A mezuzah (Hebrew for "doorpost") is a piece of parchment, often contained in a decorative case, inscribed with specified Hebrew verses from the Torah. These verses comprise the Jewish prayer "Shema Yisrael", beginning with the phrase: "Listen, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One."
A mezuzah is affixed to the doorframe of Jewish homes to fulfill the mitzvah (Biblical commandment) to inscribe the words of the Shema "on the doorposts of your house." Many families place a mezuzah on the front door only, but some Jews believe that this is insufficient, and affix one on every doorway in the home apart from bathrooms, as well as closets too small to qualify as rooms.
These delightful mezuzahs are made by Santa Fe artist Pamela Messer. The distinctively modern style of color placement in Pamela Messer's ceramic pieces is based on her watercolor landscape paintings and traditional New Mexican designs. To achieve the color variety, she developed a complex layering of underglazes and overglazes. This intensive process requires many coats of glaze and a controlled kiln firing to produce a diverse range of dramatic results.
Pamela also creates colorful jewelry using the same technique - see link below to view our collection.