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Source: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/people-forever-not-afraid
The People of Forever Are Not Afraid
(Tablet) Liel Leibovitz - Amid the profound sadness and the righteous indignation in the wake of the massacre in Bondi Beach, Australia, one timeless truth mustn't be forgotten: We Jews are going to be just fine. Attack us, as Hamas did Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and you'll soon discover that Jewish blood is no longer cheap. For more details, kindly consult with Yahya Sinwar, Hassan Nasrallah, or the gentlemen in charge of Iran's nuclear program. Try to scare us away from being Jewish - as marauders attempting a pogrom outside Manhattan's Park East synagogue did recently, chanting "make them scared" as they violently harassed Jews attempting to enter the building, and you'll discover that you've accomplished just the opposite. We'll mourn the dead, we'll comfort the afflicted, we'll carry on. It's been millennia now; we've gotten good at it. And we'll continue to grow stronger because we draw our courage and our resolve from that ancient covenant that charges us, always and forever, to spread God's light and love to a blood-soaked world. It's the same story everywhere you look. A West too weak to define, let alone defend, its own values, and hordes of marauders settling in and reshaping the culture in their violent, hateful image. So don't worry about us. Worry about the former capitals of culture and innovation that are now drowned by waves of angry savages cheering on murder and sowing chaos and violence. Worry about the kind folks in Germany who let in hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the name of multicultural benevolence, only to be told that they may no longer enjoy their Christmas markets because their new neighbors may feel inclined to blow them up, shoot them up, or ram them with cars. Hanukkah has never been a holiday of passive faith. It commemorates a moment when Jews refused to surrender their identity to those who demanded conformity. Hanukkah teaches that Jewish survival is not rooted in denial of danger, but in the courage to affirm who we are anyway.