The Rebbe's Mezuzah Campaign | Mivtzah Mezuzah

so uh there was once a priest and he comes knocking frantically at the door of the rabbi and the rabbi sees who it is he opens up he asks the priest what's what's going on he says rabbi i need your help we have a big problem in our community there have been a lot of break-ins um house has been broken into burglaries and um we noticed that your community the jews you don't have nearly as many break-ins as we do and there must be something you're doing differently than us can you help me out can you tell me what to do for my flock so the rabbi says to the priest he says well you know it's interesting you you say that they're standing at the door you know so the rabbit points to the mezuzah on the doorpost he says you see that that's that's the mezuzah and that protects the house and all who are in it and everything in it so that's that's the secret of uh our home security system spiritual home security system so the mesos the priest says okay rabbi that's it i'm ordering 500 messages okay no problem orders and messages goes and he puts them up and all the doors of his congregation two weeks later priest comes frantically knocking at the door of the rabbi he says rabbi you got to help me you got to help me rabbi says what's wrong didn't the mezuzah's work he says yes yes we put up the muslims they work the burglars stopped coming but the new guys are much worse he says who the priest says the fundraisers okay and it was just a little jewish humor we're talking about the mitzvah of the mark of a jewish home it is providential and appropriate that we're speaking about this mitzvah now we mentioned that we are having a series of classes on different mitzvah campaigns that were initially initiated by the bachelorette each month we'll talk about a different mitzvah campaign but it is very appropriate that we're speaking about mezuzah in this month in the month of elul just before rosh hashanah it is a it is a matter of jewish law that one should check the mezuzahs twice in seven years however there are many who are scrupulous to check them more often to check them yearly and to do so specifically when in the month of ello as a a preparation for for the high holidays we want to enter into the high holidays with as much uh with as many merits as we can and so one of the things many people do is check the mesosas at this precisely at this time of year so it's a it's a potent time to be discussing the topic so let's talk about the idea that mezuzah is the home security system we know that amazon is a reminder um in fact the talmud tells us that there are a few few mitzvahs that are reminders of the mitzvos mazozo is one of them and another two are filling and sits so we know that one of the functions of them is also it's a reminder you you come and you go you see them as those and it reminds you of the mitzvahs the same thing with filling and and and sitzes as well reminders and that that that makes sense that makes sense but what about this spiritual idea that a mezuzah provides protection i mean there are there are those who who will ask and it's not a bad question it's a legitimate question doesn't that sound sort of superstitious like what do you say it's like lava deal but like a like a lucky rabbit's foot i mean what are you saying it's like a lucky charm what's the idea of the mesoza providing protection for us and furthermore if you say that a mezuzah provides protection so then what's sort of the implication there that if you don't have one you know it's like you know the mafia has this racket they provide protection you know what they do they go to the store owners oh we heard that there's uh some bad guys in the neighborhood who are vandalizing stores yeah well we wouldn't want that to happen to your store you know pay us some protection right it sounds like a protection racket no so god says you have to have the mezuzah in order to be protected okay well it's the implication is so if i don't have it's in bed so then bad things are going to happen to me god forbid so and obviously that's not what it means it's obviously not what it means but then we have to understand what it does mean what does it mean that a mezuzah provides protection so we're going to talk about that we're going to talk about this spiritual home security system but let me do so by way of a story a very very old story a story that goes back almost two thousand years story goes back to the time of the roman empire when the roman empire ruled in the holy land and uh the wicked emperor hadrian this was about 50 years after the destruction of the first temple and hadrian had a sister who had a son that means hadrian's nephew named uncles and uh it's interesting uncles wanted to find his way in life he wanted to go out and uh you know make a life for himself and his uncle had advised him if you want to succeed in life buy low sell high find something undervalued get in on the ground floor and you'll be a success in life so uncles went around the roman empire and he ended up in jerusalem and he said look at the jewish people look how undervalued they are they have such wisdom and yet they are oppressed and they are persecuted i think i want to buy in on you know this is like buying apple in 1981 you know this is this is a good investment um and he became jewish he became a righteous convert now word got back to rome to hadrian that his nephew uncles had become jewish well that was obviously not acceptable so the emperor sent a uh a group of his royal guards the king's guards he