An amazing Kiddush Hashem took place at Harvard, where Jewish students responded to an act of hate and blasphemy, with an act of kindness, unity, and respect for Judaism. Last week, antisemitic vandals removed a mezuzah from the dorm room of Jewish freshmen, and tragically, it was later found tossed away.
In response, Jewish students with Chabad on campus at Harvard initiated a campaign to install dozens of new mezuzahs on their dorm doors as a show of unity and resistance against acts targeting Jews.
What amazing Jewish pride on campus!! pic.twitter.com/19on2aK2P2
— Harvard Chabad (@HarvardChabad) September 9, 2024
Many X users praised the students.
Joel Petlin wrote: “How did many Jewish students at @Harvard respond to a hate crime where an Antisemite removed a mezuzah from the dorm room door of a fellow Jewish student? They asked @HarvardChabad to install even MORE mezuzahs.
“That’s a really great way to turn darkness into light.”
How did many Jewish students at @Harvard respond to a hate crime where an Antisemite removed a mezuzah from the dorm room door of a fellow Jewish student?
They asked @HarvardChabad to install even MORE mezuzahs.
That’s a really great way to turn darkness into light. https://t.co/BV9VnKdwD6 pic.twitter.com/VSWa7Wkl1r
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) September 8, 2024
Author Hen Mazzig posted: “For every person that hates your Judaism, love it 10x harder.”
David Wolpe wrote: “Amazing how some students protest without disrupting or destroying.”
Students at Harvard react to the removal of a student’s mezuzah by posting scores of them. Amazing how some students protest without disrupting or destroying. https://t.co/EQgsZVmlSY
— David Wolpe (@RabbiWolpe) September 8, 2024
Messages by professors in protest of new restrictions to protect Jewish students (x image used in accordance with copyright law 27a)
“We must recognize this incident for what it truly is: a hate crime, Chabad rabbi Hirschy Zarchi wrote in the college paper, the Harvard Crimson “To tear down a Mezuzah is to send a message of intimidation and erasure,” he added. “It’s not just a matter of vandalism; it is an attack on the very identity of the Jewish community at Harvard.”
“This act didn’t just hurt the student who was attacked; it hurt all of us,” said Ruth, one of the students who joined the mezuzah campaign in the dorms. “We won’t sit idly by while our religious identity is threatened.”
In light of the shocking incident that occurred last night in Harvard Yard, where the Mezuzah of a Jewish student was ripped off her dorm room sometime after 2 AM, we call on the university and law enforcement, to immediately investigate this hate crime. The perpetrator should be… pic.twitter.com/GjbWNLZz7v
— Harvard Chabad (@HarvardChabad) September 3, 2024
Freshman Sarah Silverman wrote an op-ed in the Harvard Crimson about the vicious act.
Here are excerpts:
The first day of college. The first day of new friends. And the first day I had to call the Harvard University Police Department…
Beyond psyched to get ready for my first biology class of the year, I bounded out of my Thayer dorm, toothbrush and toothpaste in hand, when I noticed something was missing. In the place where my mezuzah — a Jewish ritual object traditionally placed on doorposts — had been so tightly secured, only a bit of sticky adhesive I had used to hang it remained.
My heart sank. After my roommate and I swept through the dorm’s entire floor, the morning’s excitement dimmed into an awful anxiety. My mezuzah was nowhere to be seen.
Coming from a religious Jewish background, I arrived on campus with optimistic caution. Despite reading the numerous headlines and testimonies characterizing Harvard as a hotbed for antisemitic behavior, I convinced worried friends and family that this year would be different. I told myself that intolerant people would not stop me from attending my dream school. And when my entryway pledged to create an inclusive community for all, I truly believed it.
Having to repeatedly explain my situation in meetings with my resident dean, proctor, upper-level administrators, and the Jewish leadership on campus, I felt the warm carefree glow of freshman year escape me.
Thrown into the cultural crisis of the University, my wishful thinking of feeling that I fully belong is on life support.
The Crimson’s initial coverage regarding my mezuzah’s disappearance was written under a misleading narrative and without my knowledge, omitting the critical almost five-hour timespan from when my roommate and I looked for the mezuzah to when it finally resurfaced. The story focused more on whether or not my mezuzah had fallen off by accident rather than the distressing reality of the potential hate crime…
Do what you need to do as far as being a Jew and G-d will take care of the rest.
You guys are amazing!
“But as much as they would afflict them, so did they multiply and so did they gain strength”!!
והנה, המעלה שנעשית ע”י הגלות דוקא
מצינו בגלות מצרים – שהיא שורש לכל הגלויות, שלכן נקראו כל הגלויות ע”ש מצרים – שדוקא “כאשר יענו אותו” (ע”י ההעלמות וההסתרים כו’) אזי “כן ירבה וכן יפרוץ”.
וכן הוא בנוגע לכל הגלויות – שדוקא ע”י ענין הגלות באופן ד”פרצת גדרי'”, נעשה “כן יפרוץ”, “ופרצת”.
ולהעיר, שגם ענין זה קשור עם יעקב דוקא (ולא ישראל), כדאיתא בגמרא ש”נחלת יעקב” היא “נחלה בלי מצרים”, “כיעקב שכתוב בו ופרצת גו'”.
י”ב תמוז, תשי”ט
Go Berel Feldman!!
Why are Jewish students still going to this anti-Semitic institution? They would be making as much stronger points if they would hit them where their money is, by boycotting this college, and going instead to a Jew friendly, one such as Touro Or Y U.. These repulsive institutions have no regard for their Jewish students other than their money.