Room for Improvement
I was once asked to affix mezuzot upon the rooms of the home of a wealthy Brazilian. When I arrived there, I was dumbstruck to find a house of over seventy rooms. This was not a house; this was a mansion. The rooms were spacious, containing every conceivable modern contraption. Only the most technically advanced machines graced this place.
The furniture was most impressive, offset by expensive rugs, spread throughout. Crystal chandeliers caught the light as it filtered through the massive bay windows. Two tremendous pools stood in the yard, flanked by gardens and lawns on all sides. Wherever one looked, a staff of servants stood at service, ready to serve the family and guests most graciously.
I stood in wonder, drinking in the sights, when the householder handed me a mezuzah to put up.
“Such a tremendous house demands tens of mezuzot, one for each room,” I pointed out.
Not missing a beat, he informed me that he had only one mezuzah.
“And in which room do you want to put it?” I asked.
He thought for a moment, and then said, “I would like the Rav to affix it to the basement.”
“Why not at the front entrance to your home?” I asked in surprise.
The man innocently replied that his safe was kept in the basement. He felt that a mezuzah there would keep it safe.
I was filled with pain at his blindness to the pure truth.
“Your entire outlook on life is mistaken,” I reprimanded him. “You think you will live here forever, but you are sadly mistaken. ‘The days of our years… are seventy years, and if with might, eighty years’ (Tehillim 90:10). When your day will come, none of your possessions will remain with you. Only your mitzvot will escort you on your Final Journey. It hurts me that you want the mezuzah, written with Hashem’s Name, to protect your property instead of your spirituality.
“See how good the Al-mighty has been to you. He has granted you fame and wealth. But instead of expressing gratitude and thanking Him by performing mitzvot, you distance yourself from Him and hand over your soul to your Evil Inclination.”
I added another point. “The Torah relates that Yaakov ‘built himself a house, and for his livestock he made shelters’ (Bereishit 33:17). Shelters are temporary dwellings, implying transience and impermanence. With this deed, Yaakov taught us what our attitude toward our acquisitions should be. In contrast, for his soul, Yaakov built a house, which is a stable, permanent abode, established upon closeness to and love of Hashem.
“You have mixed up the messages. You have made the primary peripheral, and vice versa. Instead of employing your fantastic wealth and modern technology to promote the cause of mitzvot, you have invested your funds in… accumulating more money.”
Although this man ranks among those who support our institutions, I spoke to him with zealousness, l’shem Shamayim. I hope and pray that my words entered his heart and he merits correcting his ways.
