5/15/2023 0 Comments Where should i put my menorahThe design - a traditional, branched menorah shown burning in a window against a background of falling snow - seemed innocuous enough, even unseasonably fanciful if you live in California, like me. Helping to banish my second thoughts, however, was that new stamp. Was this a wise time to let our light shine? Why was I worried now? Since the previous Hanukkah, nothing had changed in our multi-ethnic and multi-denominational neighborhood, a place where non-Jewish neighbors have wished me “Happy Hanukkah” and, at Passover, “Gut yontif.” But in the uncertain light of political change in our country, I was worried about what was emerging from the shadows: anti-Semitic iconography online, attacks on Jewish journalists, the re-emergence of Jewish conspiracy stories, Jewish college students being confronted with swastikas. In fact, it wasn’t really Hanukkah for me until I walked outside and, looking at the lit menorah emanating from my own window, affirmed that we had arrived to this time once again. Saying the blessings and lighting the candles is a mitzvah, according to the Talmud, and by doing so, we were also recognizing the blessing of our freedom of religion and expressing our Jewish identity. We’ve proudly placed our menorahs - whether lit by candle or by bulb - in our front windows, publicizing the miracle of the holiday both to our neighbors and ourselves. For 17 years we’ve lived on a block where there are no other Jewish families.
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