. The mitzvah of mezuzah has this segulah of protecting not only from physical harm, but also from spiritual harm. It says in the Zohar that the mezuzah protects a person from doing עבירות. And therefore sometimes a person feels that is that he's not so careful with mitzvot, his יראת שמים, his fear of God is becoming weak, you never know, maybe the mezuzah that he has on his front door is becoming פסול or something like that. So the mezuzah is the protection of the person. It says also in the Zohar that the word mezuzot, if you juggle the letters around, makes up the words, the two words: זז מות. It moves away the death. Which is similar to what the Shulchan Aruch says, that a mezuzah, whoever זהיר, whoever is careful with mezuzah is יאריך ימיו וימי בניו, that he lives long. It's a segulah to live long. זז מות, it pushes away the death. It says that מזוזה שקולה כנגד כל המצות, the Gemara says, that mezuzah is שקול, which means it weighs, to a certain degree, it is as important as all the mitzvot put together. In other words, there is something in the mitzvah of mezuzah that is very general, it contains something that all the mitzvot together contain. That's how important the mitzvah of mezuzah is. That's why we find in many cases when people would, chas veshalom, have problems, and then they would open the mezuzah, many times they would find a parallel between their mezuzah and their problem. Like, I know of a story that a person once had a problem with his foot, and in the words ובלכתך, which means and you will walk, there was a פסול in the mezuzah. Or a person had a problem with his heart, and there was a פסול, there was a problem with the word בכל לבבך, which means your heart, and many things like that. Because the mezuzah is something that protects the person, and everything in the mezuzah is connected to every part of the person, and therefore the mezuzah, if you fix the mezuzah, it could fix the person's problems. But there is another thing concerning mezuzah. We said that mezuzah has this segulah of protecting. And as I said before, that's something that we have by other mitzvot too, not only by mezuzah. You have it by כיבוד אב ואם or other mitzvot where the Torah says very clearly that for doing the mitzvah, you will have long life or you'll be protected, whatever it is.

Concerning the mitzvah of mezuzah, the Tur says, the Tur, that the mitzvah of mezuzah has the quality of protecting the person, and the Bach explains that what it means is that the protection comes from the mezuzah itself, which means that this is not as a reward for the mitzvah. And we have to understand this. It's not as a reward for the mitzvah. In other cases where we find a reward for a mitzvah, it means that if you do the mitzvah, the mitzvah will bring you a reward. If you do כיבוד אב ואם, if you honor your father and mother, Hashem will reward you that He will give you a long life. By the mezuzah, it's not like that. By the mezuzah, the mezuzah itself has this quality of protection, which means that just like a lock, for instance, on the door is a keli, a vessel, something that protects the house, or when a person puts something on himself which protects him, the mezuzah is in itself protection. The mezuzah itself, Tosafot says, is לשמירה עביד, it's made for protection. In other words, the mezuzah itself is protection, which is different. It's not that the mezuzah is a mitzvah which like any other mitzvah, and Hashem promises as a reward for this mitzvah you will be protected. The mezuzah itself is a means of protection. The mezuzah is like a keli, which protects the person, protects the house, everything in the house, and the person itself, himself. And therefore there is something interesting concerning mezuzah. We know normally that what's best is when a person does the מצוות לשמה, which means for the sake of the mitzvah itself. As it says in פרקי אבות, לעולם תהיו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב שלא על מנת לקבל פרס, you should always be like servants who serve their master not in order to receive reward. In other words, we have to do the mitzvah for the sake of the mitzvah, because Hashem said so. If a person does a mitzvah because the mitzvah will bring him some kind of benefit, whether it's physical benefit or spiritual benefit, that is sh'lo lishmah, that's considered doing the mitzvah not for its real purpose. And the Rambam says there are many levels in doing a mitzvah shelo lishmah. Sometimes you do a mitzvah because you want people to respect you. Sometimes you do a mitzvah you make money on the deal. Sometimes you do a mitzvah because you want Gan Eden for it. It's all considered shelo lishmah, it's not for the sake of the mitzvah. You're doing it for an ulterior motive, for a different reason. It doesn't mean that a person should not do the mitzvah if the only way he could do it is shelo lishmah, for other reasons, he still should do it. The Gemara says, לעולם יעסוק אדם בתורה ומצוות אף על פי שלא לשמה. A person should learn Torah and do mitzvot even if he is at a level of shelo lishmah, not doing it for the proper reasons, with the proper intentions. And it says, שמתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה. Through doing it shelo lishmah, not with the proper intentions, eventually you'll get to do it lishmah. Not only that, the Rambam says that it's impossible to start off by doing mitzvot lishmah. You can't expect a person to start off and doing the mitzvah for the sake of the mitzvah. You have to reach a very high level to do that. First you do the mitzvah for other reasons, because you feel you'll gain from it, you'll have benefit from it, and eventually you reach the level of doing mitzvot lishmah. So not only does if a person does it shelo lishmah he still should continue doing it, but that's the proper order of how a person should do. The Rambam in different place, in Perush Hamishnayot, actually gives a mashal. He says, for instance, the child, when you start teaching a child you can't tell the child, well, I want you to learn Torah because Hashem said so. Won't help. First you tell the child, you learn Torah because I'll give you candies. That's what the Rambam says, promise him candies. And after a while when he gets smarter, you tell him, if you learn Torah, I will buy you a pair of shoes. Then the Rambam says he gets smarter, you tell him you'll give him money. Then when he gets smarter, you tell him you'll give him