The heart of Jerusalem glowed this week as families and worshippers in the Nachlaot neighborhood filled the streets with Hanukkah light and song, refusing to let fear snuff out a timeless celebration of faith and freedom. Watching menorahs burn bright against stone walls is a reminder that Jewish life and tradition endure even in difficult times, and that light still conquers darkness. Millions of Americans who love Israel and the Judeo-Christian heritage should take comfort from the resilience on display in those narrow lanes.
That contrast could not be sharper with the cowardly arson attack that gutted the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne, where masked men poured accelerant and set sacred space alight while congregants were present. This was not vandalism or words — it was an attempt to terrorize a community and extinguish its religious life, and Australian authorities have treated it as a terrorism investigation as they hunt the perpetrators. The global rise in brazen antisemitic violence demands straightforward naming of the problem and decisive action.
Australia’s law enforcement has since mobilized a national counterterrorism effort and made arrests, showing that when governments act with resolve they can respond to politically motivated hatred. Investigators and joint counterterror teams have brought significant resources to the case, and those developments should reassure every free nation that will not tolerate attacks on houses of worship. Still, governments and civic leaders must be judged by whether they prevent these attacks in the first place or only react after the damage is done.
On the political front, conservative voices have rightly pushed for hard measures to protect Jewish communities, including increased security funding and tougher penalties for ideologically driven violence, proposals echoed by opposition leaders in allied countries. Rebuilding and protecting places of worship should be a bipartisan priority, and realistic policies — from targeted law enforcement to strict immigration and visa enforcement for violent offenders — must follow rhetoric. Symbolic condemnations are not enough; protecting the innocent requires action and accountability.
Americans who cherish religious liberty and the rule of law should view the lights of Hanukkah as a call to stand with our Jewish neighbors at home and abroad. That means supporting robust security for synagogues and Jewish schools, pushing back against campus and cultural antisemitism, and insisting our leaders call out hatred honestly and impose real consequences. If we allow public institutions and elites to look the other way while faith communities are targeted, then we have failed our patriotic duty to protect liberty for all.
Tonight, as menorahs burn from Jerusalem to Brooklyn, pray for the Jewish people and for the victims in Australia, and hold fast to the truth that freedom survives only when decent people refuse to be intimidated. Stand with Israel, stand with our Jewish neighbors, and demand that governments do what is necessary to keep worshippers safe and to root out the ideology behind these attacks. The light of Hanukkah is not just a ritual — it is a reminder that courage and conviction matter in defending civilization.
