A Chanukah Message from Maayan Schoen
For our annual Chanukah issue, we asked members of our community to share why they think it is so important for our Jewish community to, "Shine Our Light Bold and Bright."
Maayan Schoen is a senior at Atlanta Jewish Academy.
What does it mean to shine our light in America? It means to strengthen one another in our Jewish identities and illuminate the rights and freedoms this democracy promises us.
In the times of the Chanukah story, under the rule of Greek-Syrian oppressors, ancient Jews changed their names, hid bris milah ceremonies and many other integral Jewish practices — or were forced to abandon them entirely. It took a military rebellion in order to be openly Jewish again. We faced a similar threat in medieval Spain and countless other diasporic homes: Hide, abandon our Jewishness, or be killed. Many continued to preserve their Jewish identity in some way in the darkest and most secret corners of their homes.
Increasingly, Jews are turning toward markers of Judaism and grasping them proudly. When visible Jews are beaten in broad daylight in the streets of New York and New Jersey, more people are donning kippas and chai necklaces. Shabbat dinner is cool again, even on a Thursday. This time, being Jewish is our rebellion — uniting with each other and with our storied heritage. What a meaningful way to continue the legacy of those who came before us and truly shine their light and ours.
At night in New York, the operators of the Statue of Liberty flip on her 16 floodlights, and her torch, a symbol of enlightenment, illuminates the dark. What sort of enlightenment does Lady Liberty’s torch portend? None, unless we make it so. Let us lift our lamps, our menorahs, next to hers, and show them who we are.
Maayan Schoen graduated from Torah Day School and Atlanta Jewish Academy and studied in the Migdal Oz Beit Midrash for Women in Israel. She is a senior at Yale University.
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