Mezuzahs & Phylacteries
(Instruments of Priority)
Introduction
The confusing maze
Rabbinical tradition turned the Law of
Moses into a confusing and burdensome maze of 613 major laws and a whole
constellation of minor rules and regulations.
The people had to pay tithes on the mint, cumin and dill (Mt
Right
up until the eve of Vatican II (October 11, 1962), Catholics also were confused and burdened by a maze of major laws and a whole constellation of
minor rules and regulations. We had laws about fasting from food
and abstaining from meat at various times of the year and before Holy
Communion. We had laws that made marriages valid or invalid. Priests had laws
that made Masses valid or invalid. All of us had laws that made our confessions
valid or invalid. We, too, were confused and
heavily burdened, and Vatican II said to us, “Come to me you who are heavily
burdened, and I will lift the burden from your backs.”
The need for priority
It was inevitable that the question of priority would eventually
arise among the Jews of old (and also among
ourselves): Which of all our many commandments comes first, which one comes
second, which one third, and which one
doesn’t come at all? Rival schools sprang up around famous rabbis, each having his
own different arrangement of commandments according to importance. One school would
say, This commandment ranks first, that one ranks second, and that one ranks
third, etc. Another school would respond, No! No! This one ranks first and that
one second, etc. Sometimes it was not much more than an academic game.
But for some the question of priority was honest. They really
wanted to sort things out and establish a sense of priority in their lives. The
scribe in today’s gospel was one of them. Confused and exhausted by the maze
placed upon him he asks Jesus, “Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus answers by reciting the Shema Yisrael”—the words of Moses from
the Book of Deuteronomy to the people. “Hear, O
The
Jewish mezuzah and phylactery
Though the Law
of Moses accreted into a confusing maze of major laws and minor rules and
regulations, Moses himself had a great sense of priority. After commanding the people to love the Lord their
God with whole heart, soul and mind, he enjoins upon them to “Write
these words on your hearts, and
tell them to your children over and over again, and fasten them upon your
wrists and foreheads, and nail them to
your doorposts” so that in all your comings and goings, in all
your transactions and thoughts you might always remember and never forget which
is the most important commandment of all (Deut
6: 6-9).
The people took Moses
literally. They wrote the Shema on little pieces of parchment and
inserted it into little vials called mezuzahs which they nailed to their
door-posts. They inserted the Shema into
little boxes called phylacteries and strapped them to their foreheads and
wrists at prayer time. The New Testament
alludes to this custom when Jesus berates the scribes and Pharisees saying,
“Everything they do is for show: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen the
tassels on their prayer shawls….” (Mt 23:5).
Down through the ages the
mezuzah and phylactery, with the scripture to love God with whole heart, soul
and mind wrapped up in them, were wonderful instruments of priority for devout Jews.
In all their comings and goings the
mezuzah on their doorposts reminded them to keep their priorities straight:
first love God with all your heart. In all their transactions and thoughts the phylactery
tied to their wrists and foreheads reminded them to keep their priorities
straight: first love God with all your heart.
The Christian mezuzah and phylactery
When the scribe approached
Jesus and asked what is the first commandment, he responded by quoting the Book
of Deuteronomy and Moses’ commanding the people to love God with whole heart,
soul and mind. But then in the same breath and without being
asked he added, “And I will tell you what is the second commandment.” Here again Jesus quoted scripture--this time
from the Book of Leviticus (
By telling the scribe that the first commandment is
to love God and then, in the same breath and without being asked, telling him
that the second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself, Jesus nailed the
two commandments together. He united them in a holy marriage and enjoined that
no one tear them asunder. Then Jesus opened all the phylacteries and mezuzahs
in
The Jews of old did, indeed, have two commandments,
one to love God and another to love neighbor. What’s new is that Jesus nailed
the two together and by so doing made it perfectly clear, if it wasn’t before,
that there’s no loving God without also loving neighbor. Now Christian crusaders
and Islamic suicide bombers cannot claim to love God or Allah and at the same
time hate their respective infidels.
The scribe who approached Jesus with his question of priority was an honest gentleman and was delighted at Jesus’
answer. He exclaimed, “Bravo
Rabbi! Excellent answer! I love your sense of priority! Yes, indeed, the
command to love God and neighbor does come first before all our burnt offerings
and sacrifices and all that other maze of ours" (Mk 12:28-34).
Priority in the church
Priority in the church! In
an Oct. 23 letter, Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference
of Catholic Bishops, asked his fellow bishops to inform all pastors that the extraordinary
ministers of Holy Communion (i.e., non-ordained minister of Holy Communion) will
no longer be permitted to assist in the purification of the sacred vessels after
Mass! That permission was granted back in 2002, and
Think of it! We are knee
deep in an acute crisis of a priest shortage, and a whole system of pastoral care
built up over a period of a thousand years, which gives each congregation a
pastor to care for it, is now collapsing before our very eyes; and people in
high places are worried about who may or may not do the dishes after Mass! Mother Church, nail Jesus’ new mezuzah to
your doorpost and his new phylactery to your wrist and forehead to call
yourself to a sense of what is of first
importance and what is of second importance and what is of almost no importance
at all.
Priority in the church! The
woman from out of State, who stumbled into Old St. Mary’s and had to undergo
the horrible experience of the 10 AM Mass, later wrote back and listed a long
litany of commandments I had violated. (It’s an absolutely classical example,
and I have it attached to my doorpost so that I never, never forget it.) She
wrote: “You
failed to give the prescribed absolution at the penitential rite. You did not recite
or sing the Gloria prescribed for Sunday Mass. You did not read the gospel in
its entirety; instead you shortened it, proclaiming only verses 27-39 from the
tenth chapter of Matthew. In reading the
Gospel you failed to use the masculine words prescribed by the Church but
instead changed them to gender-neutral words.
You did not take Communion at the prescribed time for the priest; instead
you took Communion after everybody else. You did not read the concluding prayer
and give the dismissal as prescribed by the Church.”
Nowhere among her maze of
commands which I violated were to be found the two commandments which Jesus nailed
together, made one and inserted into his new mezuzah and phylactery. Nowhere
was there a speck of priority to be found in her long litany. Lady, nail Jesus’ mezuzah to your doorpost and
his phylactery to your wrist and forehead. Call yourself to a sense of what is of
first importance and what is of second importance and what is of almost no
importance at all.
Conclusion
Prioritizing on the road to Jericho
The Samaritan in Jesus’
parable had a mezuzah nailed to his doorpost, and as he was rushing out of his
house one day to go to
Prioritize! Know what’s
important. Then write it upon you heart and fasten it to your wrist and
forehead. Prioritize! Know what’s important. Then tell it to your children over
and over again. Prioritize! Know what’s important at this time of the rolling year
when the first notes of Christmas are already being struck, and you soon find
yourself beset and even overwhelmed with gifts to buy, cards to write, parties
to throw, decorations to hang and distances to be covered. Prioritize! Know
what’s important especially on your daily road to