sent them to jerusalem to go arrest uncles and to bring him back to rome for punishment what happened the group of guards got there and they were i mean they were perplexed why the nephew of an emperor somebody who comes from such privilege why would he trade it all in to join this scorned group of people who are you know like we mentioned who are oppressed persecuted didn't make sense to them so one of them asked him about it asked the question like what are you doing why did you do something like this that was his that was his first and last mistake the guard because uncles was an eloquent speaker and the minute that he was asked to explain himself he explained himself very very well and these guards royal guards of the king after listening to uncles after sitting in fabregan with uncles for a little while they said that's it we're doing the same thing as you we're also becoming jewish and they didn't come back so after a while hadrian is waiting where are the guards and they never came back where are they and they found out no they all left they defected and they became jewish so he said this is crazy he got a second group of guards he told them go arrest my nephew but listen to me you you can't talk to him because you know he's very very eloquent and he'll like you know i'll rope you in so don't talk to him but they got there and they didn't talk to him they didn't initiate but he asked them questions and they answered and once they answered that's it they you know they didn't stand a chance he grabbed them and they became jewish all of them they all became jewish so uh now we're up to the third group of guards and hadrian tells the third group of guards he says listen to me my nephew is very very good with words okay the first group went the second group went and they didn't come back you cannot speak to him even if he speaks to you don't answer him do not answer him do not get pulled into a conversation no speaking so they said okay no problem so they went and they went to arrest him they come into his house and um he tries to speak to them and nope not speaking to you right so they grab him silently they grab him and they pull him out of the house and as they're pulling him out of the house they pull him through the doorway and as he's being pulled through the doorway you know what he does he reaches for the mezuzah to give it a kiss they never saw anything like that so one of them said what was that he said glad you asked that was it that was it they were goners what did he tell them he said you know normally a king stays inside the house and the guards stand outside the house to protect the king and by the way uncles knew exactly who he was talking to these were king's guards they knew this job they understood very well what it means the king is in the innermost chamber the guard is standing outside at the door at the doorway standing guard they understood exactly what that means it was the perfect the perfect parable for them or an analogy so he says you know the king a normal king he stays inside and the guard stands by the door to guard the house but our king the king of all kings the holy one blessed be he he has us in the inside of the house and he stands at the doorway guarding the door they heard this they couldn't believe such a notion the king who guards you they understood guarding the king but hold on a second now there's a king you don't got the king the king guards you this blew them away and they became jewish so what is this idea of the king who guards us and and who guards us by way of the mezuzah how we to understand this how are we to understand the mechanics of mezuzah how it provides divine protection and again like we're asking before the question of the implication if an azuza makes you safe then oh if you don't have a mezuzah then something god forbid unsafe will happen to you so here's what we have to understand there is a concept in judaism a very fundamental concept in fact it's one of the 13 principles of faith called reward and punishment that when you do what you're supposed to do you're rewarded and if you do the opposite you get the opposite reward and punishment this is not it this what we're saying now that amazon protects you is not a matter of reward and punishment protection is not the reward for doing the mitzvah of mezuzah that's a misconception that's a mistake protection is not the reward for doing the mitzvah of mezuzah protection is the function of the mitzvah mezuzah itself that's what the mezuzah does it's not a reward for having a mozosa that's what a mezuzah does a mezuzah protects that is its function and every mezuzah you see the the shin and the case often it's on the case which is an acronym or an initial for one of the divine names which is spelled shin dala dude one of god almighty's names shin daladud which itself is an acronym for the phrase israel the guardian of the doorways of the jewish people so protection is not the reward for keeping the mitzvah of mezuzah protection is the function of the mezuzah that's what the mesozoic does it is the shaymer or the way in which hashem who is sheamed outside israel the guardian of the jewish doorways provides that protection and not only does the mezuzah provide protection for the home but in the words of uh king david in the words of psalms hashem will guard your goings and your comings from now and forever so it's not just in the house it's also when you're going and when you're coming that's what the mezuzah does in 1974 hanukkah time to be precise the rabbit launched the mezuzah