Which Side Does a Mezuzah Go On? A Doorpost-by-Doorpost Guide, Including the Blessing
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Key takeaways
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Most people who ask how to hang a mezuzah are holding the case in one hand and a screwdriver in the other, standing in a doorway they have walked through a hundred times, suddenly unsure which side is the right one. It is a fair question, and the answer has a few more layers than "the right side" — so here is the whole thing, doorway by doorway.
Which Side Does a Mezuzah Go On?
A mezuzah goes on the right-hand doorpost as you enter. Chabad.org states the rule plainly: the mezuzah is affixed on the right-hand side of the door as you enter, positioned on an angle with its top pointing toward the inside of the room.
"As you enter" is the part that trips people up. For a front door it is obvious — stand outside, face the house, and the right doorpost is yours. Interior doorways are where the confusion starts, because a doorway between a kitchen and a dining room is an entrance to both rooms depending on which way you are walking.
The working principle is direction of primary use. Ask which room the doorway mainly serves as an entrance to, and mount on the right as you walk into that room. A bedroom off a hallway is entered from the hallway, so the mezuzah goes on the right as you step in from the hall. Where the answer is genuinely ambiguous — a pass-through between two equally used living spaces, for instance — this is the point to ask a rabbi rather than guess, because there are established rules for those cases and they depend on details like which room has the door hinges.
One correction worth making early: the mezuzah does not go on the door itself. It goes on the doorpost, the vertical frame beside the opening. A mezuzah screwed to a moving door has not been affixed to the doorpost at all, which is the one thing the commandment specifies. If you are still choosing hardware, our selection of mezuzah cases lists the case depth for each design, which matters more than most people expect on a narrow frame.
How High Should a Mezuzah Be? The Upper-Third Rule in Inches
A mezuzah belongs in the upper third of the doorway’s height, and at least one handbreadth below the lintel. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch specifies that it must be affixed at the beginning of the upper third of the doorpost’s height, and that mounting it higher remains valid provided it stays a tefach — a handbreadth — away from the lintel above.
A handbreadth is approximately 3¼ inches. Chabad also notes that where the doorpost is thicker than a handbreadth, the mezuzah should sit within the outermost handbreadth of the post rather than centred on it — in other words, toward the edge nearest the opening, not tucked back against the wall.
There is one important exception for tall openings. Chabad advises that on a doorway around 90 inches or higher, the mezuzah should be affixed at shoulder height even though that sits below the upper third. The reasoning is practical: a mezuzah eleven feet up serves nobody.
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Doorway height |
Upper third begins at |
Highest valid point |
Practical placement |
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80 in (6 ft 8 in) — standard interior |
53⅓ in |
76¾ in |
54–60 in from the floor |
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84 in (7 ft) |
56 in |
80¾ in |
56–62 in from the floor |
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90 in (7 ft 6 in) |
60 in |
86¾ in |
Shoulder height |
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96 in (8 ft) and above |
64 in |
92¾ in |
Shoulder height, even though it is lower than the upper third |
The first two numeric columns are arithmetic derived from the sourced rules — two-thirds of the opening height, and the opening height minus one handbreadth of 3¼ inches. They are calculations, not figures quoted from a source. Measure your own frame before drilling.
Angled or Straight? Where Ashkenazi and Sephardi Custom Differ
Ashkenazi practice tilts the case so its top slants inward, toward the room. Sephardi practice mounts it vertically. Both are correct within their own tradition, and the difference is not a matter of one community being more careful than the other.
The tilt exists because of a genuine disagreement among medieval authorities about whether a mezuzah should be vertical or horizontal. Angling it satisfies both readings at once, and the Shulchan Aruch records that compromise at Yoreh De’ah 289:6. Most Ashkenazi practitioners would tell you the diagonal is one of the more charming solutions in Jewish law: rather than choosing a winner, the practice splits the difference and honours both opinions in a single fixing.
Practically, this changes what you should buy. A case intended to be tilted needs either angled mounting points or enough frame width to sit diagonally without overhanging the opening. On a narrow doorpost — common in older Long Island homes with slim trim — a long case mounted at an angle will not fit, and a shorter case or a vertical mount becomes the sensible answer.
Material matters as much as geometry. Our sterling silver mezuzot hold a crisp angle well because the metal does not flex against the fixing over time, while glass and enamel designs are usually better suited to flush vertical mounting where the fixing can be supported evenly. If you are unsure which will work on the frame in front of you, measure the flat width of the doorpost first — that single number rules out most of the wrong choices.
