Kissing the Mezuzah

A person might easily think of the mitzvah of mezuzah as a passive mitzvah. Simply recite the blessing before affixing the mezuzah to the doorposts of the house, and it is done.

While affixing a mezuzah is a one-time act, its position on the doorpost is meant to lead the home dweller to a continual awareness of the Divine presence. For this reason, there is a custom to either look at, or touch/kiss, the mezuzah as an individual passes by.

So, which is it? Does a person look at, touch or kiss the mezuzah? The answer is that it depends on the family’s or community’s custom.

Many people cite the source for touching the mezuzah back to a story about Onkelos in Talmud Avodah Zarah 11a. When the emperor’s soldiers came to retrieve him (click here to find out why), he placed his hand on the mezuzah and asked if the soldiers knew what it meant. When they inquired, he used it as an opportunity to explain how God perpetually watches over the Jewish people. The guards were so impressed that they converted to Judaism.

The custom of kissing the mezuzah, which usually means touching the mezuzah and then kissing the fingers that touched it, was not mentioned in Jewish sources until the era of Rabbi Isaac Luria (16th century, Arizal). It is a further means of demonstrating not only a Jew’s awareness of God, but also love of the Divine as well.