Actress Patricia Heaton who is best known for her starring role in the hit TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond has emerged as one of the most prominent Christian supporters of Israel and Jewish people since the October 7 Hamas attacks. She founded the October 7th Coalition (O7C) of Christian supporters of Jews and Israel following the atrocity.
The devout Catholic explained to Fox and Friends: “My dad served in World War II. We grew up with shows like The Hiding Place with Corrie ten Boom, so we knew Nazis are bad. So when October 7 happened and I saw it happening all over again — this time with Hamas bodycam footage proudly putting it on social media, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Not only that, about 48 hours later, campuses exploded with pro-Hamas protests and making Israel the bad guy, and making Jewish people the bad guy. I couldn’t believe it.”
The actress admits she was “outraged” and “looked around for everyone else who was going to be outraged, I assumed, because we all know this is terrible — and it was very silent. So my partner and I created O7C to help Christians activate to be as visibly and vocally supportive of Israel and the Jewish people and fight anti-Semitism as the other side was [for Gaza]. Because those protests were very organised. Those posters had been printed and ready to go for a long time. This has been in the works for a while. And so we need to step up and be as vocal and visible as the other side.”
Now, just ahead of the first anniversary of the mass murder of around 1,200 Israelis, Patricia Heaton is suggesting that non-Jews show solidarity with Jews and Israel by attaching mezuzahs, or at least their cases, to the doorframes at the entrances to their homes.
The Hebrew word mezuzah means “doorpost.” According to Jewish tradition, it typically consists of a tiny scroll of parchment placed inside a receptacle or case the size of a finger. Written on the scroll are at least part of Biblical passages from the book of Deuteronomy honouring God such as Hear O’ Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever.
The mezuzah reminds Jews that their homes are holy places. When they enter or leave, they typically kiss their fingers and touch them to the mezuzah, expressing love and respect for God and his commandments.
Patricia Heaton posted: “As we head toward the one-year anniversary of October 7, I ask that you please join me in the Myzuzah Yourzuzah campaign to show solidarity with your Jewish friends and neighbours, fight antisemitism and bless your household.” The Nashville resident recommended that followers purchase a mezuzah case and post a video of themselves putting it up. “I’ll be liking and sharing videos throughout the campaign. Let’s show our Jewish friends we stand with them!” she wrote.
Alex Shapero, MyZuzah’s program director, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency the organisation has fielded thousands of requests since the campaign was launched, adding that most inquiries were from non-Jews and were for the case only, not for the scroll that goes inside, which is an obligation for Jews only.
Proceeds from the sale of mezuzahs on the MyZuzah website, which partners with various Judaica artists and Jewish non-profits, go back into the organisation’s subsidies for providing free mezuzahs and scrolls for eligible families.
An official Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry account responded: “We are lucky to have you” and “We love this so much” and “As antisemitism reaches unprecedented levels, thank you, Patricia Heaton, for standing in solidarity with the Jewish people.” Other Jews including rabbis weren’t as impressed, claiming that non-Jews shouldn’t hang mezuzahs claiming it was an “appropriation of their culture and religion,” and that there “are better ways to show support.”
David May from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies pointed out the actress “isn’t claiming to be Jewish and isn’t claiming to represent Jewish values. She is just there to show solidarity.”
Patricia Heaton told Fox and Friends that the campaign was “kind of a Spartacus moment” — a reference to the 1960 movie Spartacus — starring Kirk Douglas, a Jewish actor — in which the hero’s countrymen all identify as him in order to protect his identity.
“Jewish students at college campuses have had a mezuzah on their door, and they’ve been ripped off, they’ve been vandalised, they’ve been found smashed. And I think we have to stand up for the Jewish people and for their right to exist, their right to be Jewish and practice their faith,’ she declared.
At Indiana University in 2022, following multiple incidents where at least a dozen mezuzahs were torn off dorm doorposts, its Hillel (Jewish campus organisation) distributed empty mezuzah cases inscribed with the words I stand with my Jewish friends to non-Jewish students. Last year in California, after an incident in which a Jewish family’s home was broken into after the intruder had asked them about their mezuzah, some neighbours offered to hang up mezuzahs in solidarity.
Image: Facebook Screenshot – Patricia Heaton
