Do you know what's inside your mezuzah?
Here's what many Judaica vendors don't want you to know:
This week I went to check the mezuzah of a community member. She'd just purchased it from a Jewish deli in San Diego, and wanted me to ensure it was a genuine mezuzah, not a fraudulent knock-off.
What we found as we opened the case shocked us.
I gently peeled away the backing, expecting to find a printed scroll (only a handwritten scroll on parchment is genuine), but instead, I was looking at an empty mezuzah case. There was no scroll.
Some vendors (and customers) don't realize that a mezuzah isn't the case you see on the door, but the scroll inside, and believe that by hanging a piece or ornamental metal on their doorframe, they have put a mezuzah on their home. Others, like this customer, know that the mezuzah is the scroll inside the case, which the store assured here was included.
I can't speculate how and why they would sell people empty cases, but what I can say is that the best place to get your mezuzah isn't the street vendor or gift store in Israel, Amazon, or your friend who found it in her attic.
The only reliable source is a trainer and certified scribe. A good rule of thumb is that if your mezuzah was $16.95 or anything less than about $50, it probably isn't kosher. Scribes take about two to three hours to carefully write the Hebrew verses on a parchment in an ancient calligraphic Hebrew script, using a quill. The labor and materials simply cannot cost a customer $20; when you pay that kind of money, you can be sure you're paying for a case, not a kosher mezuzah scroll.
We gladly supplied the woman in our story with a new, kosher mezuzah, to proudly hang on her doorframe and bring G-d's blessing and protection to her home.
You can contact me to purchase a genuine mezuzah with a weatherproof case or to inspect your mezuzah; mezuzahs often deteriorate with time and by being exposed to the moisture and heat of the outdoors, rendering them unfit for use. Letters can often fade or crack, and sometimes the parchment itself get be burned in the intense heat and sun.
Don't delay, make sure your home has a kosher mezuzah today!
A kosher mezuzah scroll