We often assume that the best way to fight hate is to fight it. If we see any sign of Jew-hatred, we must condemn it, call it out, fight back. That seems to make sense—fight fire with fire.
The only problem is that we end up playing on the hater’s turf. We don’t act, we react. We wait for the hate crime, and then we wake up. To the world, that communicates Jewish fear, which conveys not strength but weakness.
The other approach is to play on our own turf, and that turf is to spread light. That is the Jewish calling— individual Jews using their individual gifts to spread their individual light. We each have unique gifts to share to bring a little light to our little worlds.
That is the Jewish calling— individual Jews using their individual gifts to spread their individual light.
There’s no better time to ponder that lesson than tonight— the first night of Hanukkah. The whole idea of displaying the candles so they can be seen from the outside is to remind us that we are all transmitters. We don’t light just for us; we light for those around us.
But here’s the irony—the more we light for others, the more we light for ourselves. By spreading the positive vibes of Judaism, whether on a college campus, a courtroom, a hospital, a Hollywood set, a soup kitchen, in our homes or anywhere we engage with the world, we end up nourishing our Jewish pride.
And there’s nothing more terrifying to a Jew-hater than to see proud Jews.
Happy Hanukkah.
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