Second family becomes first to affix a mezuzah on executive home
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff achieved another first in their historic roles when they affixed a white mezuzah to the right-hand side of the doorway of the vice presidential residence.
The moment the sacred object was affixed to the Naval Observatory's wooden entryway marked the first time an executive home has carried the abiding sign of sanctity of a Jewish home, according to Rabbi Peter Berg of Hebrew Benevolent Congregation (The Temple) in Atlanta, which loaned the mezuzah. Berg led the private ceremony at the Naval Observatory in October.
Emhoff is the first Jewish spouse of a president or a vice president, and Harris is the first woman and first woman of color to hold her title.
"It's an extraordinary moment in United States history," Berg told CNN in an interview. "And it was one of the great honors of my lifetime to be able to stand there with the second family as they placed that mezuzah on their home for the very first time."
A mezuzah houses a small scroll that includes text of the Shema prayer, and fulfills the biblical commandment to affix the object on the doorpost of the home, a White House official told CNN. It signifies protection for the home, marking it as a sacred and holy space, and a reminder for those inside "to devote themselves to lives of meaning, value, kindness and love for all beings."
In attendance were Emhoff's parents, who had not seen their son or Harris in person since before the inauguration because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Both the second gentleman and the vice president spoke off the cuff about what it meant to them to be standing here. Remember, this was not a public event. There were no cameras and no staffers there. There weren't Jewish elected officials. It was just a private family moment. And that to me is what made it so beautiful," Berg said.
"When I started talking, we all teared up because of the significance and the history," Berg said.
Berg said October's ceremony, which he wrote, included two traditional blessings: one to sanctify the space and another to hang the mezuzah. A Shehecheyanu prayer was also recited, a ritual blessing said to sanctify "something precious and new," per the official. The second family also participated in the reading to make the ceremony more personal.
Emhoff eventually shared those personal moments publicly ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, posting photos of himself on Twitter in the process of hammering the sacred tube to the wall. One White House official said it sits roughly one-third of the way up.
"One of my favorite memories was when our family visited and together, we hung a mezuzah on the front door of the Vice President's Residence," Emhoff wrote.
This ceremony marks the latest way Emhoff and Harris have celebrated the second gentleman's Jewish faith during the first year in their new roles in the Biden administration. In March, Emhoff led the White House's first Passover event, live streamed for the masses days before the actual holiday.
"He obviously recognizes the significance of being the first in this space and I think he's very honored to have the opportunity to help lead some of these really important and significant traditions," a White House official told CNN in March.
Harris herself has been a vocal advocate for the Jewish faith. Recently, she headlined the Anti-Defamation League's "Never Is Now" conference, offering a robust rebuke of antisemitism. And she met Israeli Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid in October.
History made
The Temple holds specific social justice significance, with long ties to the civil rights movement and the fight against antsemitism.
Former Rabbi Jacob Rothschild's relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led to Rothschild honoring the civil rights leader in Atlanta after he won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Temple was also home to Leo Frank, a Jewish man who was lynched in 1915. In more modern times, the Temple now works to reduce homelessness in the community with multiple shelters started by former Rabbi Sugarman.
That work is what drew the second family to choose a mezuzah from the Temple, Berg said, as they wanted to be reminded of the virtues of the Temple upon returning home.
The process started months ago when he received a call from an unknown number, with the caller saying they were looking to obtain a religious object for a "high-profile couple" who recently moved to Washington, DC.
Berg first thought it was a prank call, before realizing the caller was referring to the vice president. After taking photos of the mezuzah and summarizing the Temple's lengthy history, Berg said he didn't hear back until months later -- in June when he was invited to attend a vaccination tour launch with Harris in Atlanta. Berg then spoke to Harris backstage.
"They started to whisk me away because my 15 minutes were up and I said, 'By the way, don't forget about the mezuzah.' She looked up and said, 'If I told my husband once, I told him 100 times, we've got to get the mezuzah picked,'" Berg said, recalling a moment of levity.
He was told months later that the Temple had been chosen and was invited to DC for the ceremony.
"The world is so filled with divisive politics, and this was just a beautiful ritual moment. Devoid of anything political, just pure beauty," Berg said.
'Family is everything'
The second family will affix a second mezuzah in the residence, from The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California Berkeley, according to the official.
It's a sterling silver mezuzah, made after a design by Jewish American Sculptor Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert.
"This mezuzah case has inscribed the Hebrew phrase, 'Blessed shall you be in your comings and blessed shall you be in your goings' (Deuteronomy 28:6), a traditional blessing for visitors and travelers," the official noted.
Joel Goldstein, a vice presidential historian, summarized the significance of the historic moment to CNN as "keeping with the ideal of pluralism and inclusivity that has been a hallmark of the Biden administration, as reflected initially by the selection of then-Sen. Harris to be his running mate and now in her service as vice president."
Tradition dictates that residents kiss the mezuzah as they walk into the home. During the ceremony, the question arose of whether to attach the cylinder either vertically or horizontally. Berg informed the family it's meant to be attached diagonally.
"The reason why is because it reminds us of compromise and peace that should exist in the home. I explained that tradition to the second family and they felt it was just very deeply meaningful," Berg said. "And I remember the vice president even saying, 'Family means everything.'"
