The Meaning of Christmas/Hanukkah

[Guest guest]

The Meaning of Christmas/Hanukkah

During the wee hours of Sunday morning, December 8, 1996, after the third night

of Hanukkah, someone took a baseball bat, and broke the front window of a house

in Newtown, Pennsylvania. It might have been considered simple vandalism by the

local police except for one significant factor: this house was the only one on

the street with a lighted menorah in the window. The perpetrator had

deliberately reached through the shattered window, took the menorah and smashed

it on the ground, breaking all nine bulbs.

The menorah is a symbol of the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights, also known

as Hanukkah, which occurs around the same time as Christmas. As a Nativity

scene reminds Christians of their heritage and faith, a menorah does so for

Jews. It is the symbol of a miracle.

The woman who lives in the house in Newtown did not think of miracles when she

found the shattered mess in her front yard. It was not the first time she and

her family had been targeted. As a child, she had come to the United States to

escape persecution in the former Soviet Union. But now as she viewed the

smashed candelabra, the familiar fear returned.

Keeling, a young mother, lives down the street and heard about the incident

when she and her family returned from Sunday mass. " A neighbor left a message

on my answering machine, " says. She was appalled. She had never heard of

anyone in Newtown being singled out because of their faith or ethnicity. But an

idea was taking root. " I'd like to buy a menorah and put it in our front

window, so that family will know they're not going through this alone, " she told

her husband. " If the vandals come back, they'll have us to target too. What do

you think? "

's husband didn't hesitate. " Go for it, " he said.

returned her neighbor's call, and told him about her idea. " Why don't you

contact Margie ? " he suggested. " She's doing the same thing. "

Margie lived around the corner, and was involved in the Neighborhood Watch

program. She had been as horrified as when she heard the news, and was now

driving from store to store looking for menorahs. " But they're almost

impossible to find by now, " she told over her car phone.

began calling stores from home, then relaying locations where the

candelabras were available to Margie. " Buy as many as you can, " she suggested,

since several Christian neighbors had dropped by, asking for instructions on

where to purchase, and how to display, a menorah. Word was getting around.

Sundown-the time for lighting---had almost arrived by the time Margie sped home,

and distributed all that she had located. " I took down the Christmas lights in

one of my windows, and put the menorah there, all by itself, " recalls. " I

didn't want there to be any doubt about the statement we were making. " Was she

prepared for trouble? " Maybe, " she says. " It passes through your mind. But

it's just something you do. "

That night when the Jewish neighbor turned onto her street, she stopped in

amazement. Greeting her was a sea of orange lights, shining in silent

solidarity, from the windows of all eighteen Christian households on her block.

We are with you. the warm glow seemed to say. Blinking back tears, she went

home, replaced the broken bulbs in her own menorah and put it back up in her

window.

The vandals did not damage any property that night. Eventually police arrested

three teenage boys, who admitted that the neighborhood's unexpected show of

strength and unity had deterred them from further activity. But they were not

the only people affected. As the days of Hanukkah went on, Christian families

from nearby blocks began to display menorahs alongside their wreaths and

Nativity scenes. " I'd drive past and see a menorah in someone's window and

think: 'Wait-I see that family at church-they're not Jewish.' Then it would dawn

on me that they were supporting us as we supported the people on my block, "

recalls.

Margie and are still amazed at all the attention they received because of

what to them seems " something any caring person would do. " But each year they

now display their menorahs. " It's become a cherished part of my Christmas, "

Margie says, " because it represents a wonderful lesson I've learned: Just one

little step in the right direction can have a domino effect. It can make life

better for everyone. "

~2004 December issue...Guideposts Magazine.~

~ " We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a

little of each other everywhere. " ~ ~ " If I could reach up and hold a star for

every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of

my hand. " ~