OUR COMMUNITY
COVER STORY

Chabad Lubavitch of Michigan 
included a mezuzah cam-
paign — ProtectionForIsrael.
com — in its response to the 
events of Oct. 7 in 
Israel, says Rabbi 
Kasriel Shemtov, 
vice president 
and executive 
director of Chabad 
Lubavitch of 
Michigan. When 
the Jewish world 
went through a very tough 
time following the Yom 
Kippur War, the Rebbe, Rabbi 
Menachem M. Schneerson, 
spoke about the need for the 
community to be confident, 
to look forward with optimism 
and even joy, Shemtov says.
The Rebbe launched a cam-
paign to have mezuzahs on 
all Jews’ doors, and to have 
existing mezuzahs checked to 
make sure they’re kosher. 
“The mezuzah has the 
extra-special quality, that we’re 
told it protects the Jews,” 
Shemtov says. “On the outside 
of the scroll there’s three let-
ters, one of the names of God. 
We’re taught that it protects 
you in the home and when 
you leave the home, wherever 
a Jew is, you’re protected by 
the mezuzah.” 
With spiritual connection 

in mind, he says, Chabad 
Lubavitch of Michigan got to 
work, raising money to sub-
sidize kosher mezuzahs and 
bringing in an extra scribe 
from Israel to help check exist-
ing ones that need repair. 
Their goal is to put up 1,800, 
and they’re well on their way, 
he says. Chabad Lubavitch 
of Michigan has put up close 
to 1,100 new mezuzahs and 
checked more than 1,500, 
according to Rabbi Levi 
Shemtov, working with the 
Michigan Mezuzah campaign 
of Chabad of Michigan. “We 
finished the ones from our first 
shipment and another 1,200 
are on the way,” he says. 
“The response is very heart-
warming,” says Rabbi Kasriel 
Shemtov. “There are many 
people who are putting up 
mezuzahs and they’re doing 
it with joy, they’re doing it with 
excitement — they feel better 
protected.” Some are also 
adding mezuzahs to other 
doors of their houses. “It’s a 
wonderful experience. We’re 
in touch with community lead-
ers and individuals, and we’re 
moving ahead.” 
Charlotte Weinstein, 13, 

A Mezuzah 
on Every 
Jewish Door

Rabbi 
Kasriel 
Shemtov 

A Mezuzah 

At her recent bat mitzvah held after 
Oct. 7, Charlotte Weinstein, shown 
with her parents and brothers, 
decided to have guests make an 
original mezuzah to put up at home 
to celebrate Judaism. 

Examples of handmade mezuzahs
by guests at Charlotte’s bat mitzvah

PHOTOS COURTESY WEINSTEIN FAMILY

added extra security while 
going ahead with their regu-
lar activities. 
 “I’m not worried as a 
synagogue community, but 
we’re also being aware of 
what the world is saying,” 
says Rabbi Mike Moskowitz 
of Temple Shir Shalom, 
which, with Federation, 
unveiled a display of 220 
chairs and highchairs on its 
property to raise visibility of 
the hostages taken in attacks 
on Israel Oct. 7. 
“We wanted to do some-
thing more public. We 
know how much traffic 
passes at Orchard Lake and 
Walnut Road, that’s why we 
have that platform,” says 
Moskowitz, adding it’s espe-
cially significant as well for 
the congregation’s Israeli 
families, and even his own, 
as his son recently returned 
from college studies and 
volunteering in 
Israel. 
As for the 
fear so many 
are feeling, he 
says much of 
it comes from 

individuals with kids living 
on college campuses or in 
smaller Jewish communities 
that feel less surrounded by 
the strength of community. 
“They’re real concerns, and I 
think we need to be smart,” 
he says. “It’s important not 
to put yourself at risk, and to 
know when to speak up and 
where to speak up.”
He says personally he’s not 
taking down his mezuzah 
but adds that he lives in a 
neighborhood where he 
feels respected by his Jewish 
and non-Jewish neighbors. 
“I believe they’ve been there 
in support; they’ve reached 
out to me in these past 
weeks, but if I didn’t live in a 
community like that, I might 
think differently,” he says. 
“I respect someone who 
feels like they could be 
threatened, but I think 
maybe we need to live in 
areas where we know we’re 
OK. The question is where 
are we safe? Is there any-
where we’re safe — and 
that’s what a community 
does for one another, how 
we offer that strength.”
continued on page 16

14 | NOVEMBER 30 • 2023 

Rabbi Asher Lopatin, executive director of the local JCRC/
AJC, stands in front of his window displaying an Israeli flag 
and posters of those people captured by Hamas on Oct. 7. 

continued from page 13

Rabbi Mike 
Moskowitz

continued on page 16

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