Q: What is the meaning behind the tradition of bringing bread and salt to someone when s/he moves into a new home.

A: Bread is regarded as the most basic foodstuff. In the Talmud, a meal (requiring a blessing to be recited) is defined by the consumption of a piece of bread larger than an olive. There are several traditions that place bread and salt together:

1) It is an imitation of Temple ritual, where offerings were prepared with salt.
2) It refers to Genesis 3:19, which says "By the sweat of your brow, shall you get bread to eat"; salt is representative of the sweat.
3) Bread and salt are regarded as a natural pair because the Hebrew words *lechem* (bread) and *malach* (salt) are both spelled from the same three letters.

By bringing bread and salt to a new home, one is making it possible for the people who have just moved to sustain themselves.

Written by Amy W. Helfman, Judaica Librarian, HUC-JIR, New York

Q: We had the interior of our house painted and want to put back the mezuzahs. Exactly how should they be put on the door posts and what are the prayers?

A: The Biblical commandment "And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates" from Deuteronomy 6:9 is the source for the practice of affixing a Mezzuzah to the doorposts of your house.

Traditional Jewish practice about Mezzuzot is that a Mezzuzah should be affixed to every door in a house except for the bathroom, even if there are many rooms in a house and even if the room has more than one door. As long as a door can be used as an entrance and exit, a Mezzuzah should be affixed to the doorpost.

It should be affixed to the doorpost on the right hand side of a person entering the room. It should go about 2/3 of the way up the doorpost and be affixed diagonally, with the top of the Mezzuzah slanting in towards the house or the entrance of the room. If the doorpost is not wide enough, the Mezzuzah should be affixed vertically.

Before affixing the Mezzuzah, the following benediction is recited:
Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu lik-bo-a m'zu-zah.
Blessed are You, Adonai, our God, Sovereign of the universe, who hallows us with Mitzvot and commands us to affix the Mezzuzah.

A service for affixing the Mezzuzah is found in the CCAR publication: On the Doorposts of Your House, page 141.

In the Reform tradition, we may interpret the requirements for Mezzuzah as it has individual meaning for each of us. Therefore, you may affix the Mezzuzah only to the exterior doors and principal rooms of the house, if you so desire.

Written by Cantor Michael A. Shochet, Temple Rodef Shalom, Falls Church, Virginia

Q: Is it permissible for someone who is below average height to affix a mezzuzah lower than the norm, in order that they may be able to touch it and "interact" with it as they enter and exit their home, so that it may not be merely a "decorative" element?

A: First, regarding the height at which a mezzuzah should properly be affixed, the halacha is clear on this matter, and all authorities are in agreement. The mezzuzah should be affixed in the upper third of the doorpost, but not less than one handsbreath from the lintel. (See, for example, Ganzfreid's Code of Jewish Law). An average exterior door is typically between six feet six inches (78 inches) and seven feet (84 inches) in height. Thus a mezzuzah may be hung 52 - 56 inches high (4'4" - 4'8", depending on the height of the door). A typical person's reach is at least twenty percent above her height. Thus, if the door is seven feet tall, the mezzuzah may be hung at a height of four feet eight inches, and should be easily accessible to a person under four feet tall. So, unless someone has a truly unusual door, or they are exceptionally short in stature, they should have no trouble at all complying with the letter of the halacha.

Second, regarding the usage of the Mezzuzah. Maimonides (Code, Book 2, Laws of Mezzuzah, Chapter 6:13) exhorts readers to be scrupulous in observing the mitzvah of having a mezzuzah since "whenever one enters or leaves a home with a mezzuzah on the doorpost, he will see it and be confronted with the declaration of God's unity.....This thought will immeditely restore him to his right senses and he will walk in the paths of righteousness." According to Maimonides, the essence of the mitzvah of mezzuzah is to SEE it -- it is not necessary to TOUCH it. Further, Maimonides explicitly warns against those who misuse the mezzuzah, presuming it to be an amulet (loc. cit. 5:4). In other words, even if it were not possible for someone to hang their mezzuzah within REACH, they can fulfill both the letter and the spirit of the halacha by hanging it within SIGHT.

Third, regarding the touching of the Mezzuzah. The custom appears to have originated with the MaHaRil (Rabbi Jacob ben Moses Boellin, 1360-1427), who based it on a story in the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 11a) in which Onkelos b. Kalonymous the Proselyte touched his mezzuzuah in order to be afforded protection against Roman soldiers who were arresting him. So there is some rabbinic precedent to the custom.

The desire to observe this custom, and thereby to mark the separation between the private, sanctified space within and the public, ordinary space outside, appears to be a good example of a positive application of the Reform Jewish principle of seeking renewed meaning to traditional customs and observances. On this ground, I might be inclined to support it, even in the unlikely circumstance that the door is so high, or the people so short, that they cannot possibly reach the mezzuzah within the rather broad halachic guidelines above. However, even in that instance, one must consider the principle of Marit Ayin (appearance to others) -- and be concerned that acquaintances, possessed of less intense Jewish identity and literacy, might see the lower-than-usual mezzuzah and conclude that that is the normal, appropriate height at which to hang it. This might then mislead their own practice, even if there were no need to do so.

In conclusion -- depending on the height of the door, it seems likely that the mezzuzah can be hung at a height which fulfills the halacha and can still be within reach. If not, the mitzvah of mezzuzah can still be fulfilled if it is within sight, even if not within reach. I would counsel against hanging it lower, since:

[a] to do so is not halachically permissible;
[b] to do so is not necessary, either to fulfill the letter or the spirit of the halacha, even if your friends are exceedingly short;
[c] the custom of touching the mezzuzah is of relatively late origin, is a custom (not a law) and might be construed to lean towards making the mezzuzah an amulet; and
[d] hanging the mezzuzah too low might give an erroneous impression to others, who have not researched the question carefully.

Written by Rabbi Ramie Arian, Vice President of the Wexner Heritage Foundation, a privately funded Jewish educational foundation.