DoorPosts - Flipbook - Page 9
T h e M ezuzah
The Mezuzah
The Hebrew word mezuzah
means doorpost. More
commonly, it refers to a
Jewish prayer written on
a piece of parchment,
placed in a case, and affixed
to the doorposts of many
Jewish homes, businesses,
and public buildings.
In this context, mezuzah also refers to the parchment
itself, but colloquially, the word can also describe the case,
often decorative, used to house the parchment scroll.
In Israel, all public buildings have a mezuzah on every
doorway as a statement of trust in Divine protection.
The Marcus National Blood Services Centre is no
exception. In this setting, the production of bespoke
cases followed a design competition organised by
Magen David Adom UK.
The parchment inside each case is hand-written by a
suitably qualified calligrapher (known as a sofer) and
is said to acquire its sanctity through the intentions of
the scribe writing the letters. Before writing, the scribe
scores twenty-two lines on the parchment from which
the letters, written in black ink with a quill pen, will
hang. These scored lines are said to represent
Divine beneficence.
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