I say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
because the enemy oppresses me?”
As with a deadly wound in my body,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.
Psalm 42: 9-11 NRSVue
Through the years I have written many blog entries about Hanukkah, the eight day Jewish festival. Even though lots of Jewish commentators note that it is a minor holiday in the tradition, rising in popularity as an answer to Christmas, the daily lighting of candles as a reminder of a miracle 2200 years ago can be powerful.
I've shared that we have our own Hanukkah menorah, that we often eat latkes during the week, and that when our children were young we'd gather friends for a meal and the reading of Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins.
This year the goblins of anti-semitism have been roaming the world, terrorizing Jewish communities everywhere. The war in Gaza has emboldened cowards to prey on Jews who are far from the state of Israel, shooting at schools, desecrating synagogues, stealing mezuzahs from the elderly, some of whom were Holocaust/Shoah survivors.
Hanukkah 2025 began yesterday with an unspeakable horror, the murder of 15 Jews with injuries to scores more during a celebration on Australia's Bondi Beach. A father and son opened fire on a crowd of celebrants and a rabbi, a father of five children, was among the dead. We are well aware that hatred toward Jews extends back through the centuries, often perpetrated by Christians who ignore the historical truth that Jesus, Yeshua, was born into a Jewish family and never claimed to be anything but a Jew.
Today's psalm reading is from Psalm 42 and concludes with the verses above. It seems so timely. It is incumbent that people who uphold the light in the midst of darkness condemn what has happened. More than this, all of us, including Christian communities must not only reject the hatred of Jews but seek out ways of standing in solidarity with Jewish communities everywhere.
When we moved in Halifax 25+ years ago our home was walking distance to two synagogues, both of which we visited during our time there. I was jolted the first time I saw security outside one of them, realizing that even back then gathering for worship for Jews was not the same as it was for Christians.
At an event last evening in Ottawa PM Mark Carney offered:
"It is not enough to protect the Jewish community. It is not enough for Jewish Canadians to live without fear," said Prime Minister Mark Carney, who represents the Ottawa riding of Nepean, at a Hanukkah event at Ottawa city hall Sunday.
"Canada is not Canada unless all members of the Jewish community can fully participate in all aspects of Canadian life."
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