Description
This mezuzah case is a holder affixed to the right doorpost, protecting and housing the small parchment scroll (klaf) on which the verses of the Shema are inscribed. Affixing the mezuzah to the doors of one's home fulfills a biblical commandment and places the household under the sign of divine presence and protection. Fashioned from local olive wood, this type produced in the Holy Land during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was often engraved with views of the Western Wall, the letter Shin, or Hebrew inscriptions. These cases also served as souvenirs brought back by pilgrims, combining ritual function with the Memory of the holy place.
