Shabbat Bo

This week, we read about the Israelites’ preparations to leave Egypt.

“This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you. Speak to the community leadership of Israel and say that on the tenth of this month, each of them shall take a lamb to a family, a lamb to a household.

But if the household is too small for a lamb, let it share one with a neighbour who dwells nearby, in proportion to the number of persons: you shall contribute for the lamb according to what each household will eat. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a yearling male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month; and all the assembled congregation of the Israelites shall slaughter it at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they are to eat it and this will be a sign of protection (mishmeret).”
(Shemot 12:3-6).

Later the text returns to the subject:

“Take a bunch of hyssops, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and to the two doorposts. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. For God will pass through to smite the Egyptians, will see the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts, and will pass over the door and not let the Destroyer enter and smite your home. You shall observe this as an institution for all time, for you and for your descendants” (Shemot 12:22 -25).

And finally:

“And the blood on the houses where you are staying shall be a sign for you: when I see the blood I will pass over you, so that no plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
(Shemot 12:46).

Although the text says clearly that this is to be an ongoing festive celebration, notice how some of these specific actions would not be repeated in future years. Why was the custom of dipping the hyssop into the blood not continued? And what exactly is a Mishmeret (which can mean a watch, to keep, or to remember)? For some, it is why we do not recite the nightly Shema prayer on the Seder night because God is watching over us. The Seder Night I is called Leil Shimurim, the night of the Watch. But then doesn’t God watch over us all the time?

If this was the origin of the Mezuzah we have today, why wasn’t it explicit? On the face of it, it seems to be to protect the homes of the Israelites from destruction. And this is why so many people think the Mezuzah is some magic charm that protects our homes from evil spirits. Which seems to go against the Biblical laws against superstition and relying on Divine intervention to protect us. I believe there is a more compelling explanation.

Many Israelites were sceptical about leaving Egypt. A large number of Israelites preferred to stay either because they had intermarried or because they had assimilated. There is a Midrash that says that only one-fifth is left (as opposed to another Midrash that says no one assimilated).   In which case, the purpose of this ceremony was for Moshe to try to get people to commit to the cause. They had to prepare the lamb in advance for three days, which was a kind of public show of defiance to the Egyptians, who did not believe in killing lambs for religious purposes. They had to do something to show publicly they were committed.

This, much more than the issue of protection, is the significance of the Mezuzah today, to publicly make a statement and declare that this house is committed to the Torah and Jewish identity. The first paragraph of the Shema, which is in each Mezuzah, talks about the commandments and passing the message on. Which is crucial to the Jewish future of the house and family within. It is a way of sharing one’s identification that doesn’t make great demands. But it is all the more important since we often see that many Jews do not want to expose themselves, particularly in alien environments, where very often, even in this day, there are people who like to use them to identify Jews and destroy them out of spite or prejudice.

Which again is why I think it is very important as an act of identification. It is not the Mezuzah itself that gives protection; it is the behaviour and commitment of people living in a home with a clear sense of identification that the Mezuzah reminds us of that really matters. This is why the Torah keeps on repeating the word Mishmeret, which means to keep, to preserve, and to remember.

Rabbi Jeremy Rosen lives in New York. He was born in Manchester. His writings are concerned with religion, culture, history and current affairs – anything he finds interesting or relevant. They are designed to entertain and to stimulate. Disagreement is always welcome.