After string of antisemitic incidents, let your light shine in face of darkness

Over the past six months, the Jewish community of Lexington and Kentucky have endured a varied string of antisemitic incidents. Ranging from repeated neo-Nazi flyers to threats against Jewish leaders, the stories that broke of antisemitic training seminars by law enforcement and acts of vandalism against the Chabad at UK Jewish Student Center, repeated offensive occurrences have taken place that have hurt and upset the Jewish community.

Last weekend, during a menorah lighting ceremony, a member of the Jewish community was injured in an antisemitic laced attack, marring a celebration of a holiday that speaks to the soul of Judaism, celebrating religious freedom, Jewish continuity, and light over darkness.

This Chanukah was already difficult. Gone were the grand menorah lightings, the parties, and the communal celebrations.

COVID-19 has stripped Chanukah of much of the tradition that brought us joy and comfort. And even as vaccines have shipped, it continues to change our world.

One of the most unique changes brought on by COVID-19 was the emergence of the term essential workers. Most essential workers were not in a position of power, or in fancy or high paid jobs. They were not leaders nor celebrities, but nurses, sanitation workers, and truck drivers. They were the ones we needed to hold our society together when it was tested.

The first place I ever heard of the concept of an essential worker, was from my mentor, and the foremost leader of world Judaism in the modern era, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The Rebbe sent his students as emissaries all over the globe, seeking to help those in places that often had never seen a rabbi.

The Rebbe’s logic was simple. Moses only had one mother. Every Jew is essential. Every person is essential.

As we seek how to combat the scourge of bigotry and antisemitism in our society, this lesson looms large.

In 1991, The Rebbe gave a historic address that reverberated throughout the Jewish world.

He spoke about the quest to bring about the Messianic Era, the age of Moshiach. The belief in Moshiach and in his immediate arrival, waiting only on our acts of light, is a central principle of the Jewish faith.

The Rebbe announced: I have done all I can. It’s now up to each of you.

Chanukah is now over, however, the lesson of the Menorah, that light is the only tool to dispel darkness, is needed now more than ever.

There are two ways one can bring light. You can either drive away the darkness or you can create a new light.

To dispel the darkness, we must speak out against bigotry, whether an assault, vandalism, or hateful flyers or words. We must speak out every time. We must leave no question that we as individuals, that we as a city, and that we as a society condemn hateful words and acts.

And to create a light, we must reach out to our neighbors, even if we cannot currently come together physically. We must be a force for light.

If you are a member of the Jewish community, proudly celebrate your faith.

And no matter who you are, be a source of light.

The menorah and the festival of Chanukah have done all they can. Now it is up to each person, and their own essential light.

I began this holiday at the Government Center menorah saying that darkness cannot exist in the face of light. When light shines out darkness retreats. If it seems dark, it is because someone is not shining their light.

It is incumbent upon all of us to do so.

Rabbi Shlomo Litvin is executive director of Chabad of the Bluegrass.

This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 10:13 AM with the headline "After string of antisemitic incidents, let your light shine in face of darkness."