Sources and Reasoning:
The Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 286:11, rules that stores in marketplaces are exempt from mezuzah. The reason is that the Torah states, “And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house”; a store is not a dwelling, since people do not sleep there at night, and it is considered only a temporary dwelling.
As the Taz writes there, even if people sit in the store every day, they are exempt, since they are not there at night; it is considered temporary, as stated in Choshen Mishpat 140:8 regarding chazakah.
On the other hand, the Shulchan Aruch rules in סעיף 1 that storerooms for wine and oil are obligated in mezuzah. That is, warehouses in which wine and oil are stored require a mezuzah, despite the fact that no one lives there. Yet every store also contains stored items, so why should it not require a mezuzah under the law of a storeroom?
Indeed, the Pitchei Teshuvah, subparagraph 10, cites the sefer Yad HaKetanah on the Rambam, chapter 2 of Hilchot Mezuzah, paragraph 21, which addresses this question. Based on this question, he distinguishes that if a store contains merchandise that is always kept there, it is truly a storeroom and is obligated in mezuzah. Even if the merchandise is removed at night and nothing is left there except during the day, it is nevertheless appropriate to obligate it in mezuzah, just as regarding a Beit Midrash we say that since people sit there all day, it is considered a dwelling. He writes that the Tur and Shulchan Aruch, which state that stores are exempt from mezuzah, refer to stores established for a limited time, such as during a fair, and then dismantled.
Thus, regarding contemporary offices, according to the Taz they are exempt from mezuzah, since no one sleeps there at night and they are only a temporary dwelling. However, according to the Yad HaKetanah, if objects are stored there and left there permanently, and the office is not temporary, a mezuzah must be affixed there, like storerooms for wine and oil.
Regarding the halachah in the dispute between the Taz and the Yad HaKetanah, the Ben Ish Chai writes in his sefer, Year Two, Parashat Ki Tavo, סעיף 22, that merchandise stores in which merchants sit throughout the year during the day but not at night are obligated in mezuzah, as written by the Yad HaKetanah. However, the mezuzah should be affixed without a blessing, since the Taz disagrees and maintains that they are exempt from mezuzah. This is likewise ruled in Chovat HaDar, chapter 3, paragraph 8: since the poskim disagree regarding the obligation of mezuzah in stores, and according to the Taz they are not obligated because no one sleeps there at night, a mezuzah should be affixed without a blessing, due to the principle that in cases of doubt concerning blessings, we are lenient.
However, in Halichot Olam, he elaborates in refuting the Taz’s proofs from Choshen Mishpat and from Batei Midrash, and also brings proofs from many poskim. He concludes that, strictly speaking, contemporary stores should require mezuzah, even with a blessing; the Ben Ish Chai was stringent here only as an extra precaution in not reciting a blessing, because blessings do not prevent fulfillment. One who recites a blessing has authorities upon whom to rely. He explicitly writes that the same applies to factories, where workers are present only during the day and not at night, as well as private office rooms where people are not present at night: they are obligated in mezuzah, as ruled in Shut Minchat Yitzchak, vol. 2 (siman 83).
See also Shut Shevet HaLevi, vol. 10, siman 4, who likewise questions the Taz and cites the Aruch HaShulchan, who writes that a mezuzah should be affixed with a blessing. However, he concludes that it is preferable not to recite a blessing, since the Mikdash Me’at, Yoreh De’ah 286:1, maintains that even regarding storerooms for wine and oil, many poskim exempt them from mezuzah. Therefore, although regarding the essential obligation we certainly rule stringently in accordance with Rabbeinu Beit Yosef, regarding the blessing there is room to be stringent and not recite it. Accordingly, regarding offices as well, there is doubt whether to recite a blessing. Nevertheless, offices have an additional advantage, since people remain there all day and it also serves a purpose at night as mentioned above. Therefore, one who recites the blessing is not rebuked, though the matter still requires further consideration.
Therefore, in practice, a mezuzah should be affixed in an office, but it is preferable not to recite a blessing; nevertheless, one who does recite a blessing has authorities upon whom to rely.
All this applies when non-Jews do not work in these offices together with the Jewish employees. However, if non-Jews also work in these offices, one certainly should not recite a blessing upon affixing the mezuzah. The Ben Ish Chai cited above already wrote that in his city of Baghdad there were inns filled with stores where merchants sat throughout the entire year, and the custom was not to affix mezuzot there. The reason was that the inn contained stores where non-Jews sat, and they relied on the Rema, Yoreh De’ah 286:1, regarding courtyards in which some non-Jews reside, which are exempt.
This response was translated automatically from Hebrew and has not yet been reviewed by a person. Therefore, it may contain inaccuracies and should not be considered a definitive reference.