kavod, you'll give him honor, because that's the only way to do it. And eventually you expect him to start learning Torah lishmah. The same is with every individual. It's a very high level, the Rambam says, to learn Torah and do mitzvot lishmah. So therefore in most cases, people do mitzvot shelo lishmah. But to say that that's the real proper way, that's the goal, that's the ultimate level, definitely not. The ultimate level is to do a mitzvah lishmah, for the sake of the mitzvah. So therefore, if a person would do any mitzvah, he'll put on tefillin let's say, thinking in his mind that he's putting on tefillin because that will protect him, that will bring him berachot, Hashem will give him a lot of money for putting on tefillin, fine, he still should do the mitzvah, but not doing it lishmah, he's doing it for an ulterior motive. So this person did not do the mitzvah with the highest מדרגה, the highest level. But when it comes to mezuzah, it's not like that. Since the mezuzah has the quality of shemirah, of protecting the person, then if a person puts up a mezuzah so it should protect him, this person is doing the mitzvah lishmah, because this is the mitzvah itself. The mitzvah is that you should put up a protection. Actually there is even a halachah that tells us that it's made for protection. It says in Gemara, which is brought down in Shulchan Aruch too, that when you put up the mezuzah on the doorpost you should put it as close as possible to the outside. It says, within the טפח of the outside. And the reason that the Gemara gives is that since the mezuzah is made for protection, we want every little bit of the person's home to be protected. So why put it further, put it earlier so it'll protect more of the house. So here we see a clear halachah, the halachah is that you put the mezuzah towards the beginning of the doorpost, and the reason is so it should protect more of your home. So we see here that the mezuzah itself is protection. So if a person will put up a mezuzah having in mind that he's putting up something that will protect him, we will not consider this person doing the mitzvah shelo lishmah, that he didn't do it with the right intentions, even though if he would do another mitzvah for that reason, it would be considered shelo lishmah. Now the truth is when you look further in the Tur, the Tur does continue, after the Tur writes that the mezuzah is for protection, he says, nevertheless, a person should do it for the sake of the mitzvah, for the sake of listening to Hashem. So it seems to be saying different than what I'm saying now, that you should not put it up for protection. But the pshat is not like that. The pshat is you could put it up for protection, that's part of the mitzvah, but why should you put up the protection? Because Hashem wants you to do it. It's no contradiction. I'll explain myself. For instance, imagine if there would be a mitzvah, Hashem would say, \"You have to put up a good lock in your house. You have to lock your house, when you leave your house, you have to put up a good lock.\" If there would be such a mitzvah. And if a person would put up a good lock with the intentions of putting up the lock that would really, really lock this robbers out of the house, would that be considered shelo lishmah? It would be lishmah, because the mitzvah is to put up the lock! But what he has to do is he has to want to put up that lock because Hashem wants him to put up the lock. In other words, if Hashem would say the lock will not protect you, he would still do it, because he's doing it because Hashem said so. But when Hashem said, \"Put up a protection,\" then when you have in mind the protection, then this is what, this is the mitzvah itself. And this is what mezuzah is. Mezuzah is like a spiritual lock on the door. And Hashem said, \"I want you to put up a mezuzah. I want you to protect your house.\" So when a Yid puts up a mezuzah having in mind that this will protect him, and why does he want the protection to the mezuzah? Because Hashem said that this is the protection, and this what I want you to do, this person is, would be fulfilling the mitzvah of mezuzah a hundred percent lishmah. And this is the reason we actually write on the outside of the mezuzah the three letters, ש, ד, י, which is an, it's Hashem's name, but it's also an abbreviation of three words: שומר דלתות ישראל, he protects the doors of the Yidden, or another opinion is שומר דירות ישראל, he protects the דירות, the dwelling place of the Yidden, because the mezuzah is made for protection. In other words, that this is not the sachar, this is not the reward for the mezuzah. Reward for the mitzvah of mezuzah, Hashem will give us anyway, like Hashem gives us reward for every mitzvah, spiritual rewards, physical rewards, like every mitzvah. This is, so to speak, a direct reaction, so to speak, a direct outcome of the mezuzah itself. So when we put up a mezuzah, we we're putting up a protection to our home. And that's why there's an interesting thing, that mezuzah has the quality of protection even if it's not put onto your onto your door, even if it's in a way that you are not fulfilling the mitzvah, because it's not reward of the mitzvah, it's the mezuzah itself that protects. That's why those people that walk around having a hanging a mezuzah or something, it's a problem, because you walk into the bathroom, there are all kinds of she'elot, but there is something in it, in having a mezuzah even if the mezuzah not on the door. There's a Mishnah in Masechet Kelim, Masechet Kelim deals with different vessels, explain which vessels could become tamei, could become impure, which can't, and one of the conditions of a vessel to become, to be able to become tamei is if it has a כלי קיבול, if it has if it's a receptacle, if it has a place to receive. And the Mishnah goes through different objects, and it mentions a stick which has a place to hold a mezuzah. So the Tosafot Yom Tov explains what was that? So he says, in the time of the Mishnah, people would walk around with a stick, and inside the stick there was a hole, and in the hole they would put a mezuzah. Why would they do that? Because just to walk around with mezuz- with a mezuzah would be a protection, even though there is no mitzvah, that's clear. No one fulfills a mitzvah by carrying a mezuzah in a stick or carrying a mezuzah on your necklace, but it is a form of protection. The Frierdiker Rebbe in his room where he used