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    Mezuzah in English? – Ask the Rabbi

    mezuzahQ. Why must a m’zuzah be in Hebrew? Why not English?

    A. The intricate halachic rules about writing a m’zuzah require that it must be in Hebrew. But let’s go into the motivation of the question.

    It sounds like an example of the “kosher style” argument. According to that argument, it’s enough if Jewish observance has a vague resemblance to the real thing.

    Treife meat being used for the Seder shankbone, non-kosher wine for Kiddush, church hymns (even omitting Jesus) for synagogue services, printed Bibles for the Torah scroll…

    My response is, if you’re going to carry out Jewish practices, why not do it in a fully Jewish way?

    I understand that people want to make things easier for themselves, but why? Is it that you don’t want the non-Jews to think you are different?

    Sorry to upset you, but you are different, and you only bring ridicule upon yourself if you pretend otherwise.

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