5th night

Reimagining The Mezuzah or BYOD (bless your own door)

I learn about Jewish traditions in moments through conversations. Putting up a friend's fallen mezuzah, we looked up the traditional prayer in Hebrew and English, researched where and how to place it, then performed the ritual the way it was meant to be done. Wow, that seemed like a lot, especially for me who doesn't speak Hebrew and hadn't taken part in many Jewish traditions.

My friend agreed to following that ritual up with our own blessings on her home and doorway. Because the prayer handwritten on the hide scroll says that god blessed us with his mitzvahs, good deeds done from religious duty, my blessing was:

"As you walk in your doorway, may you be reminded your space is sacred.

As you leave, may you be reminded of the blessing of the world.

When I see this mezuzah, may I feel gratitude for the good deeds god has done for me, reflect on the good deeds I have done for others, be shown the good deeds I may yet do."

For many of us, religion has fallen out of fashion. The traditional practice can time consuming, many of the old rituals, passed down through generations, can feel cumbersome, unengaging, lifeless. The community is older and perhaps would disapprove of some elements of our lifestyle. This wisdom, these reminders, the community, this call to the greater good has been lost, buried, inaccessible. Eschewing the obligation to practice along traditional lines, I believe that anything we do to connect with something outside of ourselves is more than we would have otherwise done.

To take an object or symbol, to place it anywhere in your home, to say your own prayer over it, to let it remind you whenever you pass it to connect to something greater than yourself and be an agent for good in the world is beautiful. I believe that is what the mezuzah was meant to do. Does it matter, then, if I haven’t gone to buy the right object, researched how to place it the right way, learned to say the right prayer, and perform the ritual the right way?

In my life, it was only when I let go of perfection that I was brave enough to take the first step and from there the steps became easier andI could take more first steps. It took a tiny opening, a conversation, a dinner invitation, a paragraph to pique my interest, to open my heart, to give me a glimpse of the value. We are not just hungry, but starving for connection and community, starving for a sacred space, a pause in our busy, concrete lives to reflect, for a container that invites us to find that spiritual moment for ourselves.

For now, don't worry about doing things 'the right way.' If you feel moved, place any object or marker in your doorway or simply stand and say a blessing of your own. How much would your perspective be improved if every time you entered or left you could be reminded of the blessings in your life and the blessing you could be for another?

To that point, maybe I should ask my cell phone to remind me every time I pick it up.... Can I get a 'say a gratitude to unlock' code up on my iPhone, please?