to sit all day would have a mezuzah on the table. I know of cases when people were sick, the Rebbe would tell the relatives to put a mezuzah next to the bed or on the bed of the sick person. He would tell them to put it kis b'toch kis, which means to cover it up in double wrapping, because the halacha is you can't keep it in a place where maybe people will not be dressed tzniusdik, and when a person is sick you know they're not so careful. So he said wrap it with two wrappings, but keep it there, because the mezuzah itself brings the person cure and protection, even though there is no mitzvah. There is no mitzvah, all right so I want to repeat that again, no one should make a mistake and think there is any mitzvah in keeping a mezuzah on the table. There is no mitzvah. The only way you fulfill the mitzvah of mezuzah is if you put it on the doorpost according to halacha. But there is a concept of protection there too. We find a famous story in Yerushalmi when Rebbe sent a mezuzah as a present to a goy. And he told him, the difference between us and you is by a goyishe king, the king is inside and he has to have people protecting him from the outside. By us, we're inside and the King stands on the outside and protects us. And he gave the mashal for a mezuzah, that through the mezuzah Hashem protects us. So he sent the mezuzah to the goy, and he told the goy that this will be a protection. Now a goy has no mitzvah of mezuzah. If the pshat would be that only the mitzvah, as a reward for the mitzvah, the mitzvah protects you, then by a goy who has no mitzvah, the mezuzah wouldn't protect him. The pshat is that the mezuzah in itself, if it's only a kasher mezuzah—if it's not a kasher mezuzah, then it would be like a Chumash, like any piece of, any pasuk which is written on a piece of paper. We're talking about a mezuzah which is a kasher mezuzah. If it's a kasher mezuzah, from the mezuzah itself comes out this inyan of protection, of shemirah, even before the mitzvah is done. Certainly if you put the mezuzah on the door, and you fulfill the mitzvah, then that's a stronger protection, otherwise it's a lower level of protection. But the mezuzah itself has this quality of protection. And that if you do it for that reason, you did the mitzvah of mezuzah lishmah, you did it for the sake of Hashem. And here we see an interesting thing. Comes out according to this, that in the mitzvah of mezuzah, the shelo lishmah, the doing the mezuzah, putting up the mezuzah for the sake of protection, for your own physical benefit, which in other cases would be considered shelo lishmah, not for the proper intentions, by the mitzvah of mezuzah the shelo lishmah turns into lishmah, is really lishmah, because as we said before, that's called doing it for the proper reason, for the real reason of the mezuzah. And that's an interesting thing. This is something that essentially is true by every mitzvah, but we don't see it only by mezuzah. By every mitzvah, as we said before, even if a person does not do a mitzvah lishmah, nevertheless the Gemara says, continue doing it. And what was the reason we said? מתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה. Because through doing it not lishmah, you will eventually come to do it lishmah. But it says in sefarim a deeper peshat. מתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה means: תוך means inside. The inside of every single person doing a mitzvah not lishmah, the inside of it is really lishmah. Essentially, even when a Yid does a mitzvah not lishmah, really he does it lishmah. He might think he does it not lishmah. He thinks he does it for an ulterior motive, but the Torah says it's not true. His neshamah is doing it for the sake of the mitzvah. He doesn't know himself why he does it. He thinks he's giving tzedakah so his name should be announced, and everyone will say, \"Ooh, look at this guy, he gave so much money for tzedakah.\" Shelo lishmah. So we say מתוך שלא לשמה, the תוך, the inside of שלא לשמה is לשמה. Really he gave tzedakah because his neshamah wants the mitzvah of tzedakah because Hashem said so. Superficially, his body, his יצר הרע thinks that he's doing it for the other reason. But be'emet, in truth the שלא לשמה is לשמה. It's similar to a famous peshat of the Baal Shem Tov, an interesting peshat. There's a pasuk that says, רעבים גם צמאים נפשם בהם תתעטף. The people who are hungry, the people who are thirsty, their nefesh, their soul gets involved. And the simple peshat is mean that when a person is hungry and thirsty, then your soul is hungry and thirsty, you can't take it. But the Baal Shem Tov says the peshat of the pasuk is different. When a person is hungry and thirsty, you think that who's hungry? Your body is hungry, your body is thirsty. But the neshamah, neshamah is not hungry, neshamah doesn't eat food. So he says, \"No, when you eat food, the neshamah gains.\" What does it gain? Makes a berachah, and it says when you eat food, you're מברר the ניצוצות, there are these holy sparks which are found in every physical object, and when you eat food with a berachah and לשם שמים, then you elevate the food food. But that's not something that the body wants. The body has doesn't care about that. The body cares about being full. The neshamah cares about that. So the Baal Shem Tov said, רעבים גם צמאים, people are hungry and thirsty. Don't think it's the body that's involved. Essentially, it's נפשם בהם תתעטף, it's the nefesh, it's the soul that's involved. The nefesh wants. And the same is with every mitzvah. When a person does a mitzvah, and superficially he thinks he does the מצוה שלא לשמה, not for the real intention, not for the real reason. So we're telling him no. In truth, what's hidden inside is that his neshamah wants to do the מצוה לשמה. But by other mitzvot, we don't see it. Other מצוות, לשמה and שלא לשמה are two different categories, we're just saying that hidden in the שלא לשמה is the לשמה. By the mitzvah of mezuzah, it's not like that. By the mitzvah of mezuzah, the shelo lishmah is even in a superficial way lishmah. Like I explained before, if you do it for the sake of protection, which seems to be shelo lishmah, that is lishmah, that is the mitzvah itself. The mitzvah itself is the protection that a Yid gets. And this is one of the reasons it says that the מזוזה היא שקולה כנגד כל המצוות, it has something that all the mitzvot don't have. It's something that כנגד that's as important as all the mitzvot, because something that in all the mitzvot is not revealed is revealed in the mitzvah of mezuzah. There are more reasons why we say that mezuzah is so important, it's שקולה כנגד כל המצוות, it weighs like all other mitzvot. And that's the simple peshat.

