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THE DAFYOMI DISCUSSION LIST
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Rosh Kollel Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld
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Menachos 033: Placement of the Mezuzah (question 2)
Dr. Katz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> asked:
2 - 33B - the Mezuzah should be placed on the outermost Tefach of the
doorway facing the public. Most of our homes in Israel, have a stone
entrance way ( Chalall ), which is a Tzurat Hapetach, and placed into the
stone entrance way we have our door with it's door frame( aluminum )
recessed into it , towards the inner part of our house. Most of us place
our Mezuzot on the door frame of the door, the aluminum part, which is
about 2 Tefachim inside from the stone entrance way. ( lets face it, it is
much easier to attach it to the door frame that to stone ). Is this the
proper place / or should we ideally have our Mezuzot in the stone part of
the entrance way, closer to the public ??
Thank You, for your help in advance,
Shmuel Katz
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The Kollel replies:
You are assuming that the stone entranceway to which the doorframe is
attached is considered to be part of the doorway, and that it is
appropriate to hang the Mezuzah there. Let us first discuss this point.
(a) Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach has been quoted (by Rav Stern, in his
pictorial Hilchos Mezuzah book) as saying that the Mezuzah should not be
placed in the stone entranceway, but on the doorframe itself. The Sefer
"Chovas ha'Dar" cites Rav Jungreis as saying that as well. Why should they
not consider the stone entranceway to be part of the doorway? After all,
when one exits the house, he passes between the walls of the stone
entranceway, so they would seem to be the "Mezuzos ha'Bayis," i.e. part of
the "doorway."
One way of looking at this might be that the since a person the doorframe
itself is made of another material from the stone, they are considered two
different entities.
This still does not explain why the stone is itself not a valid doorway, to
which a Mezuzah can be affixed. Let us simply ignore the doorframe, and
hang the Mezuzah in the stone entranceway! Rav Chayim Kanievsky, though,
defends this opinion by citing a Ritva (see Ritva Eruvin 11a, Kidushin
32b), who writes that a doorway that does not have a doorframe is not
considered a doorway with regard to Mezuzah.
However, the opinion of the Ritva is not cited by the Poskim.
(b) Another reason why it might be suggested that the Mezuzah must be
placed on the frame, is based on another form of logic. Indeed, the
doorframe and the stone entranceway are considered a single entity.
However, the space through which a person must pass on his way out of the
house, is the narrower space which is bounded by the doorframe. The rest of
the entranceway is "blocked" for exit. Perhaps the Mezuzah must be within a
Tefach of that open gateway. Therefore, if the walls of the stone
entranceway are set back from (i.e. broader than) the doorframe by more
than a Tefach on each side, the Mezuzah placed there will not be within a
Tefach of the doorway.
However, the Acharonim point out that none of the reasons given by the
Rishonim for having the Mezuzah within a Tefach of the doorway would apply
in this case, since the Mezuzah is still affixed to the side of the
doorway. Therefore, it should be permitted to place the Mezuzah on the
stone entranceway even if it is much wider than the actual doorway itself.
Proofs to this ruling have been brought from the Derech ha'Chayim and others.
If so, your conclusion seems to be correct.
M. Kornfeld, based on discussions with Rabbi Eliyahu Feldman
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