A holiday greeting from the East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center

If you ask your average American to name a Jewish holiday, they’re likely to name Hanukkah first. Actually, Hanukkah is a pretty minor Jewish holiday, but it gets great press – and from a Jewish perspective, this is a good thing. Why? Because the core religious obligation of the holiday is to light the menorah with the purpose to publicize the miracle that occurred in the 2nd century BCE, when a little bit of ritually-fit oil lasted eight times longer than it should have. We have been so successful at this, that many non-Jews in America — and Jews too — think this is an important holiday.

To fulfill our obligation, we are supposed to place our menorah in a publicly-visible place. Originally, that was by the side of the front door, but today it is usually in a street-facing window. This, however, has not been the actual practice during a significant amount of Jewish history. Jewish law says that during a time when Jews are in danger, to instead place the menorah on an indoor table where it can be “publicized” to other family members without “outing” a home as being Jewish.

This leaves Jews with a dilemma this year. There has been a huge rise in antisemitism lately. Should we hide our menorot this year or display them publicly? Recently in West Hempstead, a menorah outside a private home was smashed up, doing over $2000 of damage.

Lately, I have heard a lot of Jews talking about removing all Jewish symbols from the outsides of their houses; about hiding or removing their star-of-David necklaces or other Jewish-identifying clothing or jewelry. Is this what it has come to here?  

I don’t think this is the right response. Terrorists want people to be afraid to live their lives normally. Instead, we should be standing up to hate, displaying our symbols proudly in defiance and solidarity. And to our non-Jewish neighbors: understand the anxiety your Jewish friends and neighbors are feeling this year – your solidarity against the hate would be greatly welcomed to help bring a little more light into the world this Hanukkah.

Rabbi Aaron Marsh is the spiritual leader of the East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center.