PRINTED MEZUZAHS

QUESTION:

A gift shop in the congregation had sold a number of mezuzahs to members and others. Then it was discovered that the mezuzahs were printed instead of written by hand as the Halachah requires. What shall the congregation do? There is some doubt on the matter because a public admission of this deception might create scorn for Judaism in general. (Asked by Rabbi Jack Segal, Houston, Texas.)

ANSWER:

THE QUESTION is a serious one and also delicate. There have been in the last few years a number of widely publicized false and deceptive schemes in which rabbis and Jewish organizations, such as yeshivos, have been involved. The publicity given to these unfortunate occurrences has undoubtedly, in some circles, caused a certain amount of scorn and contempt for organized Jewish religious life. Therefore, especially these days, the congregation is justly hesitant about creating further chillul ha-shem, a profanation of the Name of God and the good name of the congregation. How, then should the congregation act in this delicate situation?

First of all, it must be realized that what has occurred—the selling of printed instead of written mezuzahs, i.e., posul mezuzahs —is a sin. The nature of the sin is a violation of the commandment,’ ‘Thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before the blind” (lifney iver), that is to say, the sin of leading unsuspecting people to commit a sin. To put up these illegal mezuzahs on their doorposts certainly leads people to neglect putting up kosher mezuzahs, as they are commanded to do, and therefore causes them to sin by violating the positive commandment of affixing a mezuzah. Unfortunately, this sin of “causing the blind to stumble” (lifney iver) is not unusual in America; in fact it is widely practiced. J. D. Eisenstein, in his Ozar Dinim, p. 215a, makes a public record of those who print mezuzahs and sell them, and he states correctly that they are committing the sin of “putting a stumbling- block,” etc.

Whose sin is it in the situation spoken about in the question? Definitely it is not the sin of the congregation, unless, of course, those in charge of the gift shop knew that the mezuzahs were printed but concealed the fact. This is certainly not the situation. They bought the mezuzahs as kosher mezuzahs and sold them as such. If it is a sin on their part, it is an unintentional one and, therefore, forgivable. The real sinners are the manufacturers and the wholesalers who sold them to the gift shop. This being the case, the congregation has nothing of which to be ashamed.

Nevertheless, it cannot keep silent (as it might prefer to do), for to do so would be a conscious sin on its part of lifney iver. To know, as the congregation knows well, that the mezuzahs are posul, and nevertheless to let the people affix them, would certainly be a sinful act of conscious deception which the congregation cannot possibly permit itself.

Clearly, what the congregation must do is this: It must frankly inform the members that it has now bought a large number of kosher mezuzahs and is ready, without charge, to exchange them for the non-kosher mezuzahs which it had inadvertently sold. As for the non-kosher ones, those who wish to keep them may use them as pendants, as some do, but they cannot be used in fulfillment of the commandment of mezuzah. In other words, the congregation has a duty to prevent the members from committing the sin of neglecting the positive commandment of putting up a mezuzah, and it must frankly make up for its unintended mistake. If this procedure is followed, no blame will be felt against the congregation. Nevertheless, we must all bear the shame of the fact that there are certain manufacturers who are willing to mislead the Jewish people. In fact, we must do more than be ashamed of it. Public protest against them should be made through the appropriate national organizations.