It turns out, Mrs. Stein was right and I was wrong. When I got home on Friday evening I checked and discovered that my mezuzah was in fact missing. Which boggles me slightly. Where did it go? Did someone take it? I think I would have noticed if it had fallen, because it would have been on the floor by my door. But since I didn’t notice that it was missing, I might not have. Last Tuesday night some friends helped me move a bed into my apartment and maybe we knocked it down then, but again, wouldn’t I have noticed it next to the door jam? It also could have gotten knocked down when my old roommate moved out at the end of June. It is a mystery I may never solve.
However, but some quirk of fate/timing/birthday gifts, I was given a mezuzah for my birthday back in May. It’s particularly appropriate one for me, because the front is printed with the word love, written in Hebrew. I do like to label things love and so I like the fact that my home now wears the same message.
I think I need to write a little note to Mrs. Stein and tell her that while I didn’t take the mezuzah down, it was missing and I appreciate the fact that she mentioned it to me. She was pretty pissed on Friday, so it seems like a good idea to try to smooth things over.
My family is not Jewish but we bought our house from a Jewish woman who had put mezuzahs on every entrance to the house. My parents left them there because well, they keep our house safe 🙂
This concept of protecting one’s home is a universal concept. In Sri Lanka they hang a giant pumpkin from the door to keep away the evil eye. In South India they hang scary masks to do the same. In other parts of India we hang chilli pepppers and lemons to keep away evils.
I’m torn. While I respect your wish to smooth things over with your neighbor, I myself would be struggling to find the right way to tell her that I both
1) Appreciated the heads-up about the mezuzah, and;
2) Emphatically did NOT appreciate her being such a semi-abusive beeyatch about it.
I’m really serious about this. I don’t care how much Mrs. Stein values her own spiritual tradition and observances, that is NO KIND of excuse for getting all religiosly intolerant on you on account of a missing mezuzah.
I dare say this a tribute to how you are a kinder soul than I…. 😉
how fortuitous that you found yourself with a mezuzah surplus 😉