page_title: Mezuzah
section_title: Karaite and Samaritan mezuzah
hierarchical_section_title: Mezuzah / Karaite and Samaritan mezuzah
caption_attribution_description: עברית: מזוזה שומרונית, הר גריזים English: MSamaritan Mezuzah, Mount Gerizim This image was taken as part of the Elef Millim project trip to Mount Gerizim, near the town of Nablus (biblical Shechem) which was held on Friday, 26th April 2013. To view all images uploaded as part of the Elef Millim Project
context_page_description: A mezuzah is a piece of parchment called a klaf contained in a decorative case and inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Torah. These verses consist of the Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael, beginning with the phrase: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One". In mainstream Rabbinic Judaism, a mezuzah is affixed to the doorpost of Jewish homes to fulfill the mitzvah to "write the words of God on the gates and doorposts of your house". Some interpret Jewish law to require a mezuzah in every doorway in the home except bathrooms, laundry rooms and closets, if they are too small to qualify as rooms. The klaf parchment is prepared by a qualified scribe who has undergone training, both in studying the relevant religious laws, and in the more practical parts i.e. carving the quill and practising writing. The verses are written in black indelible ink with a special quill pen made either from a feather or, in what are now rare cases, a reed. The parchment is then rolled up and placed inside the case.
context_section_description: This article deals mainly with the mezuzah as it is used in Rabbinic Judaism. Karaite Judaism and Samaritanism have their own distinct traditions.
  In Karaite Judaism the deuteronomic verse "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your houses and your gates" (Deuteronomy 6:9; 11:20) is interpreted to be a metaphor and not as referring to the Rabbanite mezuzah. Thus Karaites do not traditionally use mezuzot, but put up a little plaque in the shape of the two Tablets of the Law with the Ten Commandments. In Israel, where they might try not to make other Jews feel uncomfortable, many Karaites make an exception and place a mezuzah on their doorpost as well. The Karaite version of the mezuzah is fixed to the doorways of public buildings and sometimes to private buildings, too.
  The Samaritans interpret the deuteronomic commandment to mean displaying any select text from the Samaritan version of the five Books of Moses. This can contain a blessing or a particularly holy or uplifting message. In the past they placed a stone plaque inscribed with the Ten Commandments above the house door, some examples dating back to the Byzantine (4th–7th century) and Early Muslim (7th–11th century) periods being now shown in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Nowadays a Samaritan mezuzah is usually made of either marble, a wooden plate, or a sheet of parchment or high quality paper, on which they inscribe select verses from the Samaritan Torah. This they place either above the house door, or inside the house, in the entrance hall or at a prominent place on a large wall. These mezuzot are found in every Samaritan household as well as in the synagogue. Today some Samaritans would also use a Jewish-style mezuzah case and place inside it a small written Samaritan scroll, i.e. a text from the Samaritan Torah, written in the Samaritan alphabet. The more such mezuzot there are in the house, the better it is considered to be.
caption: Samaritan Mezuzah in Israel, written exposed, in Samaritan Hebrew. This one reads, "Blessed is the One who said: I will look with favor upon you, and make you fertile and multiply you; and I will maintain My covenant with you. (Leviticus 26:9) The LORD will open for you His bounteous store, the heavens, to provide rain for your land in season and to bless all your undertakings. (Deuteronomy 28:12)"
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