Dear Friends,
I hope this note finds you well and having a meaningful and beautiful Chanukah.
I am sharing this Chanukah message that was written for a broader audience. I hope it is of value to you.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/dec/26/allowing-jews-feel-welcome-free-bring-forth-light-/
I met my son in New York’s Penn Station a few months ago. We are observant Jews who have no interest in hiding our identity, and my son was cursed by a fellow rider on the subway to Penn Station, par for the course these days. But as we walked through the station, a gentleman caught our eye and had this to say: “I just want you to know I love you guys.”
He was the exception, the rare person on America’s streets who chose neither hostility nor silence to express his appreciation of Jews.
I am thinking of him as we enter Hanukkah, our annual celebration of religious freedom, burdened by a heavy question: How should Jews celebrate religious freedom while experiencing unprecedented antisemitism? This problem has been grappled with by generations of Jews and now needs to be seriously confronted by Americans.
Hanukkah, which begins the night of Dec. 25 this year, celebrates the Jewish victory over the Greeks in the second century B.C. The Greeks had controlled Jerusalem and prevented Jews from engaging in religious study and observance and from conducting their service in the Temple until the Maccabees — a heroic band of Jewish priests — fought back. They reclaimed their Temple, and the one small jar of oil they found kept the Temple’s menorah candelabra illuminated for eight days.
That menorah symbolized their triumph, and for more than 2,000 years, Jews have lit the Hanukkah menorah to commemorate their restored religious freedom.
Initially, the menorah lighting was itself an expression of religious freedom, as it was placed in the street at the entrance to each Jewish home, but — as noted already in the Talmud — during the frequent periods when such public displays of Jewishness would be dangerous, they would light the menorah inside their homes.
In Inquisition Spain, Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and Saddam’s Iraq, Jews lit their menorahs behind drawn curtains, where the candles burned bright as an expression of their allegiance to their faith and their determination to persevere as Jews despite the hostility of their societal environment.
“Be a man in the streets and a Jew at home.” That was the disastrous and naive guidance of Russian Jewish writer Y.L. Gordon (1830-1892) in his poem “Awake, My People,” in which he called upon his fellow Jews to embrace the welcome that was being extended to them by their host countries and voluntarily limit their engagement with their faith.
Gordon characterized Russia and Europe as “the land of Eden” that was finally ready to treat them as brothers rather than as guests — as long as they didn’t act too Jewish.
Multitudes of Jews followed this approach and ended up abandoning their Jewishness before being slaughtered as Jews. Many Americans have followed the same poor guidance, depriving themselves and their children of an enduring bond with their faith.
Judaism — like any faith — is perpetuated by those committed to living their faith as fully as possible, publicly when welcomed and privately when threatened. Those who, in friendly environments, as the U.S. has been, choose to light their menorahs inside and keep their faith private will not likely remain faithful.
How friendly is the United States to Jewish practice in 2024? For decades, menorah lights have twinkled from the windows of American Jewish homes. Not so fearful as to hide them inside, yet too scarred by their tragic past to bring their menorahs into the streets, Jews found a middle ground between comfort and caution. But now, with antisemitism at unprecedented levels, will American Jews feel secure to continue that practice, or will they be driven to draw their curtains and light their menorahs inside?
This question needs to be answered not by Jews but by other Americans. Judaism will persevere as it has in the past, as those Jews determined to uphold their values of faith and observance will continue to be inspired by the light and warmth of those candles burning bright inside their homes.
But what of America’s streets? Will they be enveloped by a deepening darkness that will not allow those Hanukkah lights to shine forth and illuminate the world with truth, justice, peace and freedom? Or will they continue to welcome Jews as Jews?
As our family lights our menorahs in our front window this year, we will think of the light brought to us by those warm words of a stranger in Penn Station. We believe that he is not alone. Most Americans are ashamed and angered by the darkness brought on this country by the antisemites among us; most Americans want the Jewish community to feel welcome and free to bring forth the light of their faith.
We believe it, but we would benefit from hearing it and seeing it from more Americans. There would be no better Hanukkah gift.
Have a wonderful Shabbos and a Chanukah Sameach. May we be blessed with besoros tovos, truly good news.
Moshe Hauer