Actress Patricia Heaton expressed her shock and outrage upon viewing footage from Hamas that showcased the terror group’s attacks against Israel on social media on October 7. In the wake of protests by students across various U.S. college campuses, Heaton felt compelled to take action.
“I was stunned, and I felt a wave of outrage,” the star of “Everybody Loves Raymond” shared in an interview with Fox News. “I looked around for others who would join me in this outrage… and it was mostly silent. So, my partner and I established the October 7th Coalition, or O7C, to inspire Christians to become visibly and vocally supportive of Israel and the Jewish community while actively combating antisemitism.”
Jewish Americans have faced a surge in antisemitic incidents, such as acts of vandalism on Jewish-owned businesses marked with Nazi symbols, protests which blocked access to classes for some Jewish students, and alarming incidents where Jewish students discovered their mezuzahs—traditional Jewish prayer scrolls affixed to door frames—removed from their dorm rooms.
One such incident was recounted by Harvard student Sarah Silverman in an op-ed for The Harvard Crimson earlier this month. In her account, she described leaving her Thayer dorm with her toothbrush and realizing her mezuzah was missing. Only remnants of the adhesive used to secure it remained. Later, she found her mezuzah placed two doors down, hidden within a wall.
Reflecting on the experience, Silverman expressed her concerns: “I am left to speculate whether this was a targeted act. It’s frightening to think someone I had just met or who lives nearby could hate my identity enough to do this.”
These troubling accounts motivated Heaton and the O7C to initiate the #Myzuzah/Yourzuzah campaign, encouraging people to share videos of themselves installing mezuzahs with the hashtag #myzuzahyourzuzah.
“We must stand up for the Jewish community,” Heaton emphasized, highlighting the organization’s ongoing efforts.
