John and Yoko seemed on to something in 1969
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Put up a menorah! Phoebe Maltz Bovy on the apparent ‘hasbarist undertones’ of existing while Jewish
“Menorahs mean more this Hanukkah amid rising antisemitism: ‘The fear is real'” So reads a USA Today headline from Dec. 18, 2022. Or you can go all the way back to Dec. 22, 2019 and check out this: “‘I would be afraid of being attacked’: Why some Jews won’t put a menorah in their window this Hanukkah,” with the subtitle, “With antisemitism sharply on the rise, the Deseret News talked to more than 50 Jews around the world about whether they will put a menorah in their window this year.”
When I skimmed past stories like those a year or two (let alone four) ago, it seemed a bit much. There was no Kristallnacht situation happening whenever a random North American Jew put a menorah in the window. What basis was there to assume that because there are Nazi trolls on the internet, one cannot celebrate Jewish holidays in public (or quasi-public)?
I don’t think the people hyperventilating about antisemitism in recent years have been proven right, but rather that times have, rather abruptly, changed…
Give this rally idea a chance
Earlier this month, tens of thousands of people from across the continent congregated in Washington, D.C., for a massive rally in support of Israel during their ongoing war against Hamas. Those who attended the event said it was the first time they could relax and exhale after weeks of feeling isolated and defensive.
Perhaps inspired by this American moment of solidarity, Canadian Jewish organizations began planning a similar rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Dec. 4. And while it will likely have a similar effect—uniting Canadian Jews and allies of Israel during a moment of crisis—its focus is deliberately one-sided. The question remains: Can this kind of massive movement extend beyond communities, uniting Jews and Muslims, anyone who believes in both Israel’s and Palestine’s right to exist, at one time?
On Nov. 27, Taylor C. Noakes, a Montreal-based journalist, published an open letter to Mayor Valérie Plante on the website Cult MTL, imploring her to organize a peace rally in a city marred by Molotov cocktails and gunshots recently fired at Jewish institutions. Noakes joins Avi Finegold on this week’s Bonjour Chai to discuss why he feels Montreal, home John Lennon’s famous “bed-in for peace”, would be perfect for a rally to cool temperatures on both sides.
Skim our freshest magazine
We promised our earliest newsletter adopters the first look at this digital edition of the quarterly magazine—featuring contributions from Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy. Give it a flip and then share this newsletter with anyone you know who might be interested in the evolution of Jewish journalism. Coming in 2024: a new name and design for the quarterly publication, sent to your door with a donation.
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