Five nights of antisemitism: Is this the most dangerous Hanukkah in recent years?

Hanukkah is potentially the most well-known of all the Jewish holidays, despite not being one of the High Holy Days. This year, however, Hanukkah has been in the news for significantly more harrowing reasons.

It was the second major terrorist attack to occur on a Jewish holiday since the start of the year 5786. On Yom Kippur, two men were killed and three wounded in a terrorist attack outside a Manchester synagogue.

“Let me be clear: An attack on Jews celebrating their faith is an attack on Australia itself,” Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leible told The Jerusalem Post. “It is an assault on our values, our social cohesion, and the basic right of people to gather without fear.”

On the second day of Hanukkah, a 20-year-old Orthodox Jewish man named Menachem Raichman was grabbed by the neck with force while on a New York subway train to Crown Heights. Witnesses reported that the two attackers yelled, “F*** the Jews,” and “I’ll kill you,” at the beginning of the assault. The rest of the incident was recorded.

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) originally investigated the attack as a possible hate crime, but after reviewing video footage, said it had decided it was not a hate crime, but rather an argument over seats.

Many people have disputed this. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said it was “a deeply disturbing hate crime targeting young Chabad men on a train in New York, whose only act was sharing the light of Hanukkah.”

Rabbi Yaacov Behrman told CBS: “It was an antisemitic incident. That’s clear. It’s clear on the video that the attacker who attacked [Raichman] said a derogatory term against Jews. He said it clearly. There’s an audio of it.”

The event in Parliament Square was intended to commemorate the tragedy in Australia and the second night of Hanukkah.

Falter said Khan had tried to stop the vigil, even though Khan had said earlier in the day that he would do everything in his power to keep London’s Jews safe and had asked police to increase protection for Hanukkah events.

“It’s pretty galling,” Falter said. “We’ve just seen the terrorist attack in Sydney, and now we’ve got the mayor of London, instead of solidarity, telling us, apparently, [that the vigil is] too dark. You couldn’t make it up.”

Also on Monday, a Jewish woman named Ariella Harris reported on TikTok that she had found a “Free Palestine” note tucked into her Hanukkah-themed pajamas that were bought for her at Bloomingdale’s by her boyfriend. The pajamas featured Star of David and Menorah patterns.

But to her shock, when she opened the package, she discovered that the note written on a store-branded card had been placed on top of the receipt.

On the third day of Hanukkah, a 35-year-old Jewish man was stabbed in the chest with a knife in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, by an attacker who shouted, “F*** these Jews,” and “I’m going to kill a Jew today.”

The victim, Elias Rosner, was rushed to a hospital.

“I was waiting in a crowd of Jewish people, and this guy started spouting stuff,” he told Fox News on Thursday. “I guess I was the one guy that had the bravery to look him in the eye,” he added.

The NYPD on Thursday said it was investigating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime.

On Wednesday, four individuals were arrested for chanting, “Globalize the Intifada,” during a Palestine Coalition protest in London that evening, shortly after the British government had introduced a new crackdown on such chants.

They were arrested for “racially aggravated public order offenses involving the alleged shouting or chanting of slogans involving calling for intifada,” the police said.

Additionally, a passenger on a flight bound for Sydney was arrested on arrival for making mid-flight antisemitic threats and hand gestures toward a Jewish woman onboard. The woman had lost friends in Sunday’s attack.

Nazih Chahine, 19, was also accused of using his hand to mimic a gun toward the woman during a flight, which departed from Bali.

Chahine was charged with threatening force or violence against members of groups and appeared before a bail court on Thursday. He has been banned from Bondi Beach.

On Thursday, New South Wales Police intercepted two vehicles in southern Sydney in connection with a planned violent act. A police SUV rammed head-on into a small white hatchback driven by the suspects.

Seven men were detained by police.

“At this point in time, police have not identified any connection to the current police investigation of the Bondi terror attack,” New South Wales state police said in a statement.

This Hanukkah has demonstrated the sheer cost of Jewish visibility. On Hanukkah, Jews are commanded to not just light candles, but light them publicly – pirsumei nisa. But the very act of lighting publicly this year has put a target on Jewish heads.

Nevertheless, communities throughout the world have rallied on. Public hanukkiah lightings continue to take place in capital cities worldwide. Vigils have been held in Sydney, London, New York, Tel Aviv, and elsewhere. Jews are insisting on maintaining tradition, regardless of the danger, and holding on to the light in the dark.

Despite fears of what may come over the next few days, the story of Hanukkah teaches us that Jews must continue the fight.