Friday, June 22, 2012

Moving from your home

Question: If one moves from their home do they have to leave their mezuzahs behind? Answer: Yes, all the mezuzahs need to remain up when one moves from their home, the Talmud in Bava Metzia (102,a) tells of a man that took down his mezuzahs when he moved out and unfortunate things happened afterwards. This above stated Halacha applies only to when a Jew moves in. If a non Jew will move in one must take all of their mezuzahs down before they leave (when in doubt if a non Jew will move in Rabbi Moshe Weiner, a world renown posek from Jerusalem told me that one can take down their mezuzahs out of doubt (it is proper to have them checked when one takes down their mezuzahs). If one is renting from a non Jew when leaving they should also take down their mezuzahs (Pischei Teshuva 291:9). If the previous owner wants to take their mezuzahs with them before they move out, they may do so and then place up other simple kosher mezuzah scrolls in their place(Daat Kedoshim 291:1). Since many poskim hold that one may not take down mezuzahs to switch them, therefore the proper advice is to take them down with the intention of having them checked afterwards one may place different mezuzahs in their place. If the owner of the mezuzah wants he may request from the Jew that is moving in to pay for the mezuzah scrolls that are hung up (Rema ibid). If the new tenent took down the old mezuzahs the old tenent may request the mezuzahs back.

1 comment:

Yerachmiel Askotzky said...

To qualify your last sentence, if the new tenant hasn't paid for the old tenant's mezuzahs then the old tenant may demand them back if the new tentant takes them down (i.e., he is putting up his own. If he purchases the house then the mezuzahs are included in the sale unless stated otherwise.

In addition, the old and new tenant/owner may jointly agree that the new tenant/owner will put up his own mezuzahs so the old tenant/owner may take his mezuzahs with him. This exchange (taking down then putting up the new ones must be done right away. Furthermore, in order to distance oneself from the danger talked about in the gemara, the mezuzahs should be taken down with intention (and actually doing so) to have them checked and it is preferable for the new owner/tenant to take them down.