The simple peshat of mezuzah is that you show to yourself, to others, and mainly to Hashem, that you believe that everything that's in your house belongs really to Hashem. That's why you do it as close as possible to the outside to show that everything, everything that I own—and usually when a person who owns a home, so everything everything that he owns is there—everything that I own, including myself, is all all belongs to Hashem. That's what a mezuzah is. And that's something that is more than any other mitzvah. We have other mitzvot which have the same idea, but to in different details. For instance, the mitzvah of challah, which we learned in last week's parashah. The mitzvah of challah, that's when you bake bread and you make a dough, you have to take off a little bit of challah. And when you take it off, you're supposed to give it away to Hashem. What does that mean? You give it to the kohen, who represents Hashem. Nowadays, we don't give it to the kohen because the kohanim can't eat it anyway, so we burn it. But you must take off a little bit of challah. What do all the sefarim that talk about the reasons for mitzvot, what the reason for the mitzvah of challah? The reason is very simple: to show to Hashem that all the food, all the bread that I'm baking, באמת really belongs to Hashem. And therefore, the first and the best, I take off and give to Hashem. That's why it says ראשית עריסותיכם, the beginning of your dough, תרימו תרומה להשם, you have to give terumah to Hashem. So this mitzvah also indicates the fact that we show that what we have really belongs to Hashem, and the rest that we do take for ourselves is like Hashem is giving it to us. So we have to thank Hashem by giving a piece to Him. But it's only concerning the food. The mitzvah of challah shows this belief concerning the food that the person eats. Tzedakah: it says when a person gives tzedakah, he does show that all the money that he has really belongs to Hashem. And that's why you take off maaser, you take off a tenth, you take off a certain amount, you give it to you give it to a poor man who represents Hashem, and by that you show that really everything belongs to Hashem, and the part that I'm keeping is really Hashem giving it to me as a present. But otherwise, it's all Hashem's. But again, it's only concerning the money that a person has. So challah shows the bitachon or the emunah, the true belief concerning the food, tzedakah concerning the money. Korbanot, it says, when you bring a korban, you show that all the animals belong to Hashem. But nothing is like mezuzah. Because mezuzah shows that everything belongs to Hashem, everything that we own belongs to Hashem. Because the mezuzah is for the house, which includes everything. Because the house holds the food, and the house holds the furniture and the clothes, and the people. So the house really represents everything. And when we have a mezuzah on the door, we show that everything belongs to Hashem. And that's why the mitzvah of mezuzah is so special, more special to a certain degree than any other mitzvah. The truth is, whenever we talk about any mitzvah, you'll always hear me saying that this mitzvah that tonight's subject will be, you'll throughout the shiur you'll hear, that is the most important mitzvah of all the mitzvot. And then next time we talk about another mitzvah, then you say, well, this is the most important mitzvah. We talk about tefillin, we'll say tefillin is, and explain how tefillin is the most important mitzvah. Tonight, we talk about mezuzah, so I'm telling you that mezuzah is the most important mitzvah. The pshat is it's true. Every mitzvah, I wouldn't say mamash every mitzvah, but many mitzvot, each one of them has certain aspects which because of that aspect it's more important than others. Then another mitzvah has a certain aspect which that is important more important than others. Here we're talking about the mitzvah of mezuzah. The mitzvah of mezuzah has something that no other mitzvah has: It's the idea of showing that a yid feels that everything belongs to Hashem. Everything that he owns, his house, everything in the house, his food, his children, everything that he has all belongs to Hashem. And that's what a and that is the foundation of Yiddishkeit. The foundation of Yiddishkeit is the belief that everything belongs to Hashem, everything comes from Hashem. So mezuzah really is the most fundamental mitzvah that we have. That's why it's שקולה כנגד כל המצוות. Then there is also a Kabbalistic explanation in the mitzvah of mezuzah, and why mezuzah is more important than any other mitzvah. Every time we do a mitzvah, we know we bring down Godly light into the world. Using the terms of Kabbalah, we bring down the אור אין סוף, the infinite, unlimited Godly light into the world. But we bring it down, it says, in a form of מקיף. מקיף means surrounding. That means it doesn't come into a פנימיות. The world, the people cannot absorb it. It doesn't come down in a certain in a form that it should be attracted and penetrate into the person, the person should feel it. And that's called מקיף. מקיף means surrounding. Now, it doesn't mean it surrounds. The light of of Hashem that comes down when you do a mitzvah comes inside the world, inside the people, certainly into the person that does the mitzvah. But in the person himself, it's considered in the form of מקיף, it surrounds him because he doesn't really feel it. It doesn't penetrate into the heart that the person should feel it. By the mitzvah of mezuzah, it says in Kabbalah that the mitzvah of mezuzah is supposed to bring the light of Hashem that comes down in the form of מקיף when you do all other mitzvot, the mitzvah of mezuzah is supposed to bring it in a פנימיות. And it's interesting, a house is called a מקיף. The house surrounds the person. When you walk into the house, the house is over the person. The mezuzah that's in the doorpost is supposed to be, now speaking now according to Kabbalah, is supposed to be that mitzvah which is מצמצם, contracts that light of Hashem that comes into the מקיף, into the house, and it's supposed to bring it down in a certain specific way that it should be able to penetrate specifically