THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
CHECKING THE F- NE PRINT
80 Friday, July 19, 1985
The Council of
Orthodox Rabbis
has set up a
program designed
to ensure the sale
of kosher mezuzot
in Detroit.
M1
BY TEDD SCHNEIDER
Staff Writer
specifications spelled out in the Torah
here's just something very com- mezuzot before they are made avail- must be made from the hide of a cow. A
able
to
the
public.
This
will
be
done
at
forting about a mezuzah. Tradi-
series of indentations in the parch-
tionally attached to the right- no additional charge to the consumer, ment serve as a guideline for the sofer,
according
to
Rabbi
Goldberg.
hand doorpost of Jewish homes and es-
"The cost of checking is already indicating the size he must make each
tablishments, it serves as a kind of
built
into the mezuzah by the letter.
spiritual alarm system, giving notice
"That's one of the first things to
wholesaler,"
the rabbi says, "whether look at in terms of authenticity,"
that God is keeping an eye on the
they actually check them or not. What Rabbi Elshevich explains. "If the
premises and those within.
we have done, is ask the wholesalers
But today, while the sense of com- we deal with not to check them and mezuzah is a reproduction, it won't
fort it provides may indeed be genuine,
have the indented grooves."
The Hebrew letters which appear
the mezuzah often isn't. Open the remove that cost so we can check them
here."
The
council
is
also
picking
up
small casing and you may find yourself
on
the
mezuzah also have to be written
staring at a photocopied version of the the administrative costs of the pro- according to certain specifications.
Pledge of Allegiance rather than the gram.
Most of the manufacturers have None of the letters may touch and sev-
precise, hand-lettered copy of the
welcomed
the idea, Rabbi Goldberg eral have very distinctive crowns, or
Sh' ma Yisrael called for in the Torah's says. "The scrupulous dealers who taginim.
guidelines concerning mezuzot.
Even when the parchment inside
In an attempt to halt the influx of were checking them are actually re- a mezuzah is the genuine, handwrit-
non-kosher mezuzot, the Council of lieved because the process is time- ten article, the writing is often of such
Orthodox Rabbis of Greater Detroit consuming and a pain in the neck."
The council is also offering the poor quality that the mezuzah is in-
has set up a Mezuzah Certification
service,
at a nominal fee, to people who validated. "They'll have all the letters
Program. The effort, believed to be one
there and in the proper places," Rabbi
of the first of its kind in the United have previously purchased mezuzot. Goldberg explains,. but they are writ-
Besides
the
Talmudic
edict
to
inspect
States, was the idea of Rabbi
ten in such a way that it is just essen-
Elimelech Goldberg of Young Israel of the parchment periodically (twice tially scribbled."
-
every
seven'
years),
the
weather
is
a
Southfield. It relies on the expertise of
The
shoddy
workmanship
appar-
Rabbi Shalom Elshevich, a sofer (a concern when a mezuzah is posted out- ent in many of the mezuzot being
side,
the
rabbi
says.
Heat
or
moisture
scribe who specializes in mezuzot) im-
turned out in the 1980s is just a sign of
ported' by the council from Israel to can ruin a perfectly good mezuzah, he the times, the rabbis concede. In order
notes.
check the mezuzot in circulation in the
"Unfortunately, mezuzah writing to make a profit, manufacturers must
Detroit area.
has
deteriorated
from what was once turn out their products on a high-
The area's two Jewish bookstores,
an
ancient,
artisan
craft to a volume basis. Unfortunately, the
Borenstein's and Spitzer's, have
sweatshop-type
operation,"
Rabbi painstaking process of writing a
entered into an agreement with the
Goldberg
says.
The
rabbi,
who
heads mezuzah is not conducive to such mass
council to let Rabbi Elshevich examine
.
the council's mezuzah committee, ex- production techniques.
"It takes me about 1Y4 hours to
plains the impetus for the program
came from checking mezuzot belong- turn out a nice, small mezuzah and,
ing to members of his congregation. about three hours for a larger one,"
that's fas-
Virtually 80 percent of those brought Rabbi Elshevich says. "And adds
Rabbi
in were found to be unkosher, he says. ter than most sofim,"
Goldberg.
The difference between a kosher
11719 4
The Young Israel of Southfielc
mezuzah and a non-kosher one is "like
NEbkEri UNION COLLEGE
rabbi
explains that once all the over
night and day," according to Rabbi
L I bP ARY —
P3 R
Goldberg. First, there is the parch- head costs are figured in, a properly
vJ ALTER ROTHmAN.
i+22C
ment itself, which according to the Continued on Page 48
Rabbi Shalom Elsheuich
examines a mezuzah parchmerit at
the Council of Orthodox Rabbis'
Southfield office.
T
,
C INC PANAT I
.