Which Doorways Need a Mezuzah — and Which Are Exempt
A mezuzah belongs on every doorway leading into a proper room, with the bathroom excluded. Chabad’s practical guidance defines a qualifying room as any enclosed space of at least 6.5 feet by 6.5 feet, which brings vestibules, hallways and large walk-in closets into scope alongside bedrooms and living rooms.
Two details surprise people. First, a doorway with no door still counts — archways between rooms require a mezuzah just as hinged doorways do. Second, where several doorways lead into one room, each doorway needs its own mezuzah rather than one shared between them. A living room with three openings needs three.
Some spaces are obligated by custom but not biblically, and the blessing is not recited on those. Chabad lists garages, storage rooms, doorways and archways without actual doors, and rooms narrower than four cubits among the cases where a mezuzah is affixed without a blessing. Rambam’s conditions in Hilchot Mezuzah go further, requiring a room to be a permanent dwelling used for ordinary, dignified human purposes.
The count is the first thing to settle, because it determines what you buy. Walk the house before ordering and note every qualifying opening — a modest three-bedroom home routinely needs seven or eight. Buying one beautiful case for the front door and forgetting the interior doorways is the mistake we see most often, and it is a more expensive mistake to correct later when the design you liked has sold out.
How to Hang a Mezuzah: Fixings, Order of Work, and the Blessing
Affix the mezuzah permanently, recite the blessing once before the first one, and mount the rest without interruption. Chabad specifies nails or screws as the preferred fixing, with glue or double-sided mounting tape acceptable where necessary — and explicitly rules out scotch tape or masking tape, because temporary adhesives do not constitute affixing.
That instruction sits inside the Hebrew itself. The blessing uses the word likboa, meaning to fix or establish firmly, so a case that wobbles or peels away has not met the standard the words describe. Anyone working out how to hang a mezuzah for the first time will usually find the hardware question already answered in the box — Zion Lion cases ship with mounting screws or nails, a translation of the Shema, and placement instructions.
The blessing is recited once, before the first mezuzah, with the intention that it covers all the others you are about to put up. Chabad notes that you then refrain from talking or other interruptions until every mezuzah is mounted — which in practice means counting your doorways, laying out all the cases, and having the screwdriver ready before you begin, rather than pausing halfway to look for a drill bit.
The blessing
Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu melekh ha’olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu likboa mezuzah.
"Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to affix a mezuzah."
It can be said in Hebrew or in any language you understand. Mezuzot may be put up at any hour, day or night, except on Shabbat and the major festivals when work is prohibited. Homeowners are encouraged to affix their own, though another knowledgeable person may do it on their behalf — and if you would rather walk through your floor plan with someone before ordering, our team in Roslyn Heights does this with customers regularly.
The Scroll Inside Matters More Than the Case You Choose
The mitzvah is fulfilled by the scroll, not the case. The klaf is a piece of parchment hand-written by a trained scribe, a sofer, carrying two passages from the Torah — Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21, beginning with the Shema. The case protects it and makes it visible. An empty case, however beautiful, fulfils nothing.
STAR-K’s mezuzah primer sets out what makes a scroll kosher: parchment prepared specifically for mezuzot from the hide of a kosher animal, scored with grooves on the flesh side, every letter shaped correctly with adequate spacing, and no letter touching another even slightly. A single malformed or missing letter renders the whole scroll pasul — invalid — and a pasul scroll on the doorpost does not fulfil the commandment at all.
One warning from STAR-K is worth repeating because almost nobody knows it. Scrolls are sometimes sold with the Hebrew word for "checked" stamped or embossed onto the parchment, and that stamp invalidates the scroll by adding letters beyond the prescribed text. A scroll that would have been kosher is made unusable by the very mark meant to reassure you.
This is the strongest argument for buying the scroll and the case together from someone who can tell you where the klaf came from. Zion Lion offers kosher scrolls as an add-on in two sizes alongside the mezuzah cases in glass, metal, enamel and wood, so the case you choose and the scroll that goes in it are matched for size before anything ships.
Renting, Moving, and Keeping a Scroll Kosher Over Time
Renters outside Israel become obligated after thirty days; in Israel the obligation applies immediately. Chabad explains that the Torah requires a mezuzah on a dwelling that is genuinely yours, and outside Israel a rented home reaches that status after thirty days of living there. The obligation falls on the resident, not the landlord — a point the Talmud makes directly in Menachot 44a.
