Boston-area Jews celebrate Hanukkah amid strife abroad and at home

Just before Shabbat service at Temple Israel in Boston, musicians rehearse songs for the eight nights to come. Rabbi Elaine Zecher says with all the loss of life in the Israel-Hamas War, and its ripple effects here, Hanukkah this year carries a special significance.

"We have to believe, especially in this time, in this moment in the calendar year, that there is more love than hate," Zecher said, and "that there is more belief in the goodness of people than the hatred of people."

Hanukkah is considered a minor holiday in Judaism. In some families in western countries, it's a lot about giving Jewish kids a chance to celebrate and receive gifts during a season of omnipresent Christmas.

But it's about much more too, Zecher explained. Hanukkah marks an uprising against Greek rulers who tried to ban Judaism and rename the temple in Jerusalem in honor of the Greek god Zeus.

"The basic story is that in the midst of oppression, in the midst of being prevented from celebrating and being Jewish, the minority rose up over the majority to be able to celebrate," Zecher said.

Still, Hanukkah comes at a fraught time this year. Two months ago, Hamas fighters killed some 1,200 people in Israel, marking the deadliest attack on Jews since the holocaust.

And Israel’s ongoing military response has killed more than 16,000 people in Gaza, according to health officials there. Here in the states, the war has sparked protests on school campuses and in the streets. Emotions are running high on both sides, and reports show a spike in antisemitic and Islamophobic threats and incidents since the war began.

"Something is afoot that makes us more vulnerable," said Rob Leikind, who heads the American Jewish Committee's New England office. "All of a sudden there's a sense that we have to be careful now."

Leikind said Jewish places of worship are on alert.

"Many synagogues, which always had their doors open from early in the morning 'til late at night, now they're all locked," he said. "Everywhere you go, they're locked."

At Congregation Beth Shalom of the Blue Hills in Milton, visitors are being asked to let the office know if they're planning to go to temple. Beth Shalom’s Rabbi Alfred Benjamin said the current environment calls for such "necessary adjustments."

He also said the need for security precautions goes way back in Jewish history.

"In the rabbinic codes, there's a caveat that we shouldn't put the [menorah] in the window during times of persecution, where the result of having that in the window could bring danger," he said.

"Something is afoot that makes us more vulnerable. All of a sudden there's a sense that we have to be careful now."

Rob Leikind

But Benjamin said he’s not going to cower or tell people not to display their menorahs.

"It is a mitzvah," he said. "It is considered part of the tradition that when a person lights the Hanukkah menorah, that they put it in the window."

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In Milton, Meredith Talbot and her husband David Litvak take that message to heart. One night this week, they sat at their kitchen table displaying menorahs they've collected over the years. Litvak pointed out that they’re the only Jewish household in a neighborhood of homes with a lot of twinkling Christmas lights.

While their house may look a bit darker in comparison, he said, "Hanukkah is a time when we can put our menorahs — our lights — in the window and embrace our Judaism. And also share in the light of the street."

Both Litvak and Talbot are doctors. They said since the war began, anti-Israel and frequently anti-Jewish sentiments have surfaced in many aspects of their lives. Litvak said that’s why he has even more resolve this year to display their menorah.

"I don't have reservations," he said. "I'd say right now it's the opposite. I desperately want to show that I'm Jewish."

At a time when many Jews are feeling isolated, Litvak said, Hanukkah provides a reason to come together with friends and family — and to connect on a deeper level with the Jewish community.