campaign and the goal of the campaign was very clear very explicit that ebba wanted everybody who had the ability to do so to make sure they themselves and their families had proper messages on all their doorways as well as anyone you can reach anybody you can influence anyone you know even people you don't yet know reach out to them make a new friend and help every jewish person to have a coach of azusa whether that means buying new mezuzas where there were not mezuzas in place or checking the cashrus of mezuzas that are already there and making sure that they are fitting so that was hanukkah of 74. later that year may 15 1974 there was a group of uh school children from tsvat from the city of tzfat and they went on a school trip to go hiking in the golan and as part of that trip these young people um stayed they slept for the night in a school building in the town of malout in northern israel during the evening while these dozens of precious children school children were sleeping in the school building in malot they came disguised as israeli soldiers and they were able to sneak their way onto the school grounds they came into the school and caught everyone by surprise and started taking hostages there were children jumping out of windows it was it was mayhem there was a hostage situation the army was dispatched i actually know somebody who was there as a soldier who was not yet religious at the time and he says one of the things that led him to becoming religious was this was this incident at any rate there was a hostage situation and um before they were able to uh neutralize the terrorists 17 precious children were were murdered and and more were injured but 17 were murdered now in the town of of tzfat where the children came from that's their school where they were from was in sfat they most of them lived in so the shliya the arya lib kaplan label kaplan oliver shalom he went to go comfort the families and after comforting the families he and some other people some helpers went down to the school not the school where the shooting where the the murders took place but the school where the um the children were from and they looked around for the mezosas and right away they found 17 mezuzas that were clearly not kosher 17 was those 17 children who were murdered 17 messes that were clearly not kosher and and they and they wrote to the rabbi and reported what they found um later on i mean that was the very day the day the the day of later on three more children died and uh the rabbit told them to check more of the mezuzahs maybe they missed something and they went back to the school and they found that they missed the mezuzahs in the kitchen and in the dining room and there were two more mezuzahs which were clearly obviously not kosher and two that were doubtful they weren't sure about it and they reported this back to the rabbit that shabbos do you understand if 17 children were killed immediately at the during the incident and then they found 17 resources businesses immediately later on three more children passed and they went back that i've been told to go back and check and they found more mezuzas that they hadn't found before two that were certainly on kosher and two that were doubtful anyways it was something that shook up the entire jewish world i don't remember this this actually happened a few weeks before i was born i mean i'll tell you how much it affected the jewish world that it happened a few weeks before i was born and i remember growing up hearing about it and i remember people still being very very traumatized by by it at any rate that shabbos which was shabbos pasha's bahar would lead a gathering on shabbos so at the fabregan the rabbis spoke about what had happened that week and that ever said lately i've been preoccupied with the mitzvah mezuzah the the campaign for the mitzvah of mazouza if you remember the the campaign had been launched about five six months earlier so that ever said i've been preoccupied with this campaign to make sure that everybody knows about the importance of having a kosher mezuzah having mozuza up checking the mazosa that's there already says i there's been this push mila from above from heaven there's been like this urgency this feeling of urgency it's very unusual to hear that abba speak about that kind of thing i mean that ebb has his i don't know there's behind the scenes whatever it is however the debit knows or feels or that that something is important that that's that is business you know but this was like a sort of a glimpse where the rabbit was like revealing how it came to him that he brought the the the mesozoic campaign to us so that eva said i was like i've been feeling this push like this urgency from heaven that this needs to be taken care of and now from what happened this week we've we can begin to understand why why there's this push and why it's so important because we see clearly how the mitzvah of mezuzah is connected to what happened now i want to tell you i mentioned earlier it is very very difficult to say that well if you have a mezuzah then you're going to be safe if you don't have oh now something bad is going to happen to you i mean it just it doesn't sound right it rubs us the wrong way so at the time people actually had this reaction and they wrote to the rabbit they asked is the implication that if we would have kosher messages then we will be protected and if you don't have then god is going to come you know with the lightning bolt proverbially so the following shabbos the next shot of shabbos bamidbar spoke