Chronicle poll results: Displaying a menorah in window on Chanukah
We asked our readers if they display their menorah in a window on Chanukah. Here's what they said.
Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an online poll the following question: “Do you display your menorah in a window to publicize the miracle (pirsumei nis)?” Of the 234 people who responded, 56% said yes; 43% said no; and 1% said they do not have a menorah. Comments were submitted by 63 people. A few follow.
While my family is very active in the Jewish community and I post online in favor of Israel, we do not broadcast our religion/ethnicity. It is better to be safe than to invite trouble/vandalism.
Publicizing the miracle is an essential element of Chanukah. It feels wrong not to do it, as if we’re hiding.
Last year when I displayed my menorah in my window, someone threw a brick at my window, breaking the glass.
Always. For Jews it’s a message to be strong when we are under attack in our own city and across the world. For non-Jews it’s a message that we are not going away.
For many, many years we always had a menorah in the window, sometimes two on different sides of our home. But with the tremendous increase in antisemitism over the last few years, we have discontinued that tradition.
In this environment of antisemitism, I do not display my Judaism at all.
I have an 8-foot menorah on my front porch with blue and white lights.
I have an electric menorah in the window and a real menorah in a spot where I don’t risk my apartment catching fire.
I would like to display it, but doing so would be a bullseye for some antisemite. If I lived in Squirrel Hill I would proudly display the menorah, but the suburbs are a whole different story.
How sad to admit this, but we do not live in a Jewish area and are afraid that if we do that, we risk having our windows broken.
I don’t have anywhere to publicly display it. I do have a cardboard cutout on my front door.
Although I have reservations about doing this in today’s environment, we must not allow antisemites to dominate our lives.
Multiple windows, one on each of three floors. PJC
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