Hundreds of Teens Learn about the Mezuza in JSU

Recently, at over a dozen JSU clubs across the Greater Atlanta area, hundreds of Jewish teens took part in interactive events where they learned about the mitzvah of mezuzah. In leading each group activity, Rabbi Chaim Neiditch explained to the participants what exactly a mezuzah is (much more than a fancy-looking doorpost decoration) and the significance of affixing mezuzahs to our doorposts.

The teens all got to see and feel an authentic hand-written mezuzah scroll. The teens learned, the mezuzah parchment has the shema, the quintessential Jewish prayer, inscribed on it. Examining the Shema prayer, they discovered that it contains the biblical sources underlying the mitzvah itself. Rabbi Neiditch also related to them the story of Yaakov and his sons (the 12 Tribes of Israel) and the events leading up to the first time Shema was said in Jewish history.

As part of the hands-on activity that accompanied the group discussion, the teens were given wooden mezuzah cases of their own to customize, paint, and decorate according to their own personal preferences. The mitzvah of mezuzah thus became far more meaningful to all of the high schoolers, many of whom went home and attached their mezuzahs to their bedroom doorposts and others planned on using them on their college dorm rooms after graduating.