about this question and clarified the nebba said i was asked how is it possible that we're implying that if you have a message you're protected so therefore if you don't have mr now you're not protected which basically sounds like you're saying the punishment for not having mezuzah is something terrible god forbid is going to happen to you it doesn't make sense it doesn't even make sense that makes sense because a person doesn't have a mezuzah now they have to be hit with a lightning bolt it doesn't even make sense it's forget about it not being kind it's just it's disproportionate so that's clearly not what it means that's not what so then what does it mean so they never clarified that abba said shalom god forbid anyone should think that anyone is being punished for not having a kosher mezuzah that's not what we're saying we're not saying god forbid anyone's being punished for not having a kosher mezuzah so then what are we saying so what's the big deal why is it so important why is it so helpful to have it so they never give a marshal a uh an analogy the never said a soldier's out at war and he's on the front lines and there are bullets whizzing and what does he do he puts on a helmet what does the helmet do the helmet protects him from the bullets now if he puts on the helmet it doesn't make that the enemy isn't gonna shoot at him and if he takes the the helmet off it doesn't make that the enemy is gonna shoot at him the enemy is shooting either way the enemy is shooting because the enemy shoots but if he has the the helmet then if he gets hit he can be saved so that i've explained this is what the mezuzah does it's not that god forbid if you don't do it something bad is going to happen to you we live in a world unfortunately mashiach's not here yet and and then the world is not a perfect place yet and and and there are dangerous people and there are terrorists and there are terrible things that happen to to innocent totally innocent people that's what happens because that's the nature of the world that's the world we live in just like if you're in the front lines and the bullets are whizzing the bullets are whizzing because the bullets are wizards not to punish you it's not because anything you did don't take it personal the bullets are whizzing because the bullets are whizzing but there's a helmet at least there's a helmet hashem gave us the ability to at least protect ourselves a little bit and that's the mezuzah as we said it's not just the mezuzah protects the home but as the as the holy zohar says that it it protects you when you go out with a when you come in so it protects you not only in the home but also out of the home but it's not that god forbid not having it causes bad things to happen god forbid god forbid god forbid the world is a dangerous world terrorists kill because terrorists kill but when we have a missouri at least we we give ourselves better odds we protect ourselves like like a soldier putting on a helmet and we need to do everything that we can do to try to increase the odds to try to make ourselves safer so this is not god forbid to threaten anybody what happens if you don't have mezuzah and for sure it's not god forbid to tell anybody if anything ever happened you it's because of you didn't have god forbid that's not what we're saying is until meshech comes scary things happen and we need the mezuzah and it says it will help us to be as safe as possible and i just want to mention i mean the rabbit doesn't spell this out but i feel like maybe it does need to be spelled out there are soldiers who were on the front lines who were wearing helmets and they did get killed so don't make any assumptions please don't make any assumptions what we do we don't pretend to know what we don't know but what we do know is that if you're a soldier and you're on the front lines it's sure as heck a good idea to wear a helmet it'll it'll it makes things a lot safer completely safe no you're on the front lines but it makes it a lot safer and and that's the same thing with the mezosa mososa makes life as safe as it possibly can be in the exile that we're in that's it so it's 46 years later since malot and since that time millions of mezuzas it has to be by this point millions of mezuzah's have been replaced have been checked have been corrected of this campaign over the past 46 years and the rebel also explained at the time during the campaign of the the launching of the campaign we're still during the campaign the campaign is ongoing but during the time when the campaign was launched that i've explained there's another thing that because all jews are interlinked because we all have a connection to each other so not only does the mezuzah protect us not only in our homes but also when we go out of the home but because of the interconnectedness of jews one kosher mezuzah anywhere in the world helps jews everywhere in the world you hear so maybe it's not even necessarily you maybe it's not even necessarily your safety and that way it's even better than a helmet maybe it's like uh what's that that shield that they have in there it's slow they can block the bombs you know not just the helmet on your head but to a certain extent you're making life safer for everyone for all of us so your kosher mezuzah might not be for you might be for for someone you've never met you would you would help out someone you've never met right and uh the rabbit asked that rabbis and the devil specifically said not just chabad but ever specifically said this not just khabad but all rabbis of all communities