Cold Night, Bright Stand: Alexandria Lights Up the Night at Chabad Chanukah Celebration After Global Tragedy

“I hope that as you gather with your Alexandria neighbors and friends and family, that we are a community where you find support, where you find prayer and where you find community that wraps around you and stands with you.”  Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins

They came out on an icy winter night, shivering in the cold dark air, over one hundred strong. In the wake of the Bondi Beach shootings in Australia, Alexandria’s Jewish community came together in Old Town Alexandria last night to celebrate the second night of Hanukkah, light the menorah, and stand strong against hate.

Against a backdrop of the horrors half a world away, a heavy police presence ringing the festival, the crowd braved the brutal cold, a brittle layer of ice still clinging stubbornly to the streets.

The deep chill could not deter the gathering at the 23rd annual Chabad Lubavitch of Alexandria-Arlington Hanukkah Festival, held outdoors at The Lyceum at 201 S. Washington Street. This was more than a Jewish holiday event; it was a defiant rally. The night lights of historic Alexandria twinkled in the background, but all eyes were drawn to the silhouette of a towering Menorah standing tall against the velvet sky.

Chabad Alexandria Rabbi Mordechai Newman knew fellow Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger personally. Rabbi Schlanger was one of 15 Jews gunned down Sunday as he led the ceremony, ushering in the first night of Hanukkah on a Sydney beach.

“They were doing exactly what we are doing this evening, bringing light, warmth, and Jewish pride into the world,” Rabbi Newman began. “Their loss shattered our hearts. And yet the Hanukkah response remains unchanged. When darkness tries to intimidate us, we answer with light. When hatred tries to silence us, we respond with acts of goodness and kindness. When fear tries to shrink us, we stand taller, prouder, and brighter.”

Guests warmed their hands around cups of free hot chocolate and helped themselves to the traditional Hanukkah foods—the crispy, hot latkes and sugary, jelly-filled donuts that tasted of tradition and comfort. Festive Hebrew and Yiddish music blared from loudspeakers, pushing back the silence of the winter night. Notably, the crowd included several non-Jews who turned out, simply to show their support in the wake of the massacre in Australia.

Rabbi Newman’s connection with the murdered Chabad rabbi in Australia, forged through the global, interwoven network of Chabad emissaries, made the violence feel agonizingly close.

“Hanukkah teaches us that light is not just stronger than darkness, it is the only force that can defeat it,” Rabbi Newman continued. “One candle lights another. One act of goodness creates a ripple effect. One small flame can illuminate an entire space. Tonight, as we kindle this menorah, we do so in the memory of the Bondi Beach victims and in their merit. We add light for those who can no longer light their own. We add light for the Jewish people everywhere, and we add light because that is who we are.”

The sentiment was immediately taken up by the city’s leadership. Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins stated that she was horrified by the carnage at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, and condemned the attack.

“There is a purpose for darkness in our world. That even in those moments where we feel the greatest pain, the despair, the frustration, where we’re ready to call out to the universe or to call out to our god and say, why. Why do you allow this to happen? It is in those moments where the power of our beliefs come true, where light can be created, where we see the hope, the kindness, the joy that overcomes such darkness.”

The Zebra spoke to Police Chief Tarrick McGuire before the lighting about heightened fears in the Jewish community, following the bloodshed in Australia.

“Most importantly, it is significant for our police department to ensure that we’re working with people of our faith communities to ensure that they feel safe. Our response has always been the same. We do not condone any type of violence. We want to ensure that we’re close, patrolling locations, ensuring that we have a visible presence, and that we’re assessing any threat within our city.”

Chief McGuire then headed for the stage, where he joined Mayor Gaskins, Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley, and Rabbi Newman.

Bagley offered words of solidarity to the shivering assembly. She recalled her remarks at the City Council Inauguration last January.

“I spoke about the concept of Tikun Olam and repairing the world that night. And that’s what really drove me to serve. And that’s what I see us doing here tonight. We are  coming together as a healing act. It’s a really beautiful act and it’s an act of community. It reminds us of our long history and the tradition that we continue to uphold and hold dear.”

Mayor Gaskins was then granted the honor of igniting the center candle, known as the shamash, of the giant candelabra. The shamash, or “servant candle,” lights all the other wicks. In the biting cold, the tiny flame took hold, illuminating the night sky. Hanukkah is an eight-day holiday, and a candle is added to the Menorah each night until eight candles flicker on the final night.

The mood of perseverance was best articulated by 33-year-old Sarah Notis, who ventured out on this frigid night to show her support. The Bondi Beach attack shattered a Chabad Hanukkah celebration and that is why she felt compelled to attend this specific Chabad menorah lighting. As a child, Notis attended a Chabad camp run by Rabbi Newman.

“Being Jewish is something that carries some danger, increasingly so as the specter of antisemitism returns,” Notis told Zebra. “Every day as Jews, we make a choice to keep living Jewishly despite the risks. To attend synagogue is a risk, to light Chanukah candles in one’s window is a risk, to teach the next generation to be Jews is a risk. We do this because this is who we are, and our Jewishness is important and valuable, and we do not want to acquiesce to those who would see us gone. People who are antisemitic think they can stop us from being Jewish, but they can’t. We will keep persisting and living Jewishly.”