Our community has been in mourning this past week. The murder in cold blood of 15 people attending Hanukkah by the Sea in Bondi Beach. A father and a son, united in their being inspired by ISIS and in their hatred of the Jews, opened fire. We are blessed by the Syrian-Australian Muslim Ahmed al Ahmed, who tackled one of the gunman, wrestled the gun from his grip and turned it on him, thereby saving this from becoming an even bloodier affair. As Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asserted, “At a moment where we have seen evil perpetrated, he shines out as an example of the strength of humanity.”[1] Without hesitation he disarmed the terrorist, saving people’s lives because it was the right thing to do. Ahmed is a modern Maccabee.

Unfortunately, some were not so fortunate. Eli Schlanger, brother of Bakersfield Rabbi Shmuly Schlanger, was murdered. Arsen Ostrovsky, a survivor of October 7, the incoming head of the Australia, Israel & Jewish Affairs Council and brother-in-law of Rabbi Menachem Creditor, was seriously wounded in the attack. Members of our community have checked in with their parents and cousins to ensure that they’re ok, including our congregant Jonathan Lightman and Julian Robinson, whose parents were at the event as well as our former Education Director Orit Morgenstern’s daughter Lior.

Bondi Beach is another example of Jews being targeted for being Jews. You do not need me to recount all the ways our people has been attacked over the past year. What would be more helpful is to remind us what Hanukkah is about and how we need to respond to attacks like the one at Bondi Beach.

Hanukkah is the holiday about standing up to evil. The Maccabees, despite being few in number, fought the Syrian Greeks and prevailed using grit and guerilla warfare. They refused to give up their traditions. This Hanukkah we need to emulate their example. Rather than despairing and surrendering, we must fight for who we are and for what we value.

Haviv Rettig-Gur, with whom I went to high school with, had an amazing podcast “Miracles in the Dark. A Response to Bondi.”[2] In his podcast Haviv referenced the Haftarah from Aharei Mot where the prophet Amos says הלא כבני כושיים אתם לי בני ישראל נאם ה-הלא את-ישראל העליתי מארץ מצרים ופלישתים מכפתור וארם מקיר-“Aren’t you to Me like the children of the Cushites, O Israel? -the words of Gd-have I not brought up Israel from the land of Egypt, the Philistines from Caphtor and Aram from Kir?”[3] In other words, don’t think you’re so special, Israel. You are not the only ones who have been redeemed. Haviv’s understanding is Amos is saying to Israel, “your chosenness is a responsibility and not a pedestal. There are other redemption stories, and they are divine as well. Failure and success are a choice.”[4]

What choices should we make at this moment? For me it was clear as day that this of all years I needed to go to a Chabad Menorah Lighting. I would not let those who seek our destruction win. They are terrorizing us precisely to stop public gatherings. Hanukkah is about פרסומי ניסא, publicizing the miracle, and that is precisely what needs to be done. The “be a man in the street and a Jew in your home” of Judah Leib Gordon never worked for me-though another time I’ll tell you how that line in a roundabout way led me to become a rabbi.

As we continue with the Festival of Lights, I urge each and every one of us to choose the path that will allow our light to shine forth. If we truly feel that we have a special light with a miraculous glow, then we must come together to shine it forth especially at times of darkness and despair. We need to do our part to carry our torch, or our Hanukkah candle, forward, bringing forth gratitude for life and a joy de verve each and every day. As said by the Chabad rebbe mirroring the words of Bahya ibn Pekuda, “Even a little light can cast out great darkness.”[5] May our light shine forth banishing the evil forces that surround us.

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[1] Millions are pledged to a Syrian Australian man who stopped a gunman and became a national hero

[2] Ask Haviv Anything, Episode 67.

[3] Amos 9:7

[4] Ask Haviv Anything, Episode 67.

[5] Ibid.