DECATUR, GA — A bloody massacre on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia and across the globe the tragic double murder of celebrated filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife Michele (both also Jewish)...brought a somber start to the holy lighting of candles on the first night of Hanukkah in 2025.
At Bondi Beach, a father and son opened fire on a crowd celebrating the start of the high holy days of Hanukkah. Thirteen people were killed, with 42 others seriously injured. In Brentwood, California, on the west side of Hollywood, a son who has spent most of his life fighting addiction, effectively ends his life, as he has known it, slaying his father and mother in their beds at home...and that same Sunday evening, the first night of Hanukkah, 2025.
I was blessed as a child and young man to have a family who welcomed all into our home, who encouraged curiosity and learning and building friendships and relationships all across the world we came to know. My first school crush, in the 3rd grade, was dark-eyed, raven haired Jackie Light. She never paid much attention or had any interest in me. I would later learn that she was Jewish. My first love in childhood, Nikki, and still a lifelong friend to this day, was also a Jewish girl, in the days that I did not yet understand Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvahs. By the time I became a young man, my first love, Sarah, gave me a wonderful a relationship which straddled more than a decade, another Jewish girl. In some respects it is amazing I didn’t grow up to become a Jewish doctor.
My first of several fraternity little brothers converted to Judaism, and my closest college roommate, again still close, also Jewish. I could go on...The years would expose me to the various segments within the faith, Reform, Conservative...my only real blind spot in terms of personal relationships would be Hasidic Jews. These friendships, as well as a deep appreciation for the history of the Jewish people and their long quest for a homeland caused me to become a long and strong supporter of Israel, without peer as one of America’s most steadfast allies.
And yet, as millions of Americans, across faith and racial lines support the concept, and most often reality of Israel...where are they in support of their neighbors, who also happen to be Jews? Acts of hate and antisemitism have been on the rise for more than a decade. Nearly a century after the rise of Hitler and his Nazi Party, cries of “Where are the Jews?” are not an indicator of a celebration or hearty Mitzvah or Bris...they are a rallying cry for hatred and attacks.
Yes, America helped to create and since then secured the nation of Israel, often from attacks by its own neighbors, and I will salute the Trump Administration and its recent work towards peace in Palestine, bringing a cease fire between Israel and Hamas. And yet, the same President, who oversaw the brokering of that historic accord, including the support of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and other Arab states...cannot muster simple words of kindness, empathy and support for the attempted slaughter of dozens of Jews on another allied beach at the onset of several of their highest holy days? Or in response to the brutal murder of one of Hollywood’s most talented filmmakers...a man who gave us all The Princess Bride, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men to name only a few. Mr. President, I can also strongly recommend you might pick up more than a few pointers viewing, The American President, with Michael Douglas better filling the role which you now occupy (another great film from Rob Reiner).
A client of mine, the City of Brookhaven, found itself becoming the site of anti-semetic graffiti, fliers and the like just over a year ago. As the pandemic drew to a close, their last of City Council meetings via Zoom and public comments from same came to an end in a flurry of anti-semetic, yet anonymous Zoom participants attacking city leaders for the adoption of an ordinance around Hate Speech and acts of anti-semitism. My ears could almost not believe the hate clearly spewing from speaker after speaker...
The election of President Barack Obama, though proof of great progress by our nation on several fronts, did not prove or end racial prejudice or acts of racism in America. The death of Hitler and Nazis fleeing to Latin America or living new lives with buried pasts in America did not erase anti-semitism. In many ways the hatred, by those who hold that so close to their hearts, only seemed to foment and ferment over those many years since.
My daughter Olivia and I were blessed and pleased to be invited to a Christmas Pageant on the same Sunday of these acts of tragedy elsewhere. Our host was a lifelong friend, community leader, and the first women CEO of DeKalb County government, as well as later a State Senator, but still best known to me as our beloved neighbor and dear friend of my grandmother Mary L. Crane, the one and only, Liane Levetan.
Now nearing 90, Liane is still active, vibrant and leading, even in her new home of only a few months, a CCRC retirement community in Decatur, Georgia. Liane, literally the new gal on the block, assembled a full on Christmas cavalcade within the central lobby of her new home, with nearly 100 residents and guests on hand to witness a concert level pianist, Ms. Clarice, accompanied by a small ensemble, a ballet group and later a quite talented senior choir, on-key and in high spirits, bringing the holidays and Christmas to Decatur, Georgia on that Sunday afternoon.
Yet Liane is also Jewish, and a survivor of the Holocaust, and here she was, organizing a Christmas pageant for her new neighbors, on the first day of Hanukkah. Like the story of Hanukkah itself, Liane is a near perpetual light. She is a human candle lighting the way for others. The second temple in Jerusalem was the central sanctuary for Jewish worship for centuries. Two centuries before the birth of Christ, a group of Jewish Freedom Fighters, the Maccabees, reclaimed the temple from Greek-Syrian invaders who had desecrated it. They celebrated this rededication with a miraculous eight-day Menorah lighting, with only one-day’s worth of sacred oil, symbolizing light overcoming darkness as well as the perseverance of the Jewish faith and tradition.
The Maccabees are long gone, but thankfully there are now folks like Liane, still holding out that candle. I have long been glad to assist her in spreading that light. As we encounter hatred and worse in this world, it is incumbent upon Christians, as Christ too was also a Jew, to stand up and help bear that torch, as well as protect and support those sharing the light. Though I have a feeling Liane Levetan may outlive me, she won’t be with us forever.
We should all look to the Golden Rule (also from the Old Testament) and support and assist our friends and neighbors, as we would hope they would support us. We must stand up and stand beside our Jewish friends, family members and others who support their right not only to worship and exist, but to thrive. As was said in Germany after the mass extermination of millions, who would have been next?
It is never too late to stand in the light and to call out against those who shout from the dark, particularly during this time of year when there are so many other bright lights all around us. Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, blessed Kwanza and all the best wishes in the New Year ahead. Shalom.
