Eagles mezuzahs raise fandom to a higher level

Some regard football as a kind of civic religion, with Super Bowl Sunday its high holy day.

So, it shouldn’t surprise anyone in this frenzied Philadelphia moment to learn that, along with Eagles jerseys, coffee mugs, and socks, one can also purchase Eagles mezuzahs.

Literally meaning “door post,” a mezuzah is a small decorative case that many Jewish families affix to the right door frame outside (and sometimes inside) their homes. Within the case is a prayer from the Torah considered to be the most essential in Judaism. A mezuzah offers a blessing to the house and announces that a proud Jewish family lives there, religious scholars say.

Eagles mezuzahs are being sold by the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall for $85 with a printed prayer, $145 with the traditional handwritten parchment. The cases are laser-cut mahogany and anodized aluminum made by upstate New York artist Glenn Grubard.

“It’s been one of our top sellers as the Eagles tear through the NFL,” said Brady Daniller, director of visitor experience and retail at the museum. “It shows we are celebrating life, at one time thanking God and rooting for the Eagles. It’s lighthearted and serious.

“Of course, we also sell Kansas City Chiefs mezuzahs. But they’re not doing as well.”

Ron Marks, 64, the financial director of a Center City law firm who lives in Upper Makefield Township, recently bought an Eagles mezuzah from the museum for his son, Phil, who purchased his first house in Washington Crossing.

“We’ve been avid Phillies and Eagles fans,” Marks said. “And Phil’s birthday falls around Super Bowl time. The Eagles mezuzah was something special that combined these things, and I wanted to give him something in this new stage of his life with a new home.

“It’s special to have something that connects our interests with something that’s thousands of years old.”

Rabbi Eric Goldberg, director of education at Shir Ami synagogue in Newtown, has lived his whole life in the area as a Philadelphia sports fan, “and it’s fair to say the Eagles are like a religion for many people,” he says.

“And any time we can blend religion and sports, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

His wife, Geri Newburge, senior rabbi at Main Line Reform Temple, Wynnewood, agreed. “Eagles mezuzahs are part of self-expression, and that’s the beauty of Judaism,” she said.

“No one around here would think that, say, a New York Yankees mezuzah is beautiful. But an Eagles one is.”