ANALYSIS
Hanukkah is the story of defiance. It is the story of a people who refused to disappear, a light that refused to go out, and a truth that refused to be silenced. It is the story of the Jewish people—and it is the story of our time.
More than 2,000 years ago, the Jewish people faced annihilation—not just physically, but spiritually. The Greeks sought to erase their identity, outlaw their traditions, and sever their connection to their land. To many, surrender must have seemed inevitable. The odds were impossible, and the cost of resistance was high.
But hopelessness is not part of the Jewish story.
A small band of Jews, the Maccabees, refused to submit. Outnumbered and outmatched, they fought back—not for power, but for the right to exist as Jews. When the dust of battle settled, they reclaimed the desecrated Temple, rededicated it, and rekindled its menorah. The oil they found should have burned for only one day, but it burned for eight. That flame—the flame that defied all odds—burns still.
And yet, two millennia years later, the battle is far from over.
Anti-Semitism is no longer whispered in secret—it is shouted from podiums and spread in algorithms. Synagogues are vandalized, Jews are attacked in broad daylight, and online forums overflow with conspiracy theories that recycle the same ancient lies. On college campuses, the word “Zionist” has become a slur, and Jewish students are forced to defend not only their beliefs but their right to belong. And Israel, the only Jewish state in the world, is singled out for condemnation that no other nation would ever endure.
The message is chillingly clear: Jews are still not welcome. Not in their neighborhoods, not in their institutions, and not even in their homeland.
But Hanukkah teaches us that darkness only wins when we let it.
The menorah’s flame is not a flicker of survival—it is a blaze of resistance. It is a declaration that the Jewish people will not vanish, that their story will not be erased. It burns because, in every generation, Jews have refused to let it go out.
And yet, anti-Semitism has never gone away. It has adapted. In the Middle Ages, it accused Jews of poisoning wells. In the 20th century, it fueled the Holocaust. Today, it hides behind the language of “justice,” weaponizing human rights to deny the Jewish people their most basic right: the right to exist.
Nowhere is this clearer than in the relentless assault on Israel. Why is this tiny nation—the size of New Jersey—held to impossible standards? Why is its fight for survival condemned as aggression? Why, in a world full of true atrocities, is Israel singled out as uniquely illegitimate?
Because anti-Semitism has always been about one thing: erasure.
Erasing Jewish identity. Erasing Jewish history. Erasing the Jewish people. Whether through violence, exile, or delegitimization, the goal has always been the same: to snuff out the light of the Jewish people.
But here is the truth that Hanukkah teaches us: the light will not go out. Not when the Temple was destroyed. Not in the ghettos. Not in Auschwitz. Not today.
Hanukkah is not just a celebration—it is a warning. The hatred that burned synagogues in medieval Europe, that filled train cars bound for concentration camps, that desecrates Jewish cemeteries today—it never stops with Jews. It spreads. Left unchecked, it consumes societies from within, poisoning everything it touches.
This fight cannot be left to the Jewish people alone. History has shown that when anti-Semitism is ignored, it metastasizes. It corrodes the very foundations of decency and justice. And it sends a message to every community, to every minority, that hatred can thrive unchallenged. Indeed, we see this in its modern mutation, where the rhetoric of hate is turned against both Jews and others. Those who target Jews speak of “first the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.” They brand Israel as the “little Satan” and America as the “big Satan.” The message is unmistakable: hatred never stops with the Jewish people—it spreads to all who uphold freedom, justice, and human dignity.
Hanukkah is the story of a people who refused to disappear. It is the story of a light that defied every effort to extinguish it. And it is the story of today.
As the menorah’s flames rise this year, let them remind us of what is at stake. Let them call on us to confront the lies, to push back against hatred, and to ensure that the Jewish people—and their light—continue to shine, now and always.
Because this is the truth of Hanukkah: the darkness is vast, but it is not invincible. The light will endure. But only if we protect it.
Yael Eckstein is President and CEO of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, one of the world’s largest religious charitable organizations. The Jerusalem Post’s 2023 Humanitarian Award recipient and 4-time honoree on its 50 Most Influential Jews list, Yael is a Chicago-area native based in Israel with her husband and their four children
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