all types of congregations and i'm going to reinforce this statement right here because it happens to be from time to time i get emails from rabbis that's actually my favorite kind of just as an aside just personally it's one of my favorite types of correspondences when i get feedback from rabbis who tell me they're stealing my stuff and i say it's beautiful please you can't steal from a thief don't worry i didn't come up with any of this stuff originally you know i'm i'm just packaging it you go repackage it yourself and that's great if it helps people that's beautiful so i know that there are some rabbis who listen to these classes so i will tell them the lab has urged us as rabbis speak to your congregation especially right now especially right before rosh hashanah but at any time all the time speak to them about the importance of kosher mezuzahs you would be surprised even very observant homes they don't necessarily uh check as often as maybe we should and we could all use to you know we could all use a little bit of uh encouragement to be more meticulous about this mitzvah and then beyond that not just your own home and your own office um but anyone you can reach out to anyone you can influence i know we think it's you know sometimes we're uncomfortable with it but you know you meet a jew you know you're in the checkout line at the grocery store and you know you make conversation with somebody i don't know i mean you have to get over yourself somewhat get over the social awkwardness and sometimes you have to you know figure out a way to throw that into the conversation and say you know by the way uh maybe uh you would like to check the messages or have you have you checked the messages and uh so this again this is this is for all of us rabbis especially who have an influence but all of us have have a certain amount of influence and the you know to to really make sure that this mitzvot which has such an important function should uh should be promoted in the in the best possible way i want to mention one more thing and it's not directly about mezuzah it's actually sort of a side point but i have the opportunity to mention it so i'm gonna mention it um when the rebbe spoke about mesoza's providing protection and and especially what the devil speaking about in in the in the land of israel where protection is so important um [Music] so the rabbit said that you know there are there are two ways of achieving anything in this world and it's not either or it's both there's the spiritual and there's there's there's the material and it's not either or it's both so whatever said for example making a livelihood okay so you have to have a job you have to go to work that's the material part of making a living but as we all know it's not just going to work that earns a livelihood it's it's blessings it's hashem's blessings so for hashem's blessings to come down we have to do the spiritual stuff which means learning torah and and and davening and then mitzvahs and acts of goodness and kindness so the spiritual stuff brings down the blessings and then the what we call the ishtadlis the the material the natural the regular stuff the normal stuff that's like putting out a cup that's like putting out a vessel to to contain the blessing so the the deb actually said somebody it's a very cute uh and poignant um analogy somebody who only does the material effort in order to make a livelihood um it's like somebody who thinks he's going to become wealthy by sewing wallets because he's making so many wallets now he's gonna have a lot of money well no you if you have the money you can put the money in the wallets but by sewing lots of wallets doesn't mean you're gonna have a lot of money so it's the same thing by working harder and working more and you know that's like creating a wallet that's like having a vessel that's like having something to put the blessing into but without the blessing you have nothing you don't have anything to put in the wallet so the devil used that as a as an analogy and said the same thing with security and with safety that for sure the main way we bring down the blessing of safety and security from hashem is the spiritual approach and one of the main spiritual things we do is the mitzvah of of mezuzah at the same time you also have to do the natural effort in this world that creates a vessel for drawing down the blessing of of safety and protection and in that regard that have been made very very very clear that we were talking about safety and security in the land of israel that of course the blessing of safety and security comes from the mitzvahs we do especially having a kosher mezuzah but the the vessel that we that we put out by by putting forth natural uh effort in the in the natural world that's by doing the smart things that whatever the military says is the safe thing to do don't listen to politicians who are um doing what is expedient or diplomatic listen to those who are experts in security and whatever makes jews the safest in the simple with not complicated uh explanation of the matter but in the most simple way of making jews safe so that's what makes the vessel and then when you make that vessel obviously we draw down the blessings into that vessel through all the mitzvahs we do especially especially mesoza so i just want to bless all of us with a good sweet healthy happy new year and especially that we should all be safe from all harm we should be protected and hashem should bless us all that's the main thing hashem should bless us and the main blessing we need we need