Chabad-Lubavitch of Williamsburg Rabbi Mendy Hebor leads a menorah lighting at William and Mary.
by Ken Reid
Thursday night is the final night of Chanukah, the eight-day Festival of Lights that I (and millions of Jews across the world) celebrate, to mark the miracle that occurred when the 2nd temple was restored following a rebellion by religious Jews against secular Hellenistic Jews and their Greek-Syrian allies in the 160’s BCE.
Because of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, in which 1,200 Israelis and other nationals were murdered by Hamas thugs, Chanukah has a really special meaning this year – bringing “light” to conquer the “dark” (i.e. Hamas).
But while the ongoing war has united Israelis, and probably most Jews worldwide, there is a deep divide in the U.S. and other nations on whether Israel’s response in Gaza is inhumane; some 18,000 Gazans have died in Israel Defense Force (IDF) aerial bombing and ground attacks. The pressure, mostly from the far Left, for a permanent ceasefire keeps pressing on,
Enter the controversy about lighting a menorah in public at a recent Williamsburg arts festival.
There, the board of the festival voted not to allow CHABAD of Williamsburg to light a menorah at the festival, thinking it was a one-sided political statement for Israel. Arguments also were made that this is a religious holiday, and the festival was to be secular – although Christmas decorations and Christmas stuff abounded there But then a sop was thrown at Rabbi Mendy Heber to have a pro- ceasefire message there as equal time.
Kerry Dougherty’s article on the controversy is here but a more detailed article in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency is worth reading. too
Chabad moved the menorah lighting to the William & Mary campus, but the incident went viral. Gov. Glenn Youngkin denounced the arts festival’s ban and Chabad has complained to the Virginia attorney general’s anti-Semitism task force.
Is the menorah a religious or political symbol, both, or neither?
I lived through this controversy in my final years on the Leesburg Town Council and in my first year as a Loudoun County Supervisor (2010-2012), when there was considerable controversy over whether religious symbols could be on the Loudoun County Courthouse lawn. Atheist groups said no, but got the outgoing Democrat board to allow all displays – including large atheist billboards equating Christ and God with the mythical Flying Spaghetti Monster.
But in 2011, a young atheist student applied (and was accepted) to put a skeleton in a Santa suit crucified and religious groups went nuts. At this point, that board was on its way out, and we (Republicans all) were on our way in.
Chairman Scott York found a ruling by then-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, which was well-researched and cited case law, which basically said a creche can be put on public property if it’s accompanied by other symbols of the season – i.e., a Christmas tree and menorah.
Our board decided not to include the hand-made creche but devised our own publicly financed cardboard cutout displays showing a menorah, Nativity scene, Santa Claus, and Christmas tree. These are used on the Loudoun lawn to this very day.
But in November 2012, the atheists cried foul and threatened legal action. I made the terrible mistake of telling a Washington Times interviewer that they were behaving “like a bunch of terrorists,” when I actually meant “extremists,” and so I was the bogeyman for the Left and in the doghouse for months with my colleagues, despite apologizing profusely for my remarks.
But I learned much from this controversy, including that under a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision, County of Allegheny v. ACLU, the menorah is not considered a religious symbol.
According to this article in The Forward, a left-leaning Jewish news service: “A majority of the Supreme Court ultimately concluded the Christmas tree was there as ‘a secular celebration of Christmas coupled with an acknowledgment of Hanukkah as a contemporaneous alternative tradition’.” The justices did not see the displays as an “endorsement” of a specific religion.
The creche, however, is a different story. Courts have upheld that it’s a religious symbol and if presented on public grounds it has to be accompanied with a menorah, tree and other displays – and none bigger than the other. It’s known as the “reindeer rule” — “an assumption that a religious nativity scene can survive a court challenge if it is part of larger holiday display that contains secular symbols or symbols from other religious traditions.”
I personally find this ironic because the creche is merely a Western artistic rendition of what the birth of Jesus MAY have looked like, while the menorah is mentioned several times in the Torah – it was the eternal light of the first and second temples; “the lampstand.”
But I suppose the Jewish groups had better lawyers in that case, and what’s in the Bible or not in the Bible doesn’t constitute law. So, in succeeding years, public menorah lightings have been done on public grounds across the nation. Same with tree lightings. Creche placements have been far more controversial, largely with atheist groups ready to pounce if they see one on public property.
But is the menorah a political symbol and statement of support for Israel?
I would say no, but Chanukah is a political holiday, not just a Jewish version of Christmas so Jewish families can feel part of the season of Advent. Chanukah is not one of the holidays mentioned in the Torah because the Old Testament was closed out before the Greco-Jewish war around 167 BCE.
A 2022 Heritage Foundation article goes into detail about how Chanukah and the Maccabean revolt resemble today’s Culture Wars and Blue-Red/secular-religious divide, so I won’t bore you, but the resulting rebellion led to an independent state of Israel under the Hasmonean dynasty that lasted until the Romans destroyed the 2nd temple in 66 CE.
Today, most of us don’t really think about this when lighting candles, but there’s no question given recent events that this Chanukah has a lot more political meaning. I have attended a number of CHABAD Chanukah events and there is much mention of the Oct. 7 attack. It’s not just dreidels and latkes this year, so maybe this is why the Williamsburg arts festival people were concerned.
Canceling without giving Rabbi Heber some parameters was bad form, but it’s something we will continue to see as secularism and constitutional issues collide with the practices of religious faith and its expression in public places.
Ken Reid is a former Loudoun County supervisor and Leesburg Town Councilmember who was the GOP nominee for State Senate in District 37 in Fairfax County in 2023. He also is a journalist by trade, and published newsletters in the FDA field for 30 years.
