A kind gesture by my neighbor turned a typical Wednesday afternoon into one that touched me beyond measure.
I was driving home from soccer practice, three kids in tow, when I noticed our next-door neighbor flagging my car down. Year after year, this neighbor easily has the best holiday lights display on our small suburban street. My kids relish seeing her candy cane laced sidewalk and the giant rainbow-colored lights that dot her trees. She was actively putting up this year’s holiday décor as I pulled my minivan over and rolled down my window.
“I’m making a Chanukah tree for you and your family this year …” our neighbor exclaimed with a big smile on her face, as she pointed to a big tree in the front of her yard, “… and it will be ALL BLUE and WHITE!”.
The kids were, without a doubt, thrilled at this news, since outside light displays are not part of our family’s tradition. But it wasn’t until later that evening that the thoughtfulness behind this gesture truly hit me …
Being Jewish right now feels a bit uncomfortable and uncertain, to say the least. With the wave of antisemitism happening all over the world, and in particular on college campuses in the US and all across Europe, I find myself vulnerable and worried for many reasons. Broadly, I worry for the safety of Jewish people around the world, and for our freedom to practice our religion without fear. More specifically, I worry what the future looks like for my own Jewish children. I’ve never shared these concerns with my next-door neighbor before, and yet her choice – to put a big blue Chanukah tree in the middle of her front lawn – made me feel undeniably seen and supported. The fact that she could sense the vulnerability that many Jews are privately struggling with was astounding.
My neighbors’ overt and outward show of support for our family and our Jewish traditions is a reminder of how important it is to show up for members of your community, regardless of their differences, and how small acts can have a big impact. This experience also has me reflecting on the true meaning of Chanukah.
Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is an 8-day celebration that commemorates a time in history when the Jews reclaimed their right to religious freedom and their temple in Jerusalem, which had been destroyed during the war. Amongst the rubble, they discovered the temples’ sacred menorah (similar to a candelabra) and enough oil to light it for one night. Yet the light from the menorah continued to burn bright for eight nights. And so, the miracle of Chanukah is the persistence of this light and the will of the Jewish people, despite all odds against it.
It gives me great joy that the light in our neighborhood burns brighter this year than it has in years past, thanks to my neighbors’ show of solidarity. Her kind gesture has left me feeling a little less anxious and with renewed hope that we can learn to accept one another for our differences and live peacefully once again.
