Window on Top of Door

Question:

Our front door has normal posts and a lintel. The problem is that there is a window on top of the door, and the posts of the door continue up beyond the door to the window’s lintel. My question is whether I should put the mezuzah in the top third of the whole post or just the top third of the doorpost, excluding its extension.

Answer:

The mezuzah should be affixed to the top third of the doorpost, measuring from the lower lintel.^[1] The extended posts are excluded because the window does not become an entrance merely because it is framed by posts and a lintel. Moreover, the significant posts are the ones that frame the door.^[2]

Even so, if there is an area where the top thirds of both calculations intersect, the mezuzah should ideally be placed there, as long as it would still be a tefach away from the lower lintel.[3]

[1] Mezuzot Beitecha 289:2, citing oral ruling of Chazon Ish.

[2] Indeed, according to Rambam, a doorway without a door is exempt from mezuzah.

[3] Teshuvos V’Hanhagos 2:550.