[Avodah] Mezuzah: Protective Amulet or Religious Symbol?

[Toby Katz]

From: "Prof. Levine" <llev... at stevens.edu>
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012
Subject: Mezuzah: Protective Amulet or Religious Symbol?
One may download this article that appeared in Tradition at 
http://www.mesora.org/mezuza-gordon.pdf

Towards the end of this article the author writes

To claim, then, that the Divine inscription, which directs the attention of
the Jew to God, is possessed of its own potency, generating protective
benefits, perverts a spiritual instrumentality into a cultic charm....

YL
>>>>
 
I hope I will be forgiven for resurrecting an old, old thread -- from 2012.  But I recently came across something when I was preparing for my Pirkei Avos shiur, and it made me think of this old thread.
 
This is from _Ethics From Sinai_ by Irving Bunim.  On Pirkei Avos 5:22 he talks about the difference between the disciples of Avraham and the disciples of Bilaam.  The former have a sense of security; the latter have no sense of security in the world.  
 
---quote--
Today we have all sorts of insurance policies: fire insurance, flood insurance, life insurance. On one level they represent a wise precaution [but mainly] the man of piety places his trust in the Almighty. When he closes his place of business at night, he knows there is a mezuzah on the door, to betoken His protection. At bedtime he recites the Shema, to invoke His protection. This is his basic insurance policy....
.
The Sages tell of Artaban IV, the last King of Parthia, who sent his friend Rav a priceless jewel, with the message, << Send me something equally precious>>; and Rav sent him a mezuzah.  The king replied, <<I sent you something precious beyond estimation, and you send me something worth one [small coin]?>> Answered Rav <<All my treasured objects and yours together do not equal [the mezuzah] in value.  Moreover, you sent me something I must guard, keep safe; and I sent you something which will protect you while you sleep--for it is stated: <When you walk, it will lead you; when you lie down, it will watch over you; and when you waken, it will speak for you.> >>
--end quote--
 
In a footnote, Bunim explains that that last sentence is a pasuk, Mishlei 6:22, and it applies to the mezuzah.
This doesn't make the mezuzah an <amulet> but does say that the mezuzah is protective.
.
(I am using << and >> instead of quotation marks in the hope of minimizing the number of random question marks AOL strews in my path.  If anyone can help me solve this problem please let me know.)
.
--Toby Katz
t613k at aol.com
 
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