Faiths gather at Federation Square to celebrate Hanukkah
Amid tight security and ragged nerves, Melbourne Jews gathered in the city – for the first time since the atrocities of October 7 that sparked the Israel-Hamas war – to mark the start of Hanukkah.
The centrepiece of the religious festival, the nightly lighting of the menorah, re-enacts what ancient Jews did after they retook Jerusalem from the Greeks and found a candelabra in the city’s sacked temple.
Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann at the Pillars of Light celebration at Federation Square on Thursday.Credit: Luis Ascui
Like nearly everything else to do with Judea, some details of the story are contested by historians – but the idea of lighting a candle in Federation Square on Thursday night carried a clear and potent symbolism.
“It’s significant to have a festival focused on light in the midst of a very challenging period for the Jewish community,” said Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann from the ARK Centre, an orthodox Jewish community that for the past four years has organised the multi-faith Pillars of Light festival to mark the eight nights of Hanukkah.
“The Jewish way has always been to increase light in the face of darkness. Hanukkah teaches us that each night we should add more light.”
This was a different kind gathering and a very different mood from what we have seen in Melbourne over the past two months, with pro-Palestinian groups holding mass protests against the ongoing war and pro-Israeli groups holding smaller vigils in the suburbs.
Melbourne Jews gathered in the city on Thursday to mark the start of Hanukkah.Credit: Luis Ascui
There were no Israeli or Palestinian flags in Federation Square. No raised fists, chants or angry speeches. Many of those who came weren’t Jewish and had no connection to Israel.
The first candle was lit by Ron Finkel, a businessman who founded and chairs Project Rozana, an international NGO committed to improving relations between Israelis and Palestinians through the provision of better health services and training.
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“I believe that Hanukkah lights up the pathway for respectful dialogue in our community,” Finkel told those gathered, which included Palestinians and other Muslim community members.
“It is essential for the maintenance of our social cohesion and the mitigation of polarisation that we learn to engage with one another respectfully; to speak with each other and not at each other.”
Quoting from the book of Isaiah, whose unfulfilled prophecy was for a future world without swords, spears or war, Finkel offered a prayer for a lasting peace.
Before Thursday evening’s event, Jewish community groups had avoided large gatherings in the city due to concerns about counter-protests and a rise in antisemitism.
Data collected by the Community Security Group (CGS), a Jewish security organisation that receives funding from the state government to track antisemitism in the community, shows that 163 incidents were reported in Melbourne in the two months from October 7.
In the corresponding months last year, only 17 antisemitic incidents were reported.
A spokesperson for the CSG said most of the incidents involved the verbal abuse of Jewish people.
Earlier on Thursday, the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) issued an open letter calling for politicians from all parties to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where 16,000 people are estimated to have been killed since the war began.
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“We are watching a genocide unfold in Gaza, and it’s our obligation as humans and moral beings, and as a party to the UN Genocide Convention, to stop it,” APAN president Nasser Mashni said.
Mo Elrafihi, the chief executive of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria, said that given the rise of antisemitism, it was more important than ever for communities to come together to celebrate hope and unity.
The Victorian government urged police to strengthen security for the Hanukkah festival after Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler wrote a strident letter to several state ministers warning about the damage to Victoria’s reputation if the event was cancelled or descended into another ugly episode.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen is planning to attend the festival later this week.
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The miracle of Hanukkah, or so the story goes, is that when the ancient Jews searched the desecrated temple, the found only enough oil to burn the menorah for one night. Instead, the oil stretched for eight nights.
The miracle of this Hanukkah celebration was that, at a time of increasingly bitter community tensions, not an angry word was spoken.
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