December 6, 2023

"Between the stimulus and response, there is a space. And in that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom" - Viktor Frankel

Standing in our nation’s capital earlier this week with close to 20,000 members and friends of our Canadian Jewish community was an extraordinarily powerful experience. The feeling of unity, strength, and hope emanating from the stage and the crowd was palpable. I have heard from so many of our 4,000+ community members who journeyed from Montreal that while the program was long and the weather was less than perfect, the atmosphere, messaging, and feeling were uplifting. 

While we were calling for the release of our hostages and the end to antisemitism in Canada, a small group of actors were standing on the street waving a Palestinian flag and inciting hate against rally-goers as they were returning to their buses (I am not referring to the Natorei Karta). As I monitored the interactions between this handful of well-versed and rehearsed actors and our community members, all captured on social media, it was clear to me that the work of psychological terrorism is not only a consequence of their actions but, indeed, a goal. 

One of these pro-Palestinian/pro-Hamas inciters was holding his phone, filming everyone around him and yelling at a group of high school students standing proudly with their Israeli flags draped over their backs – “Go home, kids. This war is not for you. You are young and should be scared. You don’t know what we will do to you.  Run away, you cowards.”   It then hit me like a ton of bricks; he was looking for a frightened reaction, to scare them. Just like the pro-Palestinian activists on the steps of McGill University who boasted about the incident at Concordia University days earlier, “We terrified them!”  That is their goal. To terrify our community. 

And yet, I watched these students stand up against the pro-Palestinian/pro-Hamas rhetoric thrown at them and fight back with words—not anger. They measured knowledge and articulation of a position and not only turned the conversation but also led the inciters/actors to get angry and lose their edge. These students remind us that we are on the right side of history and that these inciters/actors cannot and should not be able to terrorize or terrify us, not at our nation's capital and not at our university campuses. 

As we usher in this Chanukah, a reminder that more than once, the Jewish people have been persecuted and hated by others, we must remember that we are the descendants of the Maccabis. While October 7th seems to be a never-ending day for the Jewish people, there will come a time when the light of our people will shine brighter than the darkness that those who seek to destroy us cast on the world. Chanukah is a stark reminder for us all that light will always overcome darkness, and we have declared to G-d on more than one occasion that we are a people who choose life and light. 

October 7th is a tragedy that has shaken the Jewish world to its core. We are all seeking hope out of despair and light through these dark days. Let us use this tragedy to remind us of the words of Viktor Frankel in his book Man’s Search for Meaning: “Between the stimulus and response, there is a space. And in that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom”. The Jewish people will emerge stronger from this tragedy. We will grow and, as we have done for generations, be a beacon of light for the nations. Our response cannot be fear or intimidation, but our beliefs, values, strength, resilience, and fortitude will lead to our growth and freedom. 

In a world where being Jewish, whether in Israel or around the world is under attack, this year lets join together, embodying the essence of Chanukah, bringing light, unity and hope.

This Chag Chanukah, let us light our candles brightly in our windows and show the world, just like the students in Ottawa and our students on campuses, that we are not afraid. We are resilient and strong, and our light will break through the darkness cast upon earth by our enemies.

Chag Chanukah Samech and Am Yisrael Chai