into the people. In that way, it's similar to tzitzit. It says by tzitzit the same idea. It says tzitzit is a garment, a talit, and then you have these strings. So Kabbalah says the garment is מקיף, it surrounds the person, like any clothes is מקיף. The difference between a house and a garment is that a garment is called מקיף הקרוב, and a house is called מקיף הרחוק. The garment is called a close מקיף, it's close to the person, also surrounds the person, but it's close, and the house is called מקיף הרחוק, a far מקיף, but they're both מקיף. And the idea of tzitzit, it says in Kabbalah, is that you take that אור מקיף, that light of Hashem, which comes into a form of מקיף, and the fact that you have the strings at the corners, that is supposed to indicate that you're bringing it down from the מקיף specifically into a string which make contracts it and it's like a pipe. These these strings are like pipes that through them the light comes down and comes into the person. And that's the mitzvah of tzitzit, to bring down the אור מקיף. And the mitzvah of mezuzah is the same way: The house is the מקיף, and since the house is a מקיף הרחוק, a far מקיף, it it shows that even a higher spiritual מדרגה than the talit, and nevertheless, we take that light of מקיף and we bring it down through the mezuzah. And actually, this was the complaint of Korach. In this week's parashah, in this week's parashah, it says, Korach came to Moshe Rabbeinu, he had all the 250 people that were with him, he had them all dressed in talitim made of תכלת, of blue wool, and he asked Moshe Rabbeinu a she'elah, a question: טלית שכולה תכלת, חייב בציצית, אי חייב בציצית? If a garment is made of techelet, tzitzit are the wool strings, and in the time of the Gemara of Chumash they used to have a blue string, one blue string. So he asked, if the whole tallit is made of techelet, of that wool, does it still need tzitzit? And Moshe Rabbeinu said, \"Certainly.\" And he started laughing, and he said, \"If you have a tallit made of other things, one string of techelet will make it kasher, if the whole tallit is made of techelet, certainly you don't need strings.\" And then he had another question: בית שכולו ספרים, if you have a house full of sefarim, full of ספרי תורות, and in every Sefer Torah is written the parashah of mezuzah. does that room still need a mezuzah or not?\" And Moshe said, \"Certainly it needs a mezuzah.\" And they started laughing. If a house that's empty, one little parchment of the parashah of mezuzah on the doorpost will make it kasher, will patur it, if the whole room is full of ספרי תורה and every Sefer Torah has more than just a parashah of mezuzah, certainly it doesn't need a mezuzah, it's enough! And he was wrong. So in Kabbalah it says, why was he wrong? Because you could have a whole house full of ספרי תורה, but it will still be, from the Kabbalah point of view, be still the אור המקיף. The only way you could bring down that אור המקיף in a פנימי, bring it down in a way that it should come into a way that it should be able to penetrate into the people, that's through the mezuzah on the door, that little mezuzah. That's the צמצום of the light, the contraction of the or, of the light, and it comes down that we should be able to take it. And the same thing with the techelet, with the tzitzit. The tallit is מקיף, and in order to bring it down you have to bring it down in a way that it should come on to the people. But this is what the inyan of mezuzah is על פי קבלה, that it brings down the אור המקיף in a way that it should come down into the people, into the, in פנימיות of the people. In some sefarim it says that when it says in Chumash, \"ואהבת את ה׳ אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאדך,\" you should love Hashem with all your heart, with all your soul, ובכל מאדך, with all your might, I think, that's how they translate it, so it says like this: בכל לבבך, with all your heart, that refers to tefillah, to davenen. When you daven, you daven with your heart. The Gemara says, \"איזו היא עבודה שבלב? זו תפלה.\" What's called the service of the heart? Tefillah. So when it says you should love Hashem with all your heart, that refers to davenen. When it says בכל נפשך, with all your nefesh, it says the nefesh is mainly connected to the person's seichel, person's intellect. That means when a person learns Torah with his intellect, that's how you fulfill loving Hashem with all your nefesh. How do you fulfill loving ה׳ בכל מאדך? מאדך means with all your might, which means actually בלי גבול, without any limit. So it says it's connected to the mitzvah of mezuzah. That through having a mezuzah, by that we show Hashem that we love him with everything that we have. See, the other things are פרטים, details: it's your heart, it's your brain, it's this, it's that. Which is the mitzvah that shows that we love Hashem with everything that we own? בכל מאדך, with all your might, which means בלי, without a limit, includes everything. That is the mitzvah of mezuzah. Because like I said before, with the mitzvah of mezuzah, you show that the house and everything that's in it belongs to Hashem. And this is takeh the reason why the mitzvah of mezuzah has this, this characteristic, this quality of protection.

Because in order for a Yid to be protected physically or spiritually, it is only if it comes if he has the real emunah. When a Yid has the 100% emunah, faith in Hashem, he will be protected. Like I've mentioned once before, the Baal Shem Tov once said when he sat down on a handkerchief and he crossed the river sitting on a handkerchief, and people thought that he was doing it through some kind of not chas veshalom black magic, but some kind of קבלה מעשית, some kind of kabbalistic שמות, and he said, \"No. Anybody could do it. If you have the real emunah, faith in Hashem, then you could sit down.\" And the story is told that there was a simple Yid who had 100% faith in Hashem and was chasing the Baal Shem Tov, and the Baal Shem Tov went away and sat down on the handkerchief and crossed the river. He saw him do it, he sat down, and he did the same. And he was able to cross the river sitting on a handkerchief, that simple Jew, because of emunah peshutah. If you have proper emunah, 100% emunah, Hashem will protect you. There's a story from the Rabbi Maharash - I don't want to get into side stories - but that once a very simple Yid, he came to the Rabbi Maharash once and the Rabbi Maharash asked him if he knows how to learn. He said, \"No.