Yoma 11a
You have found the house of your choice for the month of August. You were involved in a skiing accident and you are laid up in a private hospital room for months. You built a sukkah. You own a garage. Do you need a mezuzah for any of these?
“Write them on parchments affixed to the doorposts of your houses and gates.” According to the Rambam, a mezuzah is only required if the structure in question meets all of the following 10 conditions: it has an area of at least seven square feet; it has two door posts; it has a lintel; it has a ceiling; it has a door; it is at least three feet high; it is not used for holy purposes; people live in it; it is respectable; and it is used for permanent residence.
A garage or a storehouse would not require a mezuzah, according to the Rambam, because it is not lived in. Neither would a beit hamidrash, a house of Torah, because it is a holy place. Not all agree with all of the Rambam’s requirements. Thus, according to the Shulchan Aruch, a garage or a storehouse would require a mezuzah if they are frequented occasionally by the householder. According to the Shulchan Aruch, as interpreted by the Minchat Yitzchak, a garage does require a mezuzah. If the garage has a door leading into the house, the mezuzah should be affixed to the doorpost on the right side of the entrance to the house and the blessing “Likboa Mezuzah” should be recited. If the garage has no door leading to the house, a mezuzah may be affixed to the garage entrance without a blessing. The Shulchan Aruch also disagrees with the Rambam’s statement that a mezuzah should never be affixed to the doorpost of a holy place. Based on the opinion of Rabbi Meir and the Maharam of Rottenberg, the Shulchan Aruch recommends that a mezuzah be affixed, without reciting the blessing, to the door of a beit hamidrash. It should not, however, be placed on the entrance to a synagogue unless the synagogue is also used as living quarters. The protection of a mezuzah is generally unnecessary in a holy place such as the Temple or a synagogue because the presence of God or His Torah creates a safe haven. All poskim agree that a mezuzah may not be affixed to bathroom or mikvah entrances.
What obligation does a tenant have to fix a mezuzah? In Israel, a tenant is required to affix the mezuzah the moment he takes possession of the home. Outside Israel, the tenant must affix the mezuzah after 30 days residence. It is the tenant’s obligation to affix the mezuzah, not the landlord, unless he too occupies the leased premises or stores his belongings there. Because the occupancy of a hotel or a hospital room, even for a prolonged period, does not give one exclusive possession of the premises, the occupant has no obligation to affix a mezuzah. A sukkah, which by definition is a temporary abode (dirat arai), needs no mezuzah. If, however, the sukkah has a detachable roof and is used the rest of the year as a residence or storehouse, it requires a mezuzah during the rest of the year.
The entrance to a mobile home requires a mezuzah if the mobile home is inhabited for more than 30 days at a time. According to the Minchat Yitzchak, entrances to elevators in Israeli apartment houses require a mezuzah. A structure in which one is confined against one’s will, such as a prison cell, requires no mezuzah.
The entrance to a house that is inhabited both by Jews and gentiles is exempt from a mezuzah. This is because of the concern that it will not be treated with respect or may even be removed.
The Israeli cab driver who hangs a mezuzah around his neck has a point. The mezuzah is there to protect us. How different is God from other kings, notes the Talmud. Other kings stay inside while their servants guard outside. God guards outside while His servants stay inside.
Raphael Grunfeld, a partner at the Wall Street law firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, received semichah in Yoreh Yoreh from Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem of America and in Yadin Yadin from Rav Dovid Feinstein, zt’’l. This article is an extract from Raphael’s book “Ner Eyal: A Guide to Seder Nashim, Nezikin, Kodashim, Taharot and Zerayim” available for purchase at www.amazon.com/dp/057816731X and “Ner Eyal: A Guide to the Laws of Shabbat and Festivals in Seder Moed” available for purchase at https://www.amazon.com/Eyal-Guide-Shabbat-Festivals-Seder/dp/0615118992. Questions for the author can be sent to [email protected].
