Q: My grandmother’s apartment is not in the safest part of town. Recently, the mezuzah from her back door was stolen for the second time. We obviously want the door to have a mezuzah, but there is no space on the doorway to put one except on the inner wall of her kitchen facing the room. I’ve never seen a mezuzah on an inner wall. Would that be kosher?

A: In the absence of other options, you may place the mezuzah on the door frame facing the room. If the door has no frame, you may put the mezuzah on the inner wall itself within a tefach of the doorway opening.

This is definitely not an ideal solution since according to many authorities this placement is not halachically valid as it is not within the doorway. For this reason, you should not make a beracha.

Alternatively, if it is possible to carve out a space for the mezuzah from the doorway, that would be ideal. Just be careful not to insert the mezuzah into the indentation more than a tefach.

• Sources: Agur B’ohalecha 14:12,15; Chovas HaDar 8:2; Mezuzos Beisecha 289:8; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 11:9; Chayei Adam 15:21, Nishmas Adam 15:1

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