Usually, a mezuzah is a sign of a Jewish house — but imagine stepping closer to see that the mezuzah on the door is engraved with a cross. Illustration by Mira Fox/Canva
By Mira Fox
May 31, 2025
There’s a new TikTok trend for Christian influencers: gluing a small, rectangular box with a scroll inside, marked with a cross, that observers can nail to their door frames. Available to buy on TikTok shop, the boxes — called “Grace Marks” — come in gray-marbled white as well as a “terrazzo” confetti-flecked version.
“The only home decor that God actually instructed His people to use,” reads the product description.
If this sounds a lot like a mezuzah, well, it is; if there was any doubt, the Grace Marks are also listed as “Christian mezuzahs.” The scroll has an excerpt from Deuteronomy, like mezuzahs traditionally do, as well as two quotes from the New Testament, one from the gospel of Mark and one from John.
After Oct. 7, actress Patricia Heaton began a campaign called “myzuzah, yourzuzah,” urging Christians to put up mezuzahs as a show of solidarity with Jews. Jews were split over the idea; some felt the idea of Christians putting up mezuzahs, even in solidarity with their Jewish neighbors, was appropriative — the biblical text that instructs Jews to write God’s commandments on their doorposts is generally not understood to apply to non-Jews. But others appreciated the show of support, especially since it was still rooted in the fact that the practice is a fundamentally Jewish one.
This is not the case with the Grace Marks; the product listing complains that “there were virtually no mezuzahs available for purchase that specifically honored the Christian faith,” ignoring the practice’s Jewish roots.
Grace Marks are not the first Christian mezuzah; a Staten Island woman named Karen Goode created Christian “doorpost blessings” with the same idea almost 10 years ago, and another company made “Christzoozahs.” But this time, the idea is getting a lot of flack on TikTok — not just from Jews annoyed about appropriation, but from Christians.
Christians believe that Jesus was the messiah prophesied in Jewish texts; that much is obvious. But what this means, theologically, is that Christians believe that Jesus “fulfilled” God’s laws and commandments — things like keeping kosher, going to the mikveh or, yes, hanging a mezuzah — and made them obsolete. That means taking part in any old commandment, and doing so because it is commanded by God, undermines Jesus’ divinity and power to save.
“We are under the dispensation of Grace. We are no longer under the Law,” reads one representative comment. “As Christians, we’re not supposed to take part in the rituals that were done in the Old Testament,” says another.
Nevertheless, Christians today are increasingly interested in picking up Jewish practices. Online, Christian influencers emphasize Jesus’ Judaism as a reason to take up Jewish traditions and holidays Christianity has historically eschewed. Ideas like hanging a mezuzah are described as though they are exotic practices, newly rediscovered out of a mysterious, ancient past. (“It feels like a relic!” reads one of the reviews for Grace Marks.)
Restorationism — the belief that Christianity has become adulterated, necessitating a return to ancient roots and practices — has appeared throughout Christian history and birthed numerous evangelical movements, particularly during the Second Great Awakening in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Core to most restorationist groups is the desire to reconstruct the early church, and hew to religion as it was practiced by Jesus or the apostles, which they believe is a more authentic form of Christianity. (Claiming to have discovered the most authentic Christianity also helped each new movement argue for its unique value in a field crowded by Christian denominations.)
And, given that Jesus and his followers were Jewish, some restorationist groups mine Jewish practice in an attempt to imitate the early church. The Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-day Saints — better known as the Mormon Church — draws much of its ritual, including the so-called secret underwear, from Hebrew Bible rituals and laws, for example; Jehovah’s Witnesses use a pronunciation of the Hebrew name for God.
While the current increased Christian interest in Jewish practice is still less formalized than some of the restorationist groups from the 18th and 19th centuries, many of which coalesced into named sects with clear tenets and leaders, the restorationist trend is clear. TV shows like The Chosen, which highlights the Jewish laws and traditions of Jesus and his apostles, are wildly popular. Shofars and tallit appear at Christian gatherings regularly, and some Christians have picked up Jewish holidays like Passover.
The Christian mezuzahs are part of this same trend of increased fascination with Jewish practice. They might not have caught on yet — only around 1,000 of them have been sold, at least from that seller, and there was a negative comment for every positive one. But judging by the mainstream popularity of other Jewish ritual objects such as shofars, we haven’t seen the end of Christian mezuzahs yet.
