BEHIND THE SCENES: PLANNING OPERATION “PROTECTIVE HELMET” – MIVTZA MEZUZA

…a mezuza protects a house like a helmet protects a soldier during battle. If a soldier does not have a helmet, he can be injured. If he wears a helmet, it protects him even if something happens to him.

Shmuli: Sholom Aleichem Yitzi, Yechi HaMelech HaMoshiach!

Yitzi: Aleichem Sholom! We haven’t met since the Kinus HaShluchim … How nice to see you. How was Chanuka?

Shmuli: Chanuka … a lot of work without a moment’s rest, but Boruch Hashem, like every shliach, we must give the meshaleiach, the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach, nachas. What about you?

Yitzi: For me, Mivtza Chanuka still hasn’t ended …

Shmuli (patting Yitzi on the shoulder): That’s great! That’s what the Rebbe wants from every shliach, that the good deeds continue throughout the year.

Yitzi: On Chanuka, we made house calls in the neighborhood where I am the shliach. We saw that some homes had mezuzos and some did not. Some of them had mezuzos that were not placed properly.

Shmuli: Did you point it out to them when you went in to light the Menorah?

Yitzi: We spoke to them about it, but what bothers me is the fact that most of them had not had their mezuzos checked in recent years, not once in seven years and even longer than that. On the way back from mivtzaim to the Chabad house, I wondered why the situation was so bad.

Shmuli: But I know that you provide a service at your Chabad house of checking t’fillin and mezuzos!

Yitzi: It’s not enough! Nearly forty years have gone by since the Rebbe announced the Mezuza Campaign. The Rebbe spoke about it on Yud Shvat 5734. It’s just not right that in the neighborhood where I am the shliach, there is a single home with a mezuza that is not kosher.

Shmuli: But there are many homes in your neighborhood where they checked their mezuzos!

Yitzi: True, but the Rebbe told us clearly that in days such as these, when our enemies rise up to destroy us, we need to make big special efforts, you hear? Big, special efforts in every Jewish home, you hear? In every Jewish home, that there be kosher mezuzos on every doorpost.

Shmuli: I hear every word. You sound like you’ve had four little cups of l’chaim
already …

Yitzi: What will happen, the Rebbe explained, due to this big, special effort, is that the mezuza will arouse Hashem to guard the Jewish people!

Shmuli: So we need to put more efforts in this area.

Yitzi: Right! This is why we decided that we are going to do a publicity campaign in our neighborhood. Every night, bli neder, we will visit about twenty homes and talk to people about getting their mezuzos checked. If they don’t have mezuzos yet, we will talk about buying them and putting them up properly.

Shmuli: It’s enough if you just influence one person a day. I remember that the Rebbe said that putting up a kosher mezuza in a Jew’s home increases the protection and defense of Jews throughout the world!

Yitzi: Ah … THAT we need to remember on a day when we are successful in only one house. As shluchim we know that often there is minimal success, but we aren’t scared off by that. It says, “little by little I will expel them.” This is the only way we will be successful and bring the great light of the true and complete Geula to the world.

Shmuli: Speaking about the Geula and the protection of a mezuza, of course the Rebbe connects everything to the Geula and says that the real protection will be in the Geula. So each additional mezuza brings and hastens the protection of the Geula.

Yitzi: You’re right. I have to remember what you just said every time I make a house call. The job the Rebbe assigned to us at the Kinus HaShluchim 5752 is that everything we do must revolve around how it will lead to welcoming Moshiach. The Jews who live in the neighborhood also need to know that this is what the Rebbe says about mezuza. I am sure this will inspire them to be more careful with all the laws of this special mitzva.

Shmuli: The Mitteler Rebbe writes in his Siddur that the mitzva of mezuza is equal to all the mitzvos combined!

Yitzi: I can tell that to people who consider themselves “traditional.” As for someone who is not yet overtly religious, it’s hard to excite him to do the mitzva of mezuza because it is equal to all other mitzvos. With him, I need to speak his language and to tell him that it says in mysticism, in the Zohar, that the mitzva of mezuza results in a person’s constant protection.

Shmuli: Well said. At my Chabad house, I once farbrenged after Shacharis on Shabbos with my mekuravim and spoke about checking t’fillin and mezuzos and I made that same point. I think it was in Elul. I told them, half seriously, that it’s okay for them to be “Chassidim and anshei maaseh” and to check their t’fillin and mezuzos before Rosh HaShana.

Yitzi: So they are more advanced. In my neighborhood, there is more work to be done.

Shmuli: You’ll get there. This mezuza campaign you’ve started will definitely strengthen your relationship with the people in your neighborhood. Then your mekuravim at the Chabad house will feel that they also need to advance and not be just like everyone else who doesn’t regularly visit the Chabad house. Then you can tell them about Elul …

Yitzi: I can also take them along on house calls. That can do a lot for them and make connections between people living in the neighborhood.

Shmuli: Sounds good. I did that too, due to lack of Lubavitch manpower, because as you know we are not near any Lubavitcher enclaves. By the way, I have a name for your new campaign: Operation Protective Helmet!

Yitzi: Protective Helmet? What do you mean?

Shmuli (smiling broadly): The Rebbe explains that a mezuza protects a house like a helmet protects a soldier during battle. If a soldier does not have a helmet, he can be injured. If he wears a helmet, it protects him even if something happens to him.

Yitzi: That’s a terrific idea that I can use as a slogan on flyers and signs. Shmuli, you have given me some great tips. Thanks!

Shmuli: I wish you much success.