To the Editor:
Hanukkah is a festival of light that takes place during the darkest time of the year, just before the winter solstice. This year has been particularly dark for the Jewish people. We mourn the worst terror attack in Israel’s history, a day in which more Jews were murdered than on any other day since the Holocaust. We struggle in the face of a huge wave of antisemitism in cities and college campuses across America and throughout the world. Jews in Wilton, like Jews all over America, feel a profound and immediate sense of fear that the horror our ancestors experienced could happen again — even here. We go about our daily lives, but our hearts are broken that violent antisemitic mobs, the likes of which none of us have seen before in our lifetimes, can wreak havoc in America, the Land of the Free. We are horrified by the antisemitism and Islamophobia that has gripped our nation. We know that many of our non-Jewish neighbors may not know what to say or how to help.
Hanukkah is the Jewish holiday that celebrates freedom from tyranny, specifically freedom of worship. One of the most important traditions in Hanukkah is placing a menorah in your window to publicize the holiday and spread the freedom that comes with light. This message is particularly meaningful this year, especially when so many Jewish people are afraid to express their faith publicly. This year, we invite everyone in Wilton, regardless of your religion or background, to support your Jewish neighbors and friends and join us in publicizing this timely message of religious freedom. Help us light up the darkness. If you have a menorah, please place it in your window. If you don’t have a menorah, below is a pdf of a menorah, drawn by a Jewish student in Wilton. Please print it out, decorate it as you like, and hang it in the window of your home, car or business. People all over the country are adding a menorah to their windows to support their Jewish friends and neighbors, as part of Project Menorah. It may seem like a small gesture, but believe us, we will see your support, your love, and your light, and we will treasure it.
Share your menorah on social media: tag @projectmenorah and use hashtags #projectmenorah #onlyloveliveshere #wiltonct #Wiltonmenorahs
The Wilton Coalition to Combat Antisemitism
Susan Cutler
Ruth DeLuca
Tom Dubin
Cantor Harriet Dunkerley
Deborah List
Allie Berger Rabinowitz
Rabbi Nicole Wilson-Spiro
Art: Shayna Wilson-Spiro
Editor’s note: the pdf has been changed at the letter writers’ request to a version that includes the campaign’s hashtags.