Non-Jewish Supporter Funds Mezuzah Campaign After Synagogue Shooting

By Rabbi Moshe Caytak – Shliach to Wellington West, Ontario

Late Monday night, Motzei Yom Kippur, I received a message from a non-Jewish supporter of our Chabad house. He lives in our community, has been incredibly supportive of our work, and over the years we have become good friends.

He and his wife were traveling when he heard about the horrific shooting at the Sons of Jacob synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, where Jews had gathered on Yom Kippur. Belleville is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Ottawa.

He wrote to me: “Let me know how I can help bring some light to everyone affected by this dark event.”

I immediately started thinking: What would the Rebbe want us to do in a situation like this? The answer came to me almost instantly: Mivtza Mezuzah.

Following the Ma’alot massacre in 1974, the Rebbe spoke about the importance of mezuzah as a source of protection. The Rebbe said: “The mezuzah is a shemira (guard). A soldier wears a steel helmet because of the possibility of a bullet speeding directly to his head.”

The Rebbe returned to this idea many times – in sichos and letters – speaking about the mezuzah not merely as a Jewish symbol, but as a mitzvah connected with the protection of the Jewish home.

So I suggested to my friend that we offer a free kosher mezuzah to Jewish families who wanted to put one on their home – a way to respond to the attack with an increase in a mitzvah. He immediately loved the idea.

He then made an incredible offer: he would sponsor up to 100 mezuzahs for Jewish homes as a direct response to the antisemitic attack.

By Tuesday morning, we had a flyer and registration form on our website and shared it on social media.

The response was almost immediate. Jews from across Ottawa began registering for mezuzahs.

There was a simple question on the form: Which door would you like the mezuzah for? The vast majority chose the front door. Nobody had told them what door to choose. But people were choosing to put the mezuzah where it would be seen.

Then, Wednesday morning, the registrations started coming from Belleville. Not just from Jews who had heard about the initiative from afar, but from people who were actually in the synagogue when the shooting took place.

One woman wrote: “I was a victim of the Yom Kippur shooting at Sons of Jacob. I would like to replace my current mezuzah with this one being generously offered. I survived and want a new mezuzah to remind me every day how Hashem protected me and my congregation on Yom Kippur thanks to His infinite grace.”

I read that message several times.

The Rebbe spoke about the mezuzah as a shemira. Here was a Jewish woman who had just experienced a terrifying attack, asking for a new mezuzah specifically because she wanted a daily reminder of Hashem’s protection.

I also spoke with another member of the Belleville Jewish community, who told me that many people had reached out to them after the attack. But the mezuzahs were different. They were something tangible. Something they could actually put on their homes.

By Wednesday afternoon, more than 50 Jewish homes had already registered to receive mezuzahs!

And the list was remarkable. There were Jews living in Ottawa whom I had never met before – people who live in our city but aren’t yet connected to the Jewish community. And there were Jews in Belleville, more than two and a half hours away, including people who had been in the synagogue during the shooting.

The registrations haven’t stopped. What began with a message from a non-Jewish supporter asking, “How can I help?”, turned into Jewish families across Eastern Ontario putting mezuzahs on their front doors.

There is something particularly fitting about that.

A terrorist attack took place on Yom Kippur, in a synagogue, while Jews were praying. Our response has been to put another mitzvah on another Jewish home.

The Rebbe taught us to respond to darkness by increasing in Torah and mitzvos. So we’re putting up mezuzahs. On front doors. In Ottawa. In Belleville. And wherever else a Jewish family wants one.

To sponsor the next 100 mezuzahs, visit:
https://www.jewishww.com/templates/donate_cdo/aid/4970020/jewish/Donate.htm