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The Mezuzah and The Mensch

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 20, 2007

Anyone who knows Gov. Charlie Crist knows he's a live-and-let-live kind of guy.

So when the governor, a Methodist, hung a mezuzah given to him by a Jewish legislator outside his office door, it was little more than Crist being a good guy (a mensch, some might say) and respectfully responding to a generous gesture.

Crist hung the mezuzah - a small ornate box containing a tiny parchment paper bearing a scripture from the Torah - on the frame of his office door, a traditional location, after receiving it as a gift from Rep. Adam Hasner from Delray Beach, who accompanied the governor on a trade mission to Israel.

Cue the American Civil Liberties Union, which is now demanding Crist take down the mezuzah as a violation of the separation of church and state.

Their offense is more than a bit of an overreach.

The governor is not requiring everyone who enters his office to touch the mezuzah and kiss their fingers, as some observant Jews do. He is not making Judaism the official state religion. Perhaps the only message the governor is sending is acknowledging that all religions have lovely traditions that people of other faiths, or perhaps even no faith at all, can appreciate.

The U.S. Supreme Court rulings on religious symbols on public property have been conflicting, although a common thread in some cases has been to consider the intent of the display.

Clearly, the governor's only intent is to be respectful and grateful. And Lord knows we need more of that in government.

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