\" So he advised him to buy a Tzena Urena. Tzena Urena are these that have the stories of Chumash and Tanach in Yiddish. Used to be women all used to have a Tzena Urena and they used to read it on Shabbos. It's famous Tzena Urena. So the Rabbi Maharash tells him, \"Go buy a Tzena Urena.\" So he bought a Tzena Urena. One of the things he learned in Tzena Urena was the story of how Elisha revived the son of the Shunamis who died. And it says that he lay down on him and he blew into him and he this and whatever he did, and he died already, but he's מחיה מתים, he made him alive again. Later on, this person, simple Yid, once came home from work and he found that one of his little children had died. And people were upset and so on. So he said, \"What's the problem?\" He walked into the room, told everyone to go out, like Elisha did, and he did exactly what he learned what Elisha did, and the son became alive again. ממש מחיה מתים. And later people told the Rabbi Maharash that it's your miracle. You told him to learn Tzena Urena because you knew that by him learning the Tzena Urena he will know this story, and that's how he will do it, and so it's your miracle. So the Rabbi Maharash said, \"It's not my miracle at all. It's his emunah peshutah. The fact that he had the real emunah, that's why he was able to do it.\" The protection a Yid gets is if you have the real emunah believing that everything comes from Hashem, then that will protect. That itself is the best protection. Tell another story just coming to my mind now. Once there was a person that came to the Frierdiker Rebbe and asked him for a brachah for children. He was a Lubavitcher, and the Rebbe עפעס didn't give him. And that same evening, I think, someone else came who was not a Lubavitcher, not, just a a simple Yid, and the Rebbe gave him a brachah. And as soon as he heard the brachah, he went out and he bought a baby carriage, because the Rebbe said he'll have a child. And he took the carriage and started walking with the empty carriage around the block. He said he wants to get used to the cracks in the street, to know exactly where it is before the child is born. And after a year, he had a child. So the other chassid came to the Rebbe and asked him, \"Rebbe, how come him you gave a brachah and me you didn't?\" And he said, \"Let me ask you, would you have gone out also to buy a carriage?\" He says, \"No.\" He says, \"That's your answer. It's not my brachah,\" he says, \"it's his emunah peshutah, it's his emunah.\" And this is what mezuzah is, that mezuzah is supposed to show that we have emunah, and we show to the world, and mainly to ourselves, and to Hashem, that everything belongs to Hashem. And therefore, wherever we are, the mezuzah protects us, whether we're inside or outside, because if we have the real emunah in Hashem, then Hashem really gives us the shemirah. And that's why it's not called shelo lishmah that we we would put up a mezuzah for the sake of shemirah. The only question one might ask, what about those places which are patur from mezuzah? There are certain rooms which don't need a mezuzah, you're not allowed to put up a mezuzah. How does the protection happen there? The answer is, by not putting up a mezuzah you are fulfilling the halachah of mezuzah. There is a halachah that in this place you can't put up a mezuzah, so it's like fulfilling it in a negative way. You see, when the Frierdiker Rebbe was arrested, and he was taken into Shpalerka, and they started interrogating him with all kinds of questions, the first thing they asked him, because they saw that he is not giving in to them, they asked, \"Do you know where you are?\" So he said, \"Sure I know where I am. I'm in a room that's patur from mezuzah, because just like a בית הכסא, a bathroom, is patur from mezuzah, your room here is as terrible as that, and it's patur from mezuzah, that's what it is.\" So the Rebbe once spoke about it and he said, \"Why did he pick mezuzah? He should have said, 'Well, you know where I am? I'm in a place where Hashem's presence is,' or whatever it is.\" He wanted the protection of the mezuzah. By mentioning the halachah of mezuzah, and saying this is a room that's patur from mezuzah, he brought about the learning of mezuzah. So first of all, whenever you learn about a halachah, that itself is like you did the halachah, so he learned about mezuzah, but more than that, he brought out that this is patur from mezuzah, that's how you fulfill. So if a person doesn't put up a mezuzah on a room which is patur, you're also getting to a certain degree the protection of mezuzah. But a room that you're chayav a mezuzah and you put it on, the protection is definitely a hundred percent stronger. And that's why it's very important to be careful the mezuzot that we have should be a hundred percent kasher, and we should check it from time to time when we think maybe something might have happened to it, or like it says you should check a mezuzah once, twice in seven years. The Rebbe בכלל said that you should check it very often. Some places it says, in Mateh Ephraim it says you should check it every Elul. It is very important. First of all, it's a mitzvah and you have to do the mitzvah properly, but even more than, not I would say more than that, but the idea is that mezuzah gives protection, so this helps a Yid with protection. And that's why we know many, hundreds and thousands and thousands of times when they used to ask the Rebbe about certain problems, the Rebbe would say בדיקת התפילין והמזוזות, check the tefillin and the mezuzot. Tefillin is also, that's a separate subject about tefillin, but mezuzot also he would say, \"Check the mezuzot.