The other day, the London Council canceled its annual menorah lighting due to safety concerns.

There was such a backlash that they reversed course, but not so in some other municipalities.

The Virginia festival isn't the first to cancel a menorah lighting.
A community council in England cited the war as an ignorant reason for cancelling as well.
The mayor of Muncton, New Brunswick in Canada used "separation of church and state" as his excuse. https://t.co/4xg76f9bJD

— Sam Duncan #EndJewHatred 🟦 (@samslamdunk) December 3, 2023

The London decision was at least predicated on fears of vandalism or even terrorism–there have been several ISIS-related attacks in Europe the past few days–but the decision in Virginia was based on opposition to the war in Gaza.

What, exactly, the war in Gaza has to do with an annual celebration of Hannukah wasn’t made clear, but this is totally consistent with the belief that all Jews are somehow suspect these days.

The Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula is shocked and alarmed at LoveLight Placemaking’s decision to cancel a menorah lighting scheduled for the Second Sundays Art and Music Festival on Dec 10 in Williamsburg – claiming it did not want to appear to choose sides in the Israel-Hamas conflict. To be clear, the menorah lighting, which was to be led by a local community rabbi, had nothing to do with Israel or the conflict.

Yet, appallingly, the event organizer claimed that a Chanukah celebration would send a message that the festival was “supporting the killing/bombing of thousands of men, women, and children,” — and even went a step further, by offering to reinstate the event if it was done under a banner calling for a ceasefire.

We should be very clear: it is antisemitic to hold Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s policies and actions, and to require a political litmus test for Jews’ participation in community events that have nothing to do with Israel. Those standards would never be applied to another community.

As you undoubtedly know by now, I strongly support Israel’s right to defend itself by eliminating Hamas. But even if I didn’t, I would still believe that holding every Jew around the world responsible for the actions of Israel’s government is insane.

It makes no more sense than holding every Muslim responsible for the behavior of Hamas, a claim that would be held in contempt by everybody who is criticizing Jews right now.

It would be called Islamophobic, right? In what way could this be considered different?

A menorah lighting in Williamsburg, Virginia was cancelled because organizers claimed it would send a message that the festival was "supporting the killing/bombing of thousands of men, women, and children.”

Jews have been celebrating Hannukah for more than 2,000 years. The…

— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) December 3, 2023

The irony of Hannukkah is that it is the celebration of events that took place in Jerusalem centuries before the invention of Islam and long before anybody questioned the Jews’ right to Israel.

In the second century BCE, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who tried to force the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of mitzvah observance and belief in G‑d. Against all odds, a small band of faithful but poorly armed Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G‑d.

When they sought to light the Temple’s Menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum), they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks. Miraculously, they lit the menorah and the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.

To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah.

Just who colonized Israel? Not the Jews, obviously.

Many Christians assume Hannukka is similar in importance to Jews as Christmas is to Christians, but it is not. Its symbolic performance in the West is as much tied to its proximity to Christmas as its inherent importance as a holiday. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the High Holidays in Judaism, similar in importance to Easter in Christianity.

The importance of the lighting of the menorah in public spaces is, or should be, symbolic of the recognition of Jews in Western societies as full members of our societies despite religious differences. Conversely, deciding to cancel the public lighting of the menorah has the opposite effect.

Which is what is happening here. Requiring Jews to take a political stand to be recognized as worthy to be considered fellow citizens to be respected is appalling.

But here we are. Jews are once again being “othered.”