CHANNUKAH #2 5786

Bondi Beach

Last Sunday the Jewish world trembled—in a way not seen for a very long time—when 2 radical Islamists opened fire on the Jewish community of Bondi Beach Australia killing 16—a child, a Holocaust survivor, a retired policeman, and Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger among them—with 42 wounded.

Ok, we’re trembling now, but wasn’t Oct. 7^th a greater tragedy? Yes, but that was in Israel where these terrible things happen—not in our comfortable diaspora communities. The Australian Jewish community, in many ways, is much like Atlanta. The Jewish world is trembling because if it happened in Bondi Beach, it could happen anywhere.

Having said that, however, America is not Australia, nor England nor France. Australian anti-Jewish rhetoric—as in Europe—has, for the most part, gone unchecked since Oct. 7^th. The Australian Jewish community’s warned its political leaders that this might happened but were ignored. Sunday’s attack shows the tragic consequences when such hatred is normalized—when Jews are targeted, harassed, discriminated against and worse.

Yoni Bashan, an Australian columnist, writes in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal: Now they’re all shocked??? … The progressive activists. The influencers…The podcasters. All those … who’ve made “Zionism” synonymous with racism and slavery and every conceivable sin … Who marched … holding a sign that said, “Globalise the Intifada.” Now they’re shocked? Well, congratulations. The intifada’s here. Mission accomplished!

What exactly did you think “intifada” meant? It means [Jewish] blood. It has always meant [Jewish] blood.

Bashan goes on to note how such Australian leaders, influencers and academics are now sending “love, care and solidarity” to the Jewish victims … when earlier this year they said, “Jews who support genocidal Israel have no claim or right to safety.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center statement on Bondi Beach adds: Rhetoric emanating from [Australian] Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office that stigmatized and demonized Israel, helped normalize antisemitism at home and lower the threshold for violence against Jews. Yes, that was the PM’s office!

Bashan’s article continues: When people talk about Russia and its war in Ukraine, none of it metastasizes into graffiti on Russian restaurants. Into harassment of Russian students. Into boycotts and fire-bombings. Or bullets on beaches. But with Israel? With Jews? It always does ... You don’t get to globalize the intifada and then act all surprised when it finally shows up.

Even Sydney’s police got into the act. After the shootings began, it took 20 minutes for the police to respond. The 4 policemen at the site cowered and hid instead of defending the people—in this case Jews—they were sworn to protect. Later they said it was because they only had pistols while the shooters had long guns. So what? Ahmed al Ahmed, an unarmed Moslem disarmed one of the shooters!

Here’s more news about radical Islamist attacks. Last Saturday, 3 Americans were killed and 3 wounded by an ISIS terrorist attack in Syria. The day before, Germany foiled a radical Islamist attack on a Christmas Market in Bavaria. Following the Bondi Beach attack, Polish authorities foiled an ISIS-inspired plot to attack a Christmas market in Lublin. Citing a “very high terror threat,” Paris cancelled New Year’s Eve celebrations on the Champs-Elysees. In the USA, the FBI arrested 5 for a pro-Palestinian plot to bomb Los Angeles and New Orleans on New Year’s Eve!”

So yes, the world—especially the Jewish world—is trembling! And rightly so. What’s happening is so disturbing. We must remain vigilant. But as vigilant as we can be, we must never forget—to paraphrase the classical Medieval work Chovot HaL’vavot — “Darkness is a coward. Shine a little light and it runs away.” [Repeat]

With that in mind, I’d like to share with you an inspiringly wonderful Chanukah story from Billings Montana—of all places, that filled the world with light. It happened 32 years ago, but it still inspires. And I think, it still accurately portrays the American spirit (Antisemitism and the Montana Menorahs, Daniel Freedman, WSJ 12/10/25):

In 1993 Billings, Mont., was rocked by antisemitic attacks … They desecrated the Jewish cemetery and made bomb threats against the synagogue. Then they threw a brick through the bedroom window of a 5-year-old Jewish boy, Isaac Schnitzer, aiming for the menorah on the windowsill.

The police advised his mother, Tammie, to take down her Hanukkah decorations to avoid drawing attention. That didn’t sit well with Tammie. She expressed her concerns to the Billings Gazette, which printed them. How, Tammie asked, could she explain to a child that today in America Jews must hide their menorahs—especially during a holiday celebrating their freedom to worship?

Margaret MacDonald, a Christian resident of Billings, agreed. She called her pastor, Keith Torney, and asked if the children in Sunday school could draw menorahs and display them in their windows in solidarity with their Jewish neighbors. Torney loved the idea and encouraged other churches to join in.

The initiative caught fire. Hundreds of hand-drawn menorahs appeared in windows around Billings. After the Gazette published a full-page picture of a menorah for readers to cut out and tape to their windows, the hundreds turned into thousands. Even local businesses joined in. The antisemites put up a fight—firing shots into a local Catholic school and smashing the glass panes of a church—but the volume of solidarity overwhelmed them. They eventually retreated from the town.

This solidarity cuts to the heart of Hanukkah ... The Maccabee warriors fought to worship Gd freely—a right that underpins the American experiment. When the non-Jews of Billings put up their menorahs, they were standing up for religious liberty for all.

Today across the world, synagogues and Jewish symbols are again under attack, and … [while] advice from well-meaning authorities may be to hide their Hanukkah lights, the correct response is for everyone to make the light brighter, together.

Isn’t that an amazing story? Lest you think the spirit of Billings Montana is a thing of the past, Hannah Feuer writes in the Forward that, “In the wake of Sunday’s attack … in Sydney … non-Jews are placing menorahs in their windows as a visible show of support for their Jewish neighbors.” In the aftermath of Oct. 7, Adam Kulbersh founded “Project Menorah”—an initiative that encourages non-Jews to display menorahs in their windows as a way to fight antisemitism. The practice gained traction drawing thousands of participants in all 50 states. After Sunday’s attack, Kulbersh noted a surge in social media activity around this idea.

Sadly, we Jews have a long history of Hanukkah overlapping with tragedy and loss. But we also have a sacred tradition of finding faith despite our circumstances, and of stubbornly insisting on adding more light even when enveloped by darkness.

My friends, our hearts and prayers are with the Jewish community of Australia. We pray for the families of those murdered, for the complete recovery of those injured, and for the healing of all who have been traumatized. As we light Chanukah candles this year—there are 2 more nights—we’ll not be ignoring the darkness the terrorist attack created. To the contrary. We’ll be demonstrating the Gdly truth that, “Darkness is a coward. Shine a little light and it runs away.” Amen!