The fragment of parchment from a mezuzah (Hebrew klaf) comes from the house of advocate Czesław Lutostański in Suwałki. The parchment was found in 1981 in Suwałki in a house formerly belonging to the aunt of the donor, when he was cleaning the house after her death. The origin of the parchment is unknown and it is also unknown how it found its way to a family of non-Jewish origin. The way the item was stored (in a white handkerchief with the aunt's initials embroidered on it) suggests that she knew what the parchment was, and that she had an emotional attachment to it.
The donor's aunt was a feldsher, her husband, Czesław, a lawyer, and in the late 1920s an editor of the newspaper "ABC Ziemi Suwalskiej". He was arrested in a street round-up in 1940, and died in Dachau the following year. The couple's son, Tadeusz, belonged to an underground independence organisation, was arrested in May 1941 by the Gestapo and executed in 1943.
The parchment (from a kosher animal) for the mezuzah was written by a sofer - a professional scribe who, under rabbinical control, made manuscript Torah scrolls or transcribed other sacred writings, also writing phylacteries and mezuzahs. He was considered one of the most important people in the Jewish community. The first sentence written on parchment for the mezuzah is the Jewish declaration of faith contained in the prayer "Hear, O Israel!" (Hebrew: Shema Yisrael). After being rolled up, the parchment was placed in a mezuzah - a container made of wood, metal, glass or, nowadays, plastic. The main purpose of a mezuzah is to protect and guard the inhabitants of a house, but at the same time it reminds them of God's omnipotence. In Jewish folk culture it served as a kind of amulet protecting people from misfortunes. The commandment about the mezuzah states: "Write them [these words] on the doors of your house and on your gates" (Deut. 6:9). Hanging a mezuzah on the right doorframe of a Jewish home, except in the bathroom and basement, is an obligation for religious Jews. Before entering a room, it is customary to touch the mezuzah with one's fingers and then kiss the hand that touched it - as an expression of reverence.
The presented parchment is square, the whole surface of the parchment is occupied by a hand-written prayer in Hebrew, made in natural ink. On the back of the parchment is visible the word "El Shaddai" (Hebrew for "Almighty"), which is meant to reinforce the message about the power of the divine. The word was part of ancient Hebrew names, and etymologically it probably derives from the Akkadian language. It is often placed on mezuzahs and phylacteries as dedicated to God. The back of the parchment also bears the Hebrew inscription כוזו במוכסז כוזו, which includes the three divine names that appear in the prayer "Shema Yisrael": Hashem, Elokeinu, Hashem, swapping each consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet (the so-called Caesar cipher). The inscription is placed exactly where God's names are on the other side of the parchment. The words are close to the bottom edge and positioned inversely to the text on the front of the parchment.
Natalia Różańska