美国第二家庭成为第一个在行政住宅上贴上 mezuzah 犹太信仰标记的家庭
副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯 (Kamala Harris) 和她的丈夫道格·埃姆霍夫 (Doug Emhoff) 在副总统官邸门口的右手边贴上了一个白色的 mezuzah，这是他们历史性角色的又一个第一。
亚特兰大希伯来慈善会（圣殿）的拉比彼得伯格说，这件圣物被固定在海军天文台的木制入口处的那一刻标志着行政住宅第一次带有犹太住宅神圣的持久标志。梅祖扎。伯格于 10 月在海军天文台主持了私人仪式。
Emhoff 是总统或副总统的第一个犹太配偶，Harris 是第一位拥有她头衔的女性和有色人种女性。
“这是美国历史上一个非凡的时刻，”伯格在接受 CNN 采访时说。 “能够和第二个家庭一起站在那里，这是我一生中最大的荣幸之一，因为他们第一次将那个 mezuzah 放在他们的家中。”
一位白宫官员告诉美国有线电视新闻网，一个 mezuzah 有一个小卷轴，其中包括 Shema 祈祷的文本，并履行了将物体贴在家门柱上的圣经诫命。它象征着对家的保护，标志着它是一个神圣而神圣的空间，并提醒里面的人“致力于对所有生命有意义、有价值、善良和爱的生活”。
出席会议的是 Emhoff 的父母，由于 Covid-19 大流行，他们在就职典礼之前就没有亲眼见过他们的儿子或哈里斯。
“第二位先生和副总统都直接谈到了站在这里对他们意味着什么。记住，这不是公共活动。那里没有摄像头，也没有工作人员。没有犹太民选官员。这只是一个私人的家庭时刻。对我来说，这就是让它如此美丽的原因，”伯格说。
“当我开始谈话时，我们都因为意义和历史而落泪，”伯格说。
伯格说，他所写的十月的仪式包括两个传统的祝福：一个是为了神圣化空间，另一个是为了悬挂 mezuzah。据这位官员称，还背诵了 Shehecheyanu 祈祷文，据说这是一种仪式祝福，可以将“珍贵的新事物”神圣化。第二个家庭也参加了阅读，使仪式更加个性化。
Emhoff 最终在感恩节假期前公开分享了这些个人时刻，在 Twitter 上发布了自己在将圣管锤到墙上的过程中的照片。一位白宫官员表示，它位于大约三分之一的位置。
恩霍夫写道：“我最喜欢的回忆之一是当我们一家人一起来访时，我们在副总统官邸的前门挂了一个 mezuzah。”
这个仪式标志着恩霍夫和哈里斯在拜登政府担任新职务的第一年里，以最新的方式庆祝这位二绅士的犹太信仰。 3 月，Emhoff 领导了白宫的第一次逾越节活动，在实际假期前几天为群众直播。
“他显然认识到成为这个领域第一个的重要性，我认为他很荣幸有机会帮助领导其中一些非常重要和重要的传统，”一位白宫官员在 3 月份告诉 CNN。
哈里斯本人一直是犹太信仰的积极倡导者。最近，她在反诽谤联盟的“永远不会现在”会议上发表了标题，强烈谴责反犹太主义。 10 月，她会见了以色列外交部长兼副总理亚伊尔·拉皮德 (Yair Lapid)。
创造历史
圣殿具有特定的社会正义意义，与民权运动和反犹太主义的斗争有着长期的联系。
前拉比雅各布罗斯柴尔德与马丁路德金博士的关系导致罗斯柴尔德在获得诺贝尔和平奖后向亚特兰大的民权领袖致敬。圣殿也是 1915 年被私刑处死的犹太人利奥·弗兰克 (Leo Frank) 的家。在更现代的时代，圣殿现在通过前拉比舒格曼 (Rabbi Sugarman) 开设的多个庇护所致力于减少社区中的无家可归者。
伯格说，这项工作吸引了第二个家庭从圣殿中选择了一个 mezuzah，因为他们希望在回家后被提醒圣殿的美德。
这个过程在几个月前开始，当时他接到一个未知号码的电话，来电者说他们正在为最近搬到华盛顿特区的一对“备受瞩目的夫妇”寻找宗教物品。
伯格首先认为这是一个恶作剧电话，后来意识到来电者指的是副总裁。在拍摄了 mezuzah 的照片并总结了圣殿的悠久历史后，伯格说他直到几个月后才收到回音 - 6 月，当时他受邀与哈里斯一起参加亚特兰大的疫苗接种之旅。伯格随后在后台与哈里斯交谈。
“他们开始把我赶走，因为我的 15 分钟到了，我说，'顺便说一下，别忘了 mezuzah。'她抬起头说，‘如果我告诉我丈夫一次，我告诉他 100 次，我们必须把 mezuzah 挑出来，'”伯格说，回忆起一瞬间的轻浮。
几个月后，他被告知圣殿已被选中并被邀请到华盛顿参加仪式。
“这个世界充满了分裂的政治，这只是一个美丽的仪式时刻。没有任何政治因素，只有纯粹的美，”伯格说。
'家庭是一切'
据这位官员称，第二个家庭将在该住所中贴上第二个 mezuzah，来自加州大学伯克利分校的 Magnes 犹太艺术与生活收藏馆。
这是一个 925 纯银 mezuzah，由美国犹太雕塑家 Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert 设计而成。
这位官员指出：“这个 mezuzah 案上刻有希伯来语短语，‘你来时有福，你去时有福'（申命记 28:6），这是对游客和旅行者的传统祝福。”
副总统历史学家乔尔·戈尔茨坦(Joel Goldstein)将这一历史性时刻对CNN的意义总结为，“符合作为拜登政府标志的多元主义和包容性的理想，这一理想最初反映在时任参议员的奥巴马的选择上。”哈里斯将成为他的竞选伙伴，现在她担任副总统。”
传统规定，居民在走进家中时会亲吻 mezuzah。在仪式上，出现了是垂直还是水平连接圆柱体的问题。伯格告诉家人，它的意思是对角连接。
“原因是因为它提醒我们家庭中应该存在的妥协与和平。我向第二个家庭解释了这个传统，他们觉得这非常有意义，”伯格说。 “我记得副总统甚至说过，'家庭意味着一切。'”
