(JEWISH GROUP) Jessica Tisch affixes a mezuzah to her NYPD office on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

[Behind the Aegis]

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch placing a mezuzah at her office on Jan. 27. Photo by Ana Hanvey/NYPD

Jessica Tisch, New York City’s Jewish police commissioner, on Tuesday affixed a mezuzah to the front doorframe of her office at One Police Plaza, a NYPD spokesperson told the Forward. The brief ceremony took place on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

A mezuzah, a small scroll containing the Shema and V’ahavta in a decorative case, traditionally marks a Jewish home or office as sacred and serves as a public expression of Jewish identity. Tisch made the blessing before putting up the scroll in the presence of a small group of uniformed and civilian Jewish members of the police force.

In a statement, Tisch called it “a small but meaningful symbol of faith and resilience” that affirms that “Jewish faith and tradition endure with strength and pride” after the Holocaust.

Tisch, 44, comes from one of the city’s most prominent Jewish families. The family name was originally Tichinsky when her ancestors immigrated to the United States from Ukraine in 1904, and it was later shortened as a nickname when her great-grandfather Avraham was cheered as a captain of the City College of New York’s basketball team. Her grandfather, Rabbi Philip Hiat, a Reform rabbi known for his interfaith work, served as a police chaplain in the New York City Housing Authority Police Department.

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[JudyM]

1. Nice.

Watched Holocaust remembrance shows tonight and have been feeling the weight of that...