Tonight Let's Shine Brighter Than Ever

I’ll never forget learning that Hanukkah in Australia is celebrated during the summer. It was the fall of 2020 at Tablet, and I was paired with a Journalism Fellow named Nomi Kaltmann, who lived in Melbourne. She Zoomed in each morning—the middle of the night for her—and one day casually mentioned her Hanukkah plans: a party on the beach. 

She laughed off my ignorance at life outside North America (and not just Jewish life—in Australia, Santa wears a swimsuit). I made her write about it.

This morning, when I woke up to horrific news of the deadly shooting at a Hanukkah party on the beach in Australia, Nomi was the first person I thought of.

“Like every Jew in Australia, I am in shock and I am horrified that this has happened during Hanukkah,” she told me.

“The fact that something like this could happen in Sydney at a Hanukkah menorah lighting on the central beach of Sydney, Bondi Beach—it's famous, it's the most beautiful beach in the world—it’s really horrific and shocking. It just contributes to the sense that perhaps Jews in this country might not have the future that we thought we did, and it contributes to a feeling of insecurity about whether we can be safe and whether we can practice our Judaism in public,” she added.

“Today is going to be a day which, as an Australian and as a Jewish Australian, is going to change the way I feel and think about this country and I know that so many other people I know are going to have the same feeling.”

You can listen to Nomi on today’s emergency episode of Yonit Levy and Jonathan Friedland’s Unholy podcast.

Micaela Ezra, the Sydney-based founder of Ahyin Judaica, was at a different Hanukkah celebration and was evacuated with her family. She shared a powerful video on Instagram of her family lighting the Hanukkah candles with the following message: 

We came home completely shaken 

but utterly resolved to light candles in their honor,

To bring more light on this achingly dark day.

Hold your hearts

Embrace your loved ones

Light your Chanukah candles 

With the ferocity of a flame 

So tonight, let’s join Micaela—and Jews around the world, and throughout history—in lighting our candles brighter than ever.

Here’s what my dining room looks like in preparation. 

We’ll be back tomorrow with the rest of our Hanukkah coverage.

Shine on,

Stephanie