Many families, including Chabad practice, put mezuzot up immediately on moving in without reciting the blessing, then after thirty days remove one, have it checked or upgraded, and re-affix it with the blessing while holding the others in mind. You get the mezuzot on the doors from day one and the blessing at the point the obligation truly begins.
Scrolls do not last indefinitely. The Shulchan Aruch at Yoreh De’ah 291:1 requires a private home’s mezuzah to be checked twice in seven years — roughly every three and a half years — while mezuzot on communal property need checking only twice in fifty. OU Kosher and STAR-K both record the same interval, and STAR-K lists why it matters: ink chips off, moisture makes letters spread and touch, engraved lines fade, cracks open in the parchment, and insects eat away at it.
Front doors take the worst of this, which is where case choice becomes a preservation decision rather than a decorative one. Zion Lion notes that its cases can be mounted outdoors, preferably under an overhang — sensible advice anywhere with real winters. Knowing how to hang a mezuzah correctly is the first half of the job; putting a reminder in your calendar for three and a half years from now is the half almost everyone forgets.
FAQ
What is a mezuzah and what goes inside it?
A mezuzah is a case affixed to the doorpost of a Jewish home containing a hand-written parchment scroll called a klaf. The scroll carries two passages from the Torah — Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21 — which begin with the Shema and include the instruction to write these words on the doorposts of your house. A trained scribe, a sofer, writes it by hand on parchment prepared specifically for the purpose. The case is protective and decorative; the scroll is what fulfils the commandment. Cases are made in sterling silver, glass, enamel, pewter, wood and ceramic, and many carry the Hebrew letter shin on the front.
Which side does a mezuzah go on, and how do I tell for an interior door?
The mezuzah goes on the right-hand doorpost as you enter the room or building. For a front door, stand outside facing the house and use the doorpost on your right. For interior doorways, identify which room the doorway primarily serves as an entrance to and mount on the right as you walk into that room — a bedroom off a hallway is entered from the hallway. Where a doorway connects two equally used rooms and the direction is genuinely ambiguous, established rules apply that depend on details such as hinge placement, and a rabbi should be consulted rather than guessing. The mezuzah always goes on the doorpost, never on the door itself.
How high should a mezuzah be on the doorpost?
A mezuzah belongs in the upper third of the doorway’s height, at least one handbreadth — about 3¼ inches — below the lintel. On a standard 80-inch interior frame, the upper third begins around 53 inches from the floor, and most people mount between 54 and 60 inches. Where the doorpost is thicker than a handbreadth, the case should sit within the outermost handbreadth, toward the edge nearest the opening rather than centred. Very tall openings are the exception: on a doorway of roughly 90 inches or more, Chabad advises affixing at shoulder height even though that falls below the upper third, so the mezuzah stays within reach.
What is the mezuzah blessing and how many times do I say it?
The blessing is "Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu melekh ha’olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav vetzivanu likboa mezuzah" — blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to affix a mezuzah. It is recited once, before the first mezuzah goes up, with the intention that it covers every mezuzah you are about to affix. You then avoid talking or other interruptions until all of them are mounted. It may be said in Hebrew or in any language you understand. No blessing is recited on rooms that are not biblically obligated, such as garages and storage rooms.
Do I need a kosher scroll, or is the case enough?
You need a kosher scroll — the case alone fulfils nothing. STAR-K sets out the requirements: parchment prepared specifically for mezuzot from a kosher animal, grooves scored on the flesh side, every letter correctly shaped with adequate spacing, and no two letters touching. A single malformed or missing letter makes the scroll pasul, or invalid, and an invalid scroll on the doorpost does not fulfil the commandment. STAR-K also warns that scrolls stamped with the Hebrew word for "checked" are invalidated by that stamp, because it adds letters beyond the prescribed text. Buy from a source that can tell you who wrote the scroll.
How often should a mezuzah be checked?
A mezuzah on a private home should be checked twice in every seven years, roughly every three and a half years. The Shulchan Aruch records this at Yoreh De’ah 291:1, and both OU Kosher and STAR-K confirm the same interval; mezuzot on communal or public buildings need checking only twice in fifty years. Checking is done by a sofer or a trained examiner who inspects the parchment letter by letter. The reasons are physical: ink chips away, humidity causes letters to spread and touch, engraved guide lines fade, parchment cracks, and insects damage the scroll. Front doors and any outdoor position deteriorate fastest.