Rav Shmuel Shneid is a scribe living in Monsey, N.Y. He is not a Lubavitcher chassid, but nurtures a growing relationship with the Rebbe. His feelings are shared by many in his community, as evidenced by the countless occasions on which neighbors have come, asking him to check their mezuzos on the Rebbe’s instructions.

Once a woman who had come to him because the Rebbe told her to have her mezuzos checked was upset when Rabbi Shneid did not detect any problems. She had been experiencing several difficulties, and was hoping that correcting her mezuzos would alleviate these hardships.

Rabbi Shneid explained that checking mezuzos is in itself a positive activity which brings blessing. The woman accepted his explanation and waited, but her difficulties persisted. She wrote the Rebbe again, mentioning that her mezuzos had been checked. The Rebbe advised her to have them checked again.

She went back to Rabbi Shneid, who agreed to check the mezuzos again without charge. When the woman brought in her mezuzos this time, however, Rabbi Shneid noticed two wrapped in wax paper. Now, after checking a mezuzah, Rabbi Shneid always wraps it in saran wrap. Obviously, he had not checked these two.

He asked the woman about them. She replied that she had not wanted to leave her home totally without mezuzos while they were being checked, and had therefore left one on the front door and one on the back door. She had forgotten about them, and so was bringing them in now for the first time.

While checking the mezuzah for the front door, Rabbi Shneid discovered that it was invalid.