Am Yisrael Chai/The People Israel Live

Wishing You a Courageous Hanukkah

I was about to give a talk on Hanukkah this morning when my wife told me about the slaughter of fifteen Australian Jews and the injury of forty others at the Chabad Hanukkah Menorah lighting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.

I checked the news online as the community settled in. The more I read, the more upset I became. I had a strong feeling of being under attack.

I checked my email and texts to see if anyone had reached out about this. Condolences on the eve of Hanukkah would have been thoughtful.

Nothing.

Calm down. Most people probably haven’t heard of this, and even if they have, why would they reach out to you since you’re not Australian?

No, but I am a Jew, and they are killing Jews — we are all under attack.

As I write this, I don’t know who “they” are, but I’ll tell you who they aren’t: they aren’t Pope Leo’s Swiss Guard. That’s the only group I’m sure of. Everyone else—Black or white, Christian or Muslim, fascist or antifascist, leftist or Tucker Carlson/Candice Owens, Heritage Foundation “conservative”—we Jews seem to be fair game to all of them.

Wait. Take a breath. Check your email again. Maybe someone contacted you to see how you’re doing... Damn!

Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, said, “An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.” No, it isn’t. It’s an attack on every Jewish Australian.

Dionne Taylor of the Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council said, “This is an attack on the whole of Australia.” No, it isn’t. It’s an attack on every Jewish Australian.

This was an attack on Jews in Australia by individuals in Australia who wanted to murder as many Jews as possible simply because they are Jews.

After the brutal slaughter by Hamas terrorists of 1200 people, most of them Jews, at the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023, anyone who believes that murdering Jews will improve Israeli policy toward the Palestinians is a fool. After the IDF killed tens of thousands of Gazans, anyone who kills a Jew hoping to “Free Palestine” is simply a Jew-hater with a verbal tic. The slogan is performative; the murder is the point. If you want to kill Jews, be honest about it, but stop slandering Palestinians by doing it in their name.

If you are a Nazi or some other die-in-the-wool Jew hater who wants Jews dead because it is our fault that you can’t hold a job or get a girlfriend, fine. But just so you know, killing us won’t help. You being a loser is your fault, not ours. And even Nazi women know that.

What should we Jews do? Considering how difficult it is to move to Canada, I used to advise Jews to consider relocating to Australia. After the massacre of Jews on Bondi Beach, Australia is no longer a safe option. And the rise of antisemitism in France, Britain, and the United States makes living in those countries feel very unsafe. I’ve heard Viktor Orbán’s Hungary is protective of its Jews, though if history is any guide…

Of course, if you’re okay with shifting from being the victim to the perpetrator, there’s always Israel, but personally, that’s a step too far for me. At least for now.

So, what should we do? I don’t know. For now, I’m going to light our three hanukkiot (Hanukkah menorahs) and place them in the windows facing the street to show that, despite the deadly pogroms at Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh (October 27, 2018), a kosher grocery in Jersey City (December 10, 2019), El Ghriba Synagogue in Tunisia (May 9, 2023), Neven Yaakov Synagogue in Jerusalem (January 27, 2023), the Nova music festival in Israel (October 7, 2023), and Bondi Beach (December 14, 2025), AM YISRAEL CHAI (“the People Israel lives”), and to say hinneni (“Here I am”) to anyone who might pass by.

I can’t wish anyone a “happy” Hanukkah tonight. But I can wish you a courageous one.