Menachot 32: Mezzuza on a Stick, Queen Helene

The rabbis continue their conversation about the mezuza begun days ago. Shmuel is quoted by Rav Yehuda: putting a mezuza on a stick so that it can be placed near or tied to the doorpost does not fulfil the mitzvah.   At the same time we know that King Munbaz did these things when staying at an inn or traveling.

Rashi teaches that because the mitzvah was not fulfilled, the person would not be offering the protection that a mezuza provides. When King Munbaz was traveling, he was not required to keep the mitzvah of mezuzua.  The Talmud Yerushalmi notes that if this were during wartime, it would not be a necessary mitzvah.

Steinsaltz teaches us more about Munbaz.  He was the King of Adiabene (end of the Second Temple period).  It was in northern Syria on the banks of the Euphrates.  Queen Helene, who is mentioned elsewhere in the Talmud (Nazir), studied Talmud with her sons Munbz and Izitus with Jews who travelled through her kingdom.  

In the generation before the destruction of the second Temple, Queen Helene converted to Judaism along with other leaders in her community.  She visited Jerusalem, donated to the Temple and to people who were poor.  Her sons sent troops to help the Jewish uprising at the time of the Great Revolt.  When Queen Helene died, Munbaz allowed his brother to be king and only took the throne when his brother died.  Josephus records stories of the conversions in this family.