\" And many times they would find the מזוזות פסול, and when they would fix the mezuzah, the problem was fixed. Because the mezuzah is the real emunah, and when you have the proper emunah by having a כשר מזוזה, then the Aibershter gives us the proper protection. Yes, any questions? Yes. Okay, I'll tell you where it comes from. It says in the Zohar it says that when you walk in or out of the room, you should touch the mezuzah. It doesn't say kiss, touch the mezuzah. The Rebbe, whenever he would walk in or out of the room, he would touch the mezuzah, he wouldn't kiss. But it's a good minhag, it's nice when, since you're touching something, Kiss your father, you kiss your mother, so you kiss the mezuzah, you kiss a Sefer Torah. They even have in some chadarim when they would teach this, by Esav it says after Esav sold the בכורה, sold the the rights, the firstborn rights to Yaakov, it says that he got up, ויקם וילך, he got up and he walked out, so the way they used to teach in cheder is ויקם וי אה, ויאכל, he ate and didn't bentch. ויקם, he no ויאכל, he ate, didn't make a brachah. ויקם, he got up and didn't bentch. וילך, he went and he didn't kiss the mezuzah. Well, it's a very good minhag, but what it says originally, where this all comes from, is from the Zohar, where it says touching the mezuzah. That's why I There is a story told about the Baal Shem Tov, which I don't know how true it is based on the Zohar. There is a story, it's a known story, I think it's brought down in Shivchei HaBaal Shem Tov, it says that in the beginning when the Baal Shem Tov became famous and people didn't understand, and so there a certain group of רבנים called the Baal Shem Tov for a test to see if he's really if he's if he's honest or true, whatever. So, one of this parts of the story goes that when he came into the room, he touched the mezuzah and he didn't kiss it. So, the first question they asked him, \"Why didn't you kiss the mezuzah?\" And he answered, \"Because the mezuzah is pasul.\" And they took the mezuzah down and they found it was pasul. But I don't understand the story because in the Zohar it says you just touch it, so maybe the Baal Shem Tov did kiss it. Huh? They they did, according to this story. Well, that that could be the story is true, they didn't they didn't know the Zohar. But the other parts hard to see, because the Baal Shem Tov, according to this story, he always used to kiss the mezuzah. At least maybe they thought so. Are smaller mezuzot more expensive than the big ones? Depends on the sofer, and depends how neat and how clear he writes. Usually, it's easier to write something big, to make it nice big, and therefore usually they're the better ones, but I myself saw smaller mezuzot which are much nicer and takeh more expensive. Doesn't mean bigger doesn't There's no shiur in it. Yes. Attic door that has that has a there's a ladder attached to go up to it, and has Or a trap door? There's a משקוף, there's a משקוף, and it has There's a ceiling. No, there's a ceiling, ceiling. It has a משקוף How about this? How about if I make it into a How about if I make it into a room? Into the roof. Into the roof. Into the roof. It's a room. It's a ceiling door. No. Oh, this, yeah? Is that what you mean by the מזוזה? No. Why, inside there's a room? There you'll have to have, but not this door. Has to be a standing door. It's a trap door. That's the only way in. That's so there's no Has to be a standing door. But inside, in the attic itself, You have a room, you have to have a מזוזה, yeah. You have to walk Huh? It has to be, yeah, it has to be to walk and it has to be a side. There's a lot of halachot in מזוזה. The general halachah would be it has to be a room which has ד' על ד', has to have at least sixteen square אמות. If an אמה, let's say the smaller שיעור of an אמה is 18 inches, foot and that is, it would be 4 by 4 would be 36 square feet at least. That's number one. Then the real way of חיוב מזוזה is if it has that the entrance has two doorposts and a משקוף. What's the English word for a משקוף? A lintel. A lintel. Lintel or lintel. Now, if it doesn't if it doesn't have a משקוף, it's patur. If it has no two מזוזות, if it only has one, let's say, so many opinions say it's also patur, you don't need. But some opinions say if it has the right side, and not the left, but it has the right and a משקוף, you have to have a מזוזה, but you should put it on without a ברכה, because some hold that you don't need. Now, there are other cases, lemashel, if it's not a real משקוף, but it's the ceiling coming down, there are different opinions. Many many of these cases, you don't need, according to many opinions, some say you do, therefore it's better that you should have. Yes. When you fix the doorposts or when you paint it, can you take the מזוזה off? Yes, yes. And when you Not only you can, you should. You should take it off and paint it and then put it back on. Because I've seen some doorposts where they've painted No, but you should take it off and then put it back. When you sell the house, or when you move, Okay, when you move out of a house, if Yidden are going to move in, you are not allowed to take off the מזוזות. Not only you're not allowed, it says it's a danger. It's a sakanah to the one that takes it off, so you shouldn't take off מזוזות. If a goy moves in, then you should take, not only you're allowed to, you should. If you don't know who's going to move in, depends so if you're giving back the apartment, let's say, and it's a goyishe owner, then you're giving it back to the goy, and you take it off. If you're giving it back to a Yid, then you can't take it off. So you shouldn't take off the מזוזות. Some do say that you could change it for cheaper ones, let's say. And there's another thing, even though you're not allowed to take off the מזוזות when you move out, but the one that moves in has to pay you for it. Now, he could he could tell you, \"Well, I don't care. I don't want the מזוזות, I don't want\" he could say that, but in halachah, you're supposed to leave it for him, but he's supposed to pay you for it. Yes? What you should do is let him take it off. Yeah, yeah, he should take you're allowed to change for for better ones. The best thing would be if you move out and he wants You shouldn't take them off. It's a sakanah for a person who takes off the מזוזות when you move out. Let that guy who moved in, let him change. He's allowed, you're allowed to change for better מזוזות. I don't know say it clearly, since it's on the tapes, I don't know, but I'm just saying you should better to have the guy do it. Yeah. So, not to everybody, to some people he wrote. The same reason, because it's a shemirah. When the person asked about shemirah, I think the person had an accident. So, he said you should have a חת\"ת and a pushke, tzedakah pushke and a מזוזה. He wrote someone. Yeah, it wasn't something that Other things he said many times to everybody. He says the the the חת\"ת and the pushke he says, \"וכדאי לפרסם,\" you should you should publicize it, but the מזוזה he didn't. But this is the idea because the מזוזה is a shemirah. There were many times the Rebbe wrote to people that they should keep in the car Chumash and a Tehillim and a Tanya, and a siddur he wrote to somebody, and a tzedakah pushke, and he added, \"וכדאי לפרסם, it's worthwhile to publicize this.