Daily Herald opinion: Hanukkah’s festival of lights falls in dark time

The eighth night of Hanukkah — tonight for those who celebrate — is when the menorah is at its most beautiful.

Each branch is filled with flickering candles. Eight candles represent the nights of the Jewish holiday; a ninth, called the Shamash, lights the others and glows in a special spot of its own.

This year, however, the festival of lights falls in dark times for the Jewish community.

Hamas holds hostages taken during its brutal attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, which killed more Jews in one day than any time since the Holocaust. Israel is at war in Gaza, with heartbreaking photos showcasing the mounting casualties and destruction.

Closer to home, antisemitism and Islamaphobia are on the rise in the U.S. A 6-year-old Muslim boy was murdered in Plainfield; a Jewish man died during an altercation between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters in California.

Intolerance has flourished on some college campuses, so much so that failure to combat antisemitism — or seemingly condoning it — forced the resignation of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill and ignited calls for others to follow suit.

Jewish students are afraid: 73 percent experienced or witnessed antisemitism since the beginning of the school year, according to a recent survey conducted by the ADL Center for Antisemitism Research, Hillel International and College Pulse.

Muslim students are afraid as well. Last month, three Palestinian college students were shot and injured in Vermont on Thanksgiving break.

For Jews celebrating Hanukkah, it’s enough to have people thinking twice about displaying decorations or joining a public candle lighting. Local rabbis at such gatherings in the suburbs acknowledged the fear, while stressing the need to mark the holiday.

Rabbi Yaakov Kotlarsky, speaking at the Chabad Jewish Center’s annual celebration in Arlington Heights Sunday, was clear in his message: “When confronted with hate, the public menorah lighting is more important than ever.”

At last week’s menorah lighting in Elgin, Rabbi Mendel Shemtov noted the crowd was larger than usual.

“The way to deal with darkness is not by hiding, but by lighting another candle — by adding one more light,” he said.

That’s the idea this year behind Project Menorah, a grass-roots effort to show support for Jewish neighbors at a time when they need it most. People of all faiths can display a menorah in their window by borrowing one or even printing a picture at projectmenorah.com. It’s a small yet beautiful way to send a message to those haunted by the long shadow of the Holocaust and those worried about what the future holds.

Heartbreak permeates both sides of the conflict in the Middle East, and tensions run high. That’s understandable, but we must acknowledge that a common call for one group feels like a threat to another.

There’s a fine line at times between impassioned speech and hate speech. But we must do better at protecting one while clearly condemning the other. We must each try to understand the fear, to call out bigotry and to support and protect those in our communities whose beliefs might differ from our own.

Hanukkah is ending, but may the message of light linger.