What was not widely publicized were earlier actions in September of 1993, also motivated by hate groups. The action gained international publicity. In an act of solidarity, the people of Billings responded by cutting out menorahs posted in the local paper and taping them to their windows. On the night of December 2, 1993, in Billings, Montana, white supremacists trafficking in hate, heaved a cinder block through five-year- old Isaac Schnitzer’s bedroom window. Rather than try to find a match to light her potato menorah, she and her friend chose to, “light the flame of hope within us.” Gerda kept alive her traditions and preserved her humanity, in the face of horrific brutality. She sacrificed her ration of a potato and secretly made a menorah from it. Gerda Weissman, a teenager, separated from both her Polish parents and taken to a forced labor camp, miraculously found the will to celebrate Hanukkah. The family’s daughter, Mona, became Norbert’s protector and the two remain lifelong friends. The restaurant owners acted out of compassion, despite the risk of imprisonment, execution, or deportation. In German- occupied Belgium, young Norbert and his mother, Leah, were sheltered by restaurant owners after Norbert’s father was taken by the Nazis. However, both Christians and Jews engaged in spiritual resistance against the Nazis. During World War II, European Christians celebrated Christmas in their warm homes, while Jews were starving, freezing and dying, imprisoned in nearby ghettos. The program’s haunting photograph of a menorah in a window of a Jewish home with a Nazi flag in the background illustrated Jewish vulnerability. “Hope During the Holidays,” shared the stories of Jews who observed Hanukkah against the backdrop of the Holocaust. I watched a zoom program recently sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It’s difficult to hear about today’s antisemites without bein,g reminded of the Holocaust. Reports of antisemitism are triggering for many Jews. Displaying a menorah in one’s window, wearing a kippah (Jewish skullcap) or a Star of David can be dangerous in a country that was founded on the principle of religious freedom. Jewish institutions have been vandalized with swastikas and offensive language. They also keep company with antisemitic extremists. Members of Congress and the former president have used antisemitic tropes to characterize Jewish people. Jews have been murdered, assaulted, harassed. (Algemeiner, May 26, 2022) Antisemitism is real and it’s frightening. reached record highs in 2021, according to an audit compiled by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which shows a 34% increase from 2020. Menorah vandalism is yet another form of antisemitism. A menorah was vandalized in downtown Lancaster in 2021. The menorah at The University of Cincinnati Jewish Center was vandalized for the fourth time. A GoFundMe campaign raised $18,000 to replace a menorah vandalized by two “intoxicated students at Colgate University.” A Dartmouth College student shot a public menorah on the green with a BB gun. In the last couple of years, a New York hate crimes unit is probing the recent vandalism of a menorah in Queens. Menorah vandals have targeted public menorahs. Yet, some Jews think twice about letting the outside world know that theirs is a Jewish home. For me, it’s a meaningful way to share with others my wish to let the lights of freedom shine for all people. Jews traditionally place their menorahs in the windows of their homes. When non-Jewish friends ask me about Hanukkah, rather than explain the history, I share the miracle of a holiday that focuses on bringing light to the world at the darkest time of the year. Hence, Hanukkah is often referred to as The Festival of Lights. To reimagine this miracle, Jewish people are instructed to observe Hanukkah by lighting a candle on their menorah each night for eight nights. Apparently, there was only enough oil to burn for one night, but as the story goes, the Menorah burned for eight nights. In gratitude for their hard-won freedom, the Jewish hero, Judah Macabee and his brothers rededicated the Second Temple, by lighting the Temple’s Menorah. against Greek/Syrian repressors, who had forbidden them to practice Judaism, ordering them to worship Greek Gods. Last night was the first night of Hanukkah, the holiday that commemorates the Jewish revolt around 200 B.C.
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