Last year, I wrote a Chanukah blog, which I decided not to publish, titled “Light in the Darkness – Chanukah Amidst Global Turmoil,” a reflection on Chanukah, current events, and the weight of living in a world shadowed by darkness yet still lit by flickers of hope.

This year feels different. I’m less hopeful.

After the murder of Jews in Sydney this week—Jews attacked while celebrating a Jewish holiday—the gringe has stolen Chanukah. Not sadness alone. Not only fear. But a deep moral recoil. A sense that something has gone fundamentally wrong, not only in the world, but also in how the world now speaks about Israel and for Jews being randomly attacked or killed for being Jewish.

Are there no safe places for Jews anymore?

My enthusiasm has dropped. I feel shaken, despondent, and unsettled. And yet, if I am honest, I should not be shocked. Not after the marches. Not after the chants. Not after watching antisemitism normalize itself under the language of justice, resistance, and human rights.

People now say: This is what ‘Globalise the Intifada’ looks like.

Jews attacked everywhere.

And still, leaders hesitate to name it. Fail to recognise the threat of radical Islam and Jihad. Come first for the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.

Lives Snuffed Out

Before ideology, before politics, before analysis, we must stop and look at the lives that were taken.

These were not symbols.
They were not proxies.
They were not combatants in anyone’s imagined struggle.

They were people trying to live Jewish lives—quietly, openly, faithfully. People celebrating Chanukah. People bringing light, meaning, and goodness into the world in the most ordinary and human way possible.

They had families, friendships, routines, futures. Their lives were snuffed out not because of something they did, but because of who they were.

That matters.

These were Jews.
They were targeted.
Their lives mattered.

A Chabad-Organised Chanukah Event in Sydney

The attack took place at a Chanukah event organised by Chabad in Sydney—a gathering created to celebrate Jewish life, faith, and continuity.

Among those murdered was the Rabbi who devoted his life to building that community. He built a beautiful Chabad House that served as a shul, a community centre, and a home for Jewish life—open, welcoming, and grounded in warmth and responsibility. His mission was simple and unwavering: to bring light, belonging, and meaning to Jews of every background.

He was killed together with fourteen others, innocent people who had come to celebrate Chanukah.

This was terror.
It was terrorism.

Not an “incident.”
Not random violence.
Not a tragic misunderstanding.

It was a deliberate act of terror directed at Jews gathering openly to celebrate their faith.

Even as investigations continue, this much is already clear: Jewish life was targeted. To say anything less is to erase both the victims and the truth.

The Crime — and the Cowardice of Language

What followed was almost as disturbing as the attack itself.

Leaders avoided the words “Jews were targeted.”

This was not accidental.

To say Jews were targeted would require moral clarity. It would force leaders to acknowledge that Jewish identity........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)