12 | DECEMBER 15 • 2022 

A

ntisemitism seems to 
be in our faces daily, 
both on mainstream 
media and the local level. 
An incident on the campus 
of Michigan State University 
last month — where a Jewish 
student had her mezuzah 
ripped down from her door-
post — served not only as 
another example of that 
antisemitism but also as a 
strong display of Jewish pride 
in response. 
The Chabad Student Center 
at MSU, led by Simi and Rabbi 
Benzion Shemtov, has a pro-
gram encouraging Jewish stu-
dents to put up mezuzahs on 
their doorway. Students simply 
text a phone number, automat-
ically get a response, respond 
with where and when they 
want it hung, and right away 
one of the Shemtovs are there 
to hang up the mezuzah free of 
charge. 
“We hang up hundreds at the 
start of every year,” Simi said. 
“It’s a really beautiful thing to 

show the world there’s a proud 
Jew living there.” 
Adina Peysakhov, a West 
Bloomfield native and MSU 
freshman majoring in human 
biology, was one of the stu-
dents who requested a mezu-
zah when she moved into her 
dorm in September. 
The vandalism happened 
extremely late, around 3 
a.m. on the Tuesday before 
Thanksgiving. Peysakhov and 
her roommate first heard a 
loud noise that came from out-
side their door. They waited a 
minute and opened the door to 
check out what happened, only 
to see the mezuzah smacked 
off. 
“You could tell it was inten-
tional because of how loud it 
was when it hit the ground,” 
Peysakhov said. “
And it would 
not have just fallen because of 
how tightly secured it was on 
the doorpost. It was also like 
10 feet away from the door — 
it wasn’t directly under it.”
This isn’t the first time this 

has happened. About three 
years ago, MSU student Maddy 
Gun had her mezuzah ripped 
off her doorpost and stolen.
Instead of pressing criminal 
charges against the perpetrator, 
Gun met with him face-to-face 
(along with MSU Hillel’s Nate 
Strauss and Rabbi Shemtov) 
and told him how his actions 
had not only impacted her 
but also the greater Jewish 
community at MSU. The dia-
logue led to the perpetrator 
agreeing to take an educational 
route, a guided tour of the 
Zekelman Holocaust Center 
in Farmington Hills as well as 
compensating Gun for the cost 
of the vandalized and stolen 
mezuzah. 

SPREADING THE WORD
While Chabad MSU has 
been in touch with MSU’s 
Department of Housing to get 
to the bottom of the recent 
incident, in freshman housing 
like Peysakhov’s, there aren’t 
any video cameras — so no 
footage of the incident exists. 
No police report has been filed. 
Instead, Chabad MSU con-
tacted multiple news stations, 
who interviewed Peysakhov 
and helped spread the word 
about the incident. 
“We’re going to make this 
very public that such things 
can’t happen,” Simi said. “We 
have no space for antisemitism 
here.” 
Simi says often when these 
types of things happen, stu-
dents are afraid to further 
promote their Judaism. With 
Adina, it was different. 
“
Adina’s first message was, 
‘My mezuzah was taken 
down. When can I put it back 
up?’” Simi recalled. “The way 
she reacted was so inspiring 
because what she’s basically 
saying is, ‘I’m not scared. I 
don’t care that they took it 
down; I want it back up right 

now and show we’re not going 
to back down.’”
When the Shemtovs 
returned to campus after 
Thanksgiving, they went to 
Peysakhov’s dorm and hung 
another mezuzah. 
“We’re right before 
Chanukah, and Adina is a liv-
ing example of the Maccabees 
at the time of Chanukah, 
standing tall and proud of her 
faith,” Rabbi Shemtov said. 
“She should be an example for 
all of us.”
Peysakhov said it scared her 
for a second, but after that, she 
was mostly wondering who did 
it and why. 
“It doesn’t scare me. It’s not 
going to stop me from partic-
ipating in my beliefs. It’s just 
very wrong and antisemitic. 
Other people’s beliefs shouldn’t 
affect my beliefs. They 
shouldn’t be trying to scare me 
away from my beliefs or my 
religion. And it didn’t work to 
do that because I wanted to put 
it back up immediately.”
MSU’s Student Life & 
Engagement released a state-
ment on the incident: “Student 
Life & Engagement stands 
against antisemitism and hate 
in all its forms … We address 
instances of harm and injustice 
through accountability and 
education to foster an envi-
ronment in which healing and 
growth are deeply valued and 
supported. We follow up on all 
instances of reported discrim-
ination and harassment. We 
appreciate Chabad and their 
support of our Jewish student 
community.”
Peysakhov, proud of her 
Jewish identity, is keeping that 
mezuzah on her door no mat-
ter what. 

Any MSU student who wants to hang up 

a mezuzah can message “mezuzah” to 

(517) 300-2330. 

MSU student responds to act of 
antisemitism with Jewish pride.
Standing Tall

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY
Adina 
Peysakhov 
speaks 
to a local 
TV news 
station.

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