Everything is anticipated...

[rhu]

On Yoma 10b, there's a discussion of whether the sequestration chamber used by the Kohen Gadol (high priest) before Yom Kippur requires a mezzuzah to be affixed to its door, since he's only living there one week out of the year. The answer is "yes."

According to Rabbi Elefant's podcast, this source is used by modern poskim to answer the question of whether a time-share requires a mezzuzah. I'm amused.

Comments

[cellio]

Interesting application. But I thought the reason we don't attach a mezuzah to a sukkah is that we're only using it for a week? I learned somewhere that the threshold is 30 days, but I don't have a citation handy.

I had a possibly-interesting application of this. At Pennsic (big SCA camping event) I camp in a "house", which is actually a small building built onto a flatbed trailer. (Most people use tents.) Because I only live in it for two weeks a year, it does not (I understood) need a mezuzah. My SCA persona is Jewish and in that context, she lives there all the time. What to do to be halachically correct and historically authentic? Empty mezuzah case. :-)

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Yes, 30 days is the usual threshold. The K"G's chamber was unusual in several respects, which combined to give it the obligation to affix a מזוזה. (It was his office the rest of the year, so he had a permanent association with the room, even if it was only his residence for one week at a time.)

Since you don't own the ground at Pennsic (and perhaps you're only renting the house and/or trailer?) I think your analysis makes sense. (And is a nice solution!)

A סוכה is by definition an impermanent structure (at least as far as the roof goes). Another interesting case that Rabbi Elefant gave was one in which someone has built his kitchen with a retractable roof so that he can turn it into a סוכה, and then his מזוזה falls down during סכות. What should that person do? The answer is, apparently, reattach the מזוזה without the ברכה, then, after סכות, remove it and reattach it with the ברכה.

[I thought I'd see what happens with inserting Hebrew into a LJ posting. I figure this reply-to-a-reply is deep enough that the only people reading this far are likely to not be stymied by the Hebrew words.... But if I'm wrong, I apologize and please let me know so that I can fix it.]

[cellio]

(It was his office the rest of the year, so he had a permanent association with the room, even if it was only his residence for one week at a time.)

Ah. That would make a difference, I would think -- he is using the room year-round, so in cases of doubt you'd err on the side of applying it. A rarely-used room in a house still requires a mezuzah, though I admit that's not exactly the same case. (Mind, I haven't looked it up in Yoma to see what the argument actually is, but it looks like I should do so.)

Since you don't own the ground at Pennsic (and perhaps you're only renting the house and/or trailer?) I think your analysis makes sense. (And is a nice solution!)

Thanks. I don't own the ground; I do own the house and the trailer it's built on. So foundation yes, earth no. :-) (Does land ownership make a difference in mezuzah?)

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Wow! It's a new icon... a picture, even! oooooooh! (Great picture, BTW.)