\" But once or twice, I can't say how many times, he answered somebody to have a mezuzah in the car. But there he didn't I don't remember he should add that he should publicize it, this is individuals. But the idea behind it is because it's a shemirah, because it's a protection, even if it's not a mitzvah. There's no obligation, and you don't do a mitzvah when you have it in your glove compartment, but like I said before, mezuzah is a protection even not because of the mitzvah, the mezuzah itself, if it's a כשר מזוזה. Yes? Well, obviously the protection that you have next to you is stronger than the protection that's from far. This is a remote control protection! Protection that's closer! I mean, there are מדרגות, yeah. He didn't say to everybody. No, he didn't. He just told it to one or two people. No. What you do is you make a brachah on the first, have in mind the others, don't talk in between, and go put them all up. Well, it depends what you talk. If you talk in between about the inyan of the mezuzah, things like that, then you don't have to. If there's a real hefsek of other things, you would have to. It's like בדיקת חמץ: you make a brachah one room and then you go and you do the בדיקת חמץ in every room, even though every room has the mitzvah, but it's one brachah goes on all, the same thing with the mezuzot. You're finished! No, no. The moment he took them off and gave them to you, your responsibility goes responsibility goes away. Now it's his, he can't take off the mezuzot. If he goes out, now he can't take off because he's leaving, he's moving. Place which has a very terrible smell, or a place which is only a temporary dwelling. Like some people ask why a sukkah doesn't need a mezuzah, because it's only for seven days, only for eight days. Things which should not Or if it doesn't have a shiur, doesn't have a measure According to one opinion, if it doesn't have a door, it doesn't need a mezuzah, we don't pasken like that. Rambam holds, but that's him. But there are other restrictions. If it's a room that's empty, a room that's empty, no one lives there and there's nothing there, then you don't need a mezuzah. A room that's empty, and it's not even a storage, doesn't need a mezuzah. If it's a storage room, it needs a mezuzah. They don't have to. Don't have to. No. A stable doesn't need a mezuzah, things like that. Well, actually, that's what the Frierdiker Rebbe told them. When he said that, \"I know where I am, I'm in a place that's patur from mezuzah, like a bathroom and like a stable,\" he said. Like a bed What about a bedroom? Sure you need a mezuzah, you just have to cover it, make sure that it shouldn't be open to an area where people could be uncovered. Why should you not? What happens if a person has two houses, that's the din that if the if you have a room that needs a mezuzah, that means that this person needs more protection. And if you don't have it, that means you're missing the protection. The The protection is dependent on the chiyuv of mezuzah. Even though the protection comes anyways, there are two things: there's a mitzvah of mezuzah, and there's the protection of mezuzah. The mitzvah of mezuzah has different every room, and every door entrance needs a mezuzah. And the protection probably would happen even from one. But if you have a a door that needs a mezuzah and you don't do it, then you're fighting the protection, then it won't work. Let's say if a person will say, \"I have 10 rooms and I have on one room, I have a mezuzah, the others I don't.\" So the protection I have 100%. No, because you have places that need protection need a mezuzah and you don't have, you are minimizing the protection, that's what it would seem. Good. People who don't know, they don't know any better. Good. So for them, it's an ones. I mean, they don't know. But that's a guy knows he has to have and he doesn't care. To a certain degree, you can't say it's protected 100%, it's back and out. But if they don't know any better, then to them it would be 100%. But da aka if they know and they don't want, they da aka not 100%. Because they have a chiyuv and they don't do it. You got to ask the סופר. Thanks, every you fulfill the mitzvah of simchah by the husband buying them new clothes, like jewelry, I guess, and good things like that. So the question is that the whole reason for this simchah the truth of simchah is that you're happy about Hashem, so why is the mitzvah to do it in such a physical form? The answer is for that same reason, being that we are unfortunately physical people, and it's not so simple for a person to reach a level of understanding and feeling the abstract concept of simchah because of the spirituality of it. So the way to bring it down is through starting off with the physical type of simchah, and when you have the physical simchah something you relate to and you connect it with the Yom Tov, it will bring out within the person the true feeling of simchah. So when a person drinks wine, that makes him גשמיות והשמחה, and then you know then you start thinking it's for the Yom Tov, so that feeling that you have the physical simchah can be transformed into the simchah because of the truth of Hashem and whatever mitzvot, everything else. And the same thing with the children, others everyone that is happy about something that they have physically, but it's done in a proper way, in a way that it is in honor of Yom Tov. You buy the clothes in honor of Yom Tov, so you start thinking and that makes the person physically happy. When you are already physically happy, then it can be utilized into into being happy for the right reasons. But it means in in other words, I'll put it in simple words, we have to tackle the yetzer hara and our נפש הבהמית, our animal instincts, animal soul, and our body. And we have to tackle to bring all these spiritual matters into the body, and the way to do it is through bodily things. So when you attack and you bring, let's say, the simchah in a form of gashmiyut, that is a keli that the body will be able to rise itself and reach the level of the true simchah. But to start with the spiritual level, then not everyone is ready for it, and most people are not. Want to put it that way? Fine. Okay. Amen. I know, when he went, he said a he said a few things quickly, eh? Yeah. What?