The Moving Mezuzah
On a visit to the USA, a man related a strange thing. No matter how strongly he nailed the mezuzah to the entrance of his house, it would fall down again.
I offered to come and try to put it up myself. That was what I did. Then I delivered a talk in his house. Suddenly, a loud noise was heard from the direction of the front door. Sure enough, there was the newly nailed-in mezuzah, resting comfortably on the floor.
I picked up the mezuzah and discovered that a piece of the wooden doorpost had gotten stuck to it. This just proved how well the mezuzah had been affixed. The matter was extremely puzzling. I put up the mezuzah once again, bonding it tightly with the doorpost. Then I continued my interrupted speech. Only a few minutes passed before the light thud of the mezuzah, now a familiar sound, came to our ears.
I understood that there was a Heavenly hand knocking down the mezuzah. I turned to the master of the house and declared, “You are housing a murderer!”
The man turned pale and was filled with shame. He confessed that I was saying the truth. He admitted that when he was a young man in his parents’ home, a burglar had crept into the house. Out of fear, he killed the burglar. He had kept the matter hidden for years, and had not even shared it with his wife.
I instructed the man exactly how he should make restitution for this act and atone for his terrible deed. I added that he should fast for the duration of one week, eating only minimally in the evenings.
After one week, he called to thank me for paving the path to teshuvah. Baruch Hashem, the mezuzah was affixed steadily, not moving an inch.
