Today's Daf speaks about an interesting issue. If you are the landlord of a property and you rent it to someone who is not Jewish, do you still need a Mezzuzah on your doorpost.
Looking at the plain meaning of the text, one might think the answer is yes. In the Torah (Dt. 11:20) we read the phrase:
על מזוזות ביתך
On the doorposts of your house
According to the plain meaning of the verse all Jewish houses need a Mezzuzah, even those that are rented by others. However, the Rabbis read this commandment differently. Rashi points out that the rabbis read this commandment with an extra letter:
על מזוזות ביאתך
On the doorposts of your coming in
According to this interpretation, Jews only need a Mezzuzah on the house where they reside (literally where they are accustomed to coming in and out of). Therefore, if one is a landlord of a non-Jewish tenant, there is no reason to ask them to put a Mezzuzah on their door.
(For more on this see Yoma 11b)
Saturday, September 4, 2010
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