Introducing the ‘Christooza’ — Yes, It’s a Cross Mezuzah.
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Apparently, Christians have mezuzah-envy. Or so it would seem to one Henry Zabarsky, inventor of the “Christooza.”
If you couldn’t guess from the name, it’s a portmanteau of Christian and Mezuzah, or Christooza.
“I was visiting a client in Rockaway,” Zabarsky, a Jewish financial advisor from Queens, told the New York Post. “She’s very religious – Catholic. There were pictures of Jerusalem everywhere, crosses. And I was thinking, Jews have this mezuzah – so why not create one for everyone else?”
Like the mezuzah, the Christooza is a hollow case that is affixed to the doorway of a house. It contains a prayer written in parchment, which blesses the home.
Additionally, Zabarsky welcomes designers to create and send in Christooza designs of their own. The best designs will be chosen and featured for sale on the Christooza website. The designer will receive 10% royalty, and another 10% of profits will go to a Christian Charity of the designer’s choice.
Buy them for all of your Christian friends at christooza.com Prices start at $20.00, blessing included.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
