Amid the rise of antisemitic attacks worldwide, American Jews are taking the mezuzah scrolls off their door, because it marks them as potential targets of lone-wolf hate attacks.
But neighboring non-Jews are putting them up in a sign of solidarity, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (TLA) reported.
"Some of our Toronto neighbors are facing harassment — just for being Jewish," Susie Movat posted to X. "As a non Jew, I'm putting a mezuzah on my door to stand in solidarity with my friends who deserve to live without fear. Never again."
The mezuzah is a small scroll containing a Torah passage that Jews put on their doorpost. One Jewish family in Studio City, California, with one on their door was attacked with an assailant yelling antisemitic slurs and "Free Palestine."
"I'm tearing up," Menachem Silverstein told the TLA, saying a neighbor who was talking about putting up a mezuzah on their door gave him "goosebumps." "I'm like, this is the most beautiful thing anybody has ever said to me. It was the inspiration I needed, personally.
"It was such a beautiful thing to see non-Jews acknowledge the importance of a mezuzah."
Silverstein compared it to Jews having to hide from Nazis.
"If everyone has a mezuzah, no one has to take it down and you can't identify the Jews who have a mezuzah," he added to TLA.
"To me it felt like the precursor to 'We'll hide you when you're in our attic.'"
Bloomfield, New Jersey, Rabbi Marc Katz posted to Facebook that taking down visible signs of Jewish identity amid the rise of antisemitism may be justified, particular amid the Halloween trick-or-treat holiday.
"It's OK to take down your outward signs of support for Israel or even your outward signs of Jewish identity (like your mezuzah) if you are truly worried for your safety," Katz wrote. "At times that are unsafe, Jews are allowed to do the imperfect to protect themselves and their resources."
Silverstein is not taking his mezuzah down, vowing to stand strong against hate.
"Our mezuzah is the security system," he told TLA. "Our mezuzah has the Shema in it.
"Having that mezuzah up, as scary as it may seem, I truly feel that God will protect you."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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