11/28/2021
# **How to Be an Ally this Hanukkah **
*shared from a group*
Hi folks! Hanukkah begins today at sundown so I figured it'd be a good time to share some notes about how to best support our Jewish peers this holiday season and combat the spike in antisemitism that often comes with it!
# # **SOME QUICK FACTS **
* Traditionally, Hanukkah was not that big of a holiday and some folks wouldn't even bother observing it! In recent times, Christmas dominating the winter months caused Hanukkah to become a "resistance" holiday of sorts, fighting assimilation and displaying our Jewishness during a time it’s often erased.
* Hanukkah tends to coincide with an increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes, probably because it's one of the more "visible" holidays to the non-Jewish public. This can range from vandalizing Jewish property to murder. (Here’s a running list of hate crimes from the ADL- we’ve had 21 recorded so far in November https://www.adl.org/education-and-resources/resource-knowledge-base/adl-tracker-of-antisemitic-incidents)
# # **HOW TO BE AN ALLY **
* First and foremost, **educate yourself on Hanukkah and Judaism in general!** (myjewishlearning.com is a great resource for tackling the more basic intro questions.) Understanding your peers is the first step in supporting them.
* **Recognize the holiday on its own merits, not as "Jewish Christmas."** We don’t like getting lumped in with the same people trying to assimilate us.
* **Participate WITH us!** If your Jewish pals are hosting a party and invite you, it's a ton of fun. If your local Jewish community is hosting any public event, see if you wanna go! While we are a closed/initiatory culture, we generally love having guests and sharing our culture with those engaging in good faith.
* **Let us know we're safe with you. Explicitly.** Many Jewish people can be skittish even with very progressive people because so many majorly drop the ball with antisemitism. It's not enough to just punch n***s. Show your Jewish peers they are welcome and supported!
* **Support Jewish organizations and Jewish-led activism**. There are lots of people doing good work and putting a lot of labor into educating their peers and promoting inclusion.
* **Directly support your Jewish pals**. Buy their products. Commission their art.
* **Analyze your Cultural Christianity. You have it even if you're not Christian.** Pay attention to what people consider secular/universal. Is this really "the holiday season" for everybody? (Hint: it's not, our big holiday season is around September.) Are these images REALLY just a winter scene or is it all stuff we associate specifically with Christmas? Are Christmas traditions/themes getting projected onto how we depict other holidays? Are we measuring other religions/traditions by comparing and contrasting them with Christian ones?
# # **WHAT TO AVOID**
* **Don't up a menorah in "solidarity" with us. **While we welcome guests, our traditions are still closed and it's not appropriate to imitate them away from Jewish consent. (Besides, the whole thing behind Hanukkah doesn’t even apply to gentiles, so it doesn’t even make sense to celebrate it?)
* **Don't support "messianic" stuff. "**Messianic Jews" are not Jews, but rather an evangelical Christian movement actively offensive and hostile to Jews. Signs to watch out for include Christian imagery/verses/etc. subtly mixed in with Jewish-appearing content, and the name "Yeshuah" (or יֵשׁוּעַ) That's just Jesus in Hebrew.
* **Don't ignore the violence against us.** Yes, it's hard to watch, but remember what your Jewish peers are going through seeing/experiencing this. Spread the word and bring awareness to it. Call it out when you see it.
* **Don't assume Jews know little to nothing about Christmas. **Christmas is inescapable, I promise you we know ALL about it and have probably already participated in every tradition (whether through interfaith families or social force.) Acting like we’re ignorant about it is patronizing and annoying.
* **Don't call us humbugs! **You're totally welcome to adore Christmas, you do you! But many Jews have good reasons to STRONGLY dislike Christmas. Don't shame us for disliking a major holiday that actively smothers us from an oppressive religion, even if it's your personal favorite time of year (which again, is valid.) Worse yet, don't expect your pals to "come around" to Christmas because "they haven't celebrated it the right way yet." That's trying to assimilate us. Don't. (You can still invite us to parties and stuff, we still love a good time lol just don't be mad if we have reasons for not attending lol.)
# # **ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT: **
**Blue Card Fund-** providing direct financial support to Holocaust survivors in the USA, most of whom live alone and in poverty.
https://bluecardfund.org/become-involved/donate/
**Survivor Mitzvah Project-** the same kind of thing, based in Eastern Europe!
https://www.survivormitzvah.org/
**ADL-** A crucial leading organization in anti-bias education and data tracking. https://support.adl.org/give/174715/ #!/donation/checkout
**YOUR LOCAL TEMPLES! **Donate to directly help your local Jews maintain their place of worship and provide accessible resources to the community.
**SUPPORT YOUR JEWISH FRIENDS! Direct action for the win! :)**
# **חנוכה שמח!**
