The seeds of Jewish community are planted on the front door

When I joined the MyZuzah team in the early spring of 2020, I found a program that was like a seedling just beginning to push its shoots through the soil and into the light, poised to grow and thrive. 

Then, with the arrival of COVID-19, it was as if a cloud had blotted out the sun and threatened to block our path forward. You see, MyZuzah prides itself on succeeding through the collective work of our many partners around the world -- educators, outreach and engagement professionals who use our mezuzahs to build relationships with recipients and move them forward in their own Jewish journeys. Those relationships were very much in-person, and without the opportunity to meet people at their front door to help put up a mezuzah, the value of a mezuzah for our partners dissipated as they pulled back from in-person engagements. This was how MyZuzah had always operated, but with the door literally shut in our face, how could we continue to grow in pursuit of our mission to put a kosher, fair-trade mezuzah on the front door of every Jewish home across the globe?

We paused, to examine the true ikar/essence of our value proposition -- is it the offer of a kosher, fair-trade mezuzah, an opportunity to engage people in conversation and learning or something deeper? Every time an individual asks for a mezuzah, we encourage our partners to deliver not only the physical item but also the history and meaning of the mezuzah and the obligation to maintain it. Would the messages be watered down in the absence of an in-person meeting?

The MyZuzah team decided to jump forward and seize the opportunity, moving our program onto Zoom and scheduling time with mezuzah recipients to virtually walk them through the mezuzah dedication process, weaving in our value during the 10-15-minute call. 

While COVID-19 has certainly isolated people during the pandemic, we took this as an opportunity to bring people together, switching from one-on-one appointments to large group dedications, something that we never considered before. This allowed us to create a sense of connectedness and Jewish unity with more than just words -- we drew links between Jewish homes from Alabama to Alaska, Brooklyn to Boston, California to Canada (and even Toronto to Tallinn), having people introduce themselves on the call and exchange their own stories of why and how they came to MyZuzah. We were able to demonstrate how connected we are as a people through this tradition, learning more about our recipients and creating a sense of community among our mezuzah recipients - a microcosm of the larger Jewish community. 

One recipient from Washington State recently told us that his mezuzah reminds him of his Jewish identity and history. “It sounds cheesy,” he said, “but having this simple connection to millennia of history all over the globe feels comforting, like I'm part of the tapestry of Jews again.” 

As the feedback from recipients about this new communal experience came back overwhelmingly positive, our team sat down to consider how to improve. In consultation with our trustees and the talented educators at the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge (JEIC) we sought to tear down the simple pilot script and craft a virtual experience that centers on building community. We developed an educational experience that welcomes people and builds bridges between the many and diverse recipients of our mezuzahs. Their appreciation of the mezuzah as a connection point has been truly eye-opening for us. 

On top of our own virtual dedication experience, MyZuzah began to encourage our partners to join us in creating new digital programs for their unique mezuzah efforts. By collaborating with each partner and applying MyZuzah’s newly developed expertise in program design, we are pushing the boundaries of what MyZuzah is able to offer to our valued partners and enthusiastic recipients. 

Since November, hundreds of recipients have participated in partner programs, and we are excited to continue building meaningful community with our mezuzahs leading the way. MyZuzah, it seems, has managed to weather the inhospitable climate of the past year, and thanks to some introspection, quick pivoting and collaboration with fellow educators, has not only emerged into a beautiful flower, but has encouraged a field of other seedlings to flourish.