By Jennie Szink, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer

12-year-old Ben Green and his mother, Cheryl Levine, design mosaic art for Beth Abraham’s mezuzah project

Fourth-grader Sam Green said he was aware of the ethical and religious meaning behind the mezuzah, but since he passes one several times a day, he had fallen out of the habit of remembering its significance.

“I thought it was pretty cool,” Green said, “if you had a bad day, you could kiss (the mezuzah) and it would kind of take it away, because you don’t want to take that into the house.”

Green was among the congregants to participate in Beth Abraham Synagogue’s mezuzah case making workshop in collaboration with the Hiddur Mitzvah Project of the Gary Rosenthal Collection on Nov. 16.

The term hiddur mitzvah means to beautify objects that are used to fulfill commandments.

Participants made cut-glass mosaics to be fired and fused to metal mezuzah cases by Judaic artist Gary Rosenthal in his New York studio.

Cantor Andrea Raizen, Beth Abraham’s director of congregational education and programming, led the mitzvah project for congregants. They learned more about mezuzahs, made 10 cases for the synagogue’s new home in Oakwood and 10 for those in need.

“For every one we make for ourselves, we’re making one to send to Mumbai, India,” said Raizen, who is sending the mezuzahs there via the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Raizen began the service project with a presentation on the history of mezuzahs and the meaning of the verses written on the scrolls.

“Some people believe it’s a good luck charm, an amulet to keep families safe inside,” Raizen said. “It’s there because we’re declaring God’s uniqueness and God’s oneness and our commitment to him.”

A mezuzah is a parchment scroll containing passages from the Torah (Deut. 6:4-9 and 11:13-21), beginning with the Shema, the declaration of Jewish faith: “Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.”

Placed in a small container, a mezuzah is affixed to the door frame of a Jewish home, in fulfillment of the mitzvah (commandment) to inscribe the words “on the door posts of your house (Deut. 6:9).”

In the Shema, God commands that His words be kept in people’s hearts and minds, Raizen said.

“In ancient Egypt they would post sacred things on the doors,” she said, stating the Jews could have borrowed the idea from the Egyptians. “(The mitzvahs) might have traditionally been written on the door frame. Now, they are written on parchment. It’s like a little Torah in the doorway. It became traditional to create a beautiful case to protect it and make it look better.”

One congregant reduced the second verse on the scroll, Deut. 11:13-21, to a simple explanation.

“If you obey the commandment, good things will come to you,” the boy said. “If you disobey them, bad things will happen.”

It’s the idea of reward and punishment, Raizen said.

“I see those paragraphs as: This is who we are with God, we believe in one God,” Raizen said. “We have an obligation to God and if we do not do it, there will be consequences.”

Jews should acknowledge the mezuzah every time they pass it in order to live an ethical life outside of the home or to let go of the day’s troubles when returning, Raizen said.

When the presentation was over, congregants started picking out the glass mosaic pieces they would adhere to their 1-inch by 3-inch slab with Elmer’s Glue. For Steve Fraim, crafting his own mezuzah case and hearing the information that he’d let slip to the back of his mind refreshed the importance of acknowledging the mezuzah every time he passes it.

“I must admit I think I miss it more than I make it,” Fraim said. “I think whenever we learn something like this it enhances our ability to follow Jewish mitzvot.”