When Mr. L.W.’s house was robbed for the second time he decided to have his Mezuzos checked. The Mezuza he had affixed to his front door appears below. A quick glance at it and you will see at once why it offered no protection.
When I told this story to Rabbi David Shiinborsky, an expert sofer himself, he was quick to tell me that the very same thing happened to him. His story goes as follows:
“When I rented my second-floor office on 13th Avenue and 48th St. I had a robbery the very first Shabbos, I immediately put in an alarm system, gates on the windows and, of course – being a sofer -I also checked the Mezuzos but found nothing wrong. The previous owners told me that they had also had a series of robberies at the store. Unfortunately, the next week my office was broken into again, and this time the thieves even broke the alarm box. I then realized that in my haste to check the Mezuzos I had forgotten to check the very outside door. Sure enough, when I now checked that one I found it was posul. I replaced it at once. Boruch Hashem, more than a year has passed, and we’ve had no more break-ins.” Here is the Mezuzah.
