Question: We have recently installed a couple of windows in our roof so that we can use our loft as an extra room. The only entrance is via a pull-down ladder in the ceiling. Does that entrance require a mezuza?
Answer: The Gemara (Menachos 34a) teaches
that one must affix a mezuza to every doorway within a house, including
an entrance to an attic. Thus, Rambam (Mezuza 6:10) writes that one must affix
a mezuza to a small entrance that leads from a house to an attic.
Rashi
(Menachos 34a) explains that this entrance is constructed with upright walls
surrounding the stairs to prevent unauthorised access. The Noda
Biyehuda (YD 2:184) explains that Rashi wrote this as had it been a simple
opening in the attic floor, there would be no requirement for a mezuza (see
Minchas Elazar 1:36). Additionally, the Gemara (Kiddushin 22b) teaches that an eved
ivri who refuses to be emancipated must have his ear pierced by a door.
This door needs to be attached and upright, just like the doorframe upon which
we attach a mezuza.
The Kitzur
Shulchan Aruch (11:20) and Aruch Hashulchan (YD 287:1) quote the Noda Biyehuda
and write that one only affixes a mezuza to an upright door.
In
conclusion, one does not attach a mezuza to a pull-down door in the
ceiling or trapdoor.
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