Everything You Wanted to Know about Mezuzahs (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Almost two years ago, silkscreen artist David Arfa sent out the call for submissions for MezuzaZine, which is exactly what its name implies — a zine (that is, a photocopied do-it-yourself magazine) that tells everything you need to know about a mezuzah.
In Arfa’s words, MezuzaZine is “a 12 page Do-It-Yourself mitzva guide that contains hip and authentic articles and images about mezuzas.”
Of course, you could just go to our site about mezuzahs and read up on it. But, if you’re old-school or looking for a different approach or just want to see a different sort of art form, Arfa’s printed up 200 copies of it — and probably has done some wild design work or special printing — and is selling them for just $1 to cover his costs. Arfa asks: “Would you like to get your hands on a printed copy? or maybe even help distribute? I am trying to cover the printing costs by selling each for $1- there are 200 copies. Let me know if you want one or a bunch and let’s make a deal.”
The zine features original work by Rabbi Jason Miller, Jeanette Friedman, Ketzirah, Ari Fornari, as well as an essay I did about writing love letters to God.
This is a really cool little project, and I really hope it gets all over the place. There’s nothing like people getting inspired by random things in Judaism and making it their own, and that’s exactly what David did with this zine. There’s a preliminary website, too — but, as of now, only the print zine has the full spectrum of articles. To find out how you can get a copy, or help distribute, drop David a line to find out how you can throw in a buck.
Cross-posted at Mixed Multitudes.
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—Mixed Multitudes - My Jewish Learning: Exploring Judaism & Jewish Life » Blog Archive » Everything You Wanted To Know About Mezuzahs (But Were Afraid To Ask) · March 9th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Sounds cool, but who self-describes as hip?
—dlevy · March 9th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Nice. The website says Mezzuahs are not amulets, but I think the Gemara itself says that they ‘protect.’ There are absolutely opinions that are consistent with the web site’s position, but it is not that simple….
—Simon F · March 9th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
“hip and authentic”
[runs in other direction]
—miri · March 10th, 2009 at 6:11 am
I gotta “third” the red flag that something that self-describes as “hip” raises in my mind.
—Tovah · March 11th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Well, the mainstream mindset is that they are not amulets. But if you look at the basic definition — they are. It all depends on if that bothers you. Clearly, not something that bothers me.
Either way, this is a great little zine and I’m really proud to have my work in there! I guess I need to get back to making mezuzahs.
—Ketzirah · March 22nd, 2009 at 7:56 pm