Oh, Chutznikim

We moved... my goodness, over a month ago already!

As you may have guessed, moving was totally nuts: there was lots and lots of stuff to do, most of it urgent. And no, it's not all done yet.

We had to prioritize, and since there was so much that had to get done, not everything that was really important could get done right away. Among our many tasks was hanging mezuzot: usually when Jews rent to Jews, mezuzot stay up between tenants, but for reasons not entirely clear to us, this house only came with one mezuza on the front door.

Husbinator spoke to the landlord about it, who said he would reimburse us for buying and hanging all necessary mezuzot (which will now belong to the house, as is standard). Husbinator and I, being reasonably knowledgeable in Jewish Law, triaged this task as Very Important, but Something That Can Wait for Up To Thirty Days. Because that's one of those odd little nuggets of halacha that are common knowledge: you really should hang up mezuzot ASAP upon moving to any permanent dwelling, but you get a 30-day grace period (perhaps because moving is so hectic?).

So Husbinator kept his eye on mezuza prices, and after a few weeks asked Rabbi Leader to make a house call and tell us which weirdly-shaped entrances and oddly-sized porches did and did not need mezuzot, and where to hang mezuzot on the doors that have equal traffic both ways and don't actually have doorposts. Standard stuff.

Rabbi Leader was surprised we had pushed this off. Husbinator explained the triage system. Rabbi Leader still was confused. Husbinator reminded him of the universally known 30-Day Automatic Extension. "But that doesn't apply in Israel!" Rabbi Leader said.

And so it doesn't! Shulchan Aruch 286:22 clearly writes down the 30-Day Extension which we all know and love. But then he continues with the slightly lesser-known ruling that one who lives in Israel is obligated to hang mezuzot immediately, due to the mitzvah to settle the land. Who knew???