In a rare exception to the rule, social media went viral over a pro-Jewish post this week in which actress Patricia Heaton installed a mezuzah on her doorpost “to show solidarity” with “Jewish friends and neighbors, fight anti-Semitism, and bless your household.” She then created a name for her campaign: #MyzuzahYourzuzah.
Typical of social media comments, those who found her well-meaning gesture in poor taste replied with one word, cringe. The Catholic actress, 66, posted her mezuzah in response to incidents on college campuses in which Jewish students reported their mezuzos removed from their dorms.
“I looked around for everyone else who was going to be outraged,” she told Fox News Channel earlier this week. “It was very silent, so my partner and I created the October 7 Coalition, or O7C, to help Christians activate, to be as visibly and vocally supportive of Israel, the Jewish people, and fight anti-Semitism.”
Heaton’s support for Israel is inspired by her father who fought the Nazis in the Second World War, her conservative politics, and faith. Her roles in television comedy include Malcolm in the Middle and Everybody Loves Raymond. Her mezuzah campaign is conducted in partnership with the Maryland-based MyZuzah, which offers to send a free mezuzah to anyone who requests it.
For many Jewish New Yorkers, seeing mezuzahs on gentile doors is not uncommon, usually the result of a Jewish owner relocating or passing away and leaving the item on the door for the next resident. When I was in sixth grade, I had an Indian classmate who asked me about the mezuzah in his Rego Park apartment. At the time, I was not observant and knew little about this mitzvah, but my intuition told me that it did not belong on his door. I removed it but then had a second thought. His religion was different, but we share the same Creator and the sense that G-d protects our homes. The klaf inside his mezuzah was in very poor condition and I do not remember what I did with it.
My second memory was in high school when I had a classmate in the Bronx. His mother’s parents migrated from Puerto Rico to the Lower East Side and then they moved uptown to the Grand Concourse. From her experiences, Dante’s mother knew about the meaning of the mezuzah, and I was impressed that their apartment had a mezuzah not only on the front door, but on every doorpost. This must have been an Orthodox household decades ago.
My third memory of mezuzahs on non-Jewish homes was in Downtown Flushing in a high-rise for seniors that was initially built for Holocaust survivors. When I walked down the long hallway to see my grandparents, every door had mezuzahs covered by multiple layers of paint, but the smell from behind the doors indicated Chinese cuisine. By then, I was observant and understood that the klaf is a holy document, with the Holy Name written on the same material as a sefer Torah. Upon my grandmother’s death, I understood that it was highly unlikely that the next tenant of apartment 8N would be Jewish. I had the mezuzah removed and considered doing the same for her neighbors, out of respect for the sanctity of the klaf.
Actress Patricia Heaton installed a mezuzah on her doorpost “to show solidarity” with Jewish friends and neighbors.
Heaton’s campaign is designed to show solidarity, in the spirit of Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, who was captured by the Nazis in the Battle of the Bulge in early 1945. The Germans ordered him to separate Jews and gentiles from among the American prisoners. He bravely responded, “We are all Jews,” saving the lives of dozens of his comrades.
A recent example of identifying with Jews in solidarity was Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller, who wore a kippah at a rally against anti-Semitism in 2018. “I’ve always considered it to be a wonderful gift for us that so many Jews are living in Berlin again,” he said. “We won’t tolerate hate. Attacks against Jews are attacks against us all.”
Yet with “talleisim,” shofars, and mezuzahs, if it is not “cringe,” it is about consent and understanding. These are mitzvos incumbent solely upon Jews, and their use by gentiles potentially violates their sanctity. It also speaks about the person beyond these objects. When anti-Israel demonstrators wear the talis, blows the shofar, or recites Kaddish, it is cultural appropriation that misrepresents Jewish values and beliefs. Likewise, when an observant Christian does the same in a religious service, as some evangelicals have done.
When the tzitzis knots need to be tied, or discarded, or when a mezuzah needs to be checked, would the gentile owner know what to do? Such solidarity actions are best done under supervision.
When a politician affixes a mezuzah to an office or residence, there is unusually a rabbi present to educate the owner on proper care for the object. The oldest documented example of this is chapter one in Tractate Pei’ah (in the Talmud Yerushalmi) in which Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi gave a mezuzah to the Persian King Artaban as a s’gulah and for protection.
Heaton’s mezuzah campaign is not a novelty, as this topic was addressed by the Rama in his commentary on Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Dei’ah (291:2) and Rav Moshe Feinstein in his notes on Yoreh Dei’ah (1:184). Ideally, there are other ways for our gentile allies to express solidarity. They can purchase an Israeli flag, or at any Judaica store, inquire about Hebrew nameplates for their doors or a ”blessing for the home” to hang on their walls.
Among the recent controversies involving anti-Semitism and Jewish-gentile relations, this is not a bad one to have. As comedian Eli Lebowicz tweeted, “It’s gonna confuse a lot of guys collecting money for tz’dakah.”
By Sergey Kadinsky
