How the Las Vegas Jewish community is celebrating Hanukkah amidst Hamas

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — In a calendar rarity, Hanukkah starts this year on Christmas Day and while a time for celebration, many in the Jewish community are still reeling from the impacts of the Hamas attacks.

It has been more than a year since the Hamas attacks started on Oct. 7, 2023.

Rabbi Sanford Askerad is the spiritual leader of the congregation for Ner Tamid, a Jewish Synagogue in Henderson. He has focused on providing support for those in need by fundraising, bringing in different speakers, and praying.

“This particular year, we have seen a tremendous rise in antisemitism in our community and throughout the world,” Rabbi Askelrad explained. “We’ve had people whose family members were taken hostage. We’ve had people who had talked about the nature of terrorism and what Israel has been up against, at the same time I made a mission in February following October and I went to some of those sites that were impacted in the south, the Kibbutzim where the damage was done.”

The holiday spirit has been hard to come by from some in the Jewish community experiencing antisemitism and Rabbi Askelrad said this Hanukkah provides a renewed sense of meaning and solidarity

“The theme of that holiday of Hanukkah is a fight for religious freedom, first recorded fight for religious freedom and so it resembles Jewish resilience, courage, and pride and those three themes are still important today,” Rabbi Askelrad remarked.

“In fact, one of the great commandments is to take your menorah and place it in your window sill and the idea is that we publicize the fact that we’re Jews and we’re proud to be Jewish.”

Rabbi Askelrad invites everyone this holiday season to come together and call for attention during these difficult times.

“We just hope people support the Jewish community in general. That they show no tolerance for antisemitism or hate against our people or any people for that matter,” added Rabbi Askelrad. “That they understand what’s going on in the Middle East is very complex and layered and their ability to learn about what’s going on is very important because it’s a passionate issue, not just for the Jewish community, but our country as we look for a way to find peace in the Middle East.”

Hanukkah starts on Dec. 25 and there will be public menorah lightings across the valley, including a menorah lights ceremony hosted by Clark County on Monday, Dec. 30 at 4:30 p.m. at the rotunda Clark County government center.

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