Objects

The photograph shows women passing through a street gate, one of whom is placing her hand on a mezuzah hanging on the gate. A mezuzah (Yiddish: mezuze) is a rolled-up parchment with Torah verses - a fragment of Shma Israel from the Book of Deuteronomy - stored in a small wooden or metal case called a 'bet' or 'beyt' (Hebrew and Yiddish for 'house', respectively). It is meant to sanctify and protect the Jewish home and remind its inhabitants of God's omnipotence. The bet takes the shape of a half-shaft or cuboid, which is attached at an angle to the right-hand side of the door frame in ⅓ of its height from the top. Jews entering and leaving the room (but also moving through the gates of townhouses or houses), have the custom of touching the mezuzah with their fingers and then kissing them.

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