Doug Emhoff Shares the Emotional Moment His Father Watched Him Hang a Mezuzah on the VP Residence (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Second gentlemanDoug Emhoffsays the last time he cried was when he watched his father, Michael Emhoff, tear up during a private family moment.

The second gentleman, who made history in 2021 asthe first Jewish spouse of any president or vice president, shares that he most recently cried as he hung a mezuzah on the front door of Number One Observatory Circle — the official vice president’s residence. He said it was a particularly special moment because his father, “a man of few words,” grew teary-eyed first.

“We wanted to have a mezuzah which is, you know, a very traditional Jewish item which has a little Torah portion inside. You put it on your door post, and we wanted to have one at the residence,” Emhoff explains in an exclusive first look, shown above. “Kamala wanted to make sure we did that, and we wanted to find the right mezuzah, so we actually found one from Atlanta that had been at a Temple that Martin Luther King had actually preached at. So, it had kind of a civil rights and Jewish for the two of us… ‘This is the one. Let’s put that out on the front door.’ "

The mezuzah on the door of the vice president’s residence.Doug Emhoff/Twitter;

Emhoff says in the clip that he invited his parents, Michael and Barbara, and his children,Cole and Ella, to be there as he hammered the mezuzah into the door. During the occasion, he noticed his father tear up.

“My father is a man of few words and doesn’t exactly show his emotion all the time,” Emhoff explains. “To see him get teary, watching his son, me, hammer the Mezuzah into his daughter-in-law, who happens to be the vice president of the United States, our home… It was intense.”

In the interview, Acho asks Emhoff what about the moment resonated so deeply with his father.

“I just think he’s a Jew in his mid-80s — he’s born in 1937. His family came from Europe in 1900, half of which died in the Holocaust,” Emhoff explains. “So, to see the journey of a Jewish kid — himself — and being the father ofthisJewish kid, who is now the second gentleman hammering a mezuzah into the vice president’s residence, I mean, that’s the American dream.”

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff kisses Vice President Kamala Harris during a Hanukkah ceremony in the White House on Dec. 1, 2021.AP Photo/Susan Walsh

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

In aPoliticoprofile in 2022, Emhoff spoke about his historic role as second gentleman, and how he’s infused his Jewish identity into the position.

“I went in anticipating: ‘Who is going to care that I’m Jewish?’ " he told the outlet at the time. “I didn’t expect to feel the way I felt about being in this role.”

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff speaks at a U.N. session on combatting antisemitism on Feb. 9, 2023.John Lamparski/Getty

John Lamparski/Getty

His faith ended up becoming a big part of his platform. He has led the Biden-Harris administration’s mission to combat antisemitism and has brought Hanukkah and Passover celebrations to the White House and VP residence.

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“When you see a bunch of kids cheering for someone they see in this position who is Jewish,” he said in the 2022 interview, “I was reflecting, 40 something years ago, if I was in this assembly and you told me there was going to be a Jew married to the vice president, I would have said, ‘There’s no way. There is just no way.’ "

source: people.com