Light in the cold darkness

I have to say I have always loved this time of year.

Cold crisp days with all that bright sunlight. I love a good snowstorm as long as I don’t have to venture out in it, so December is good for me. Not usually as much snow this month as during the rest of winter.

Cozy sweaters and long sleeves are finally doing their jobs to keep me warm. You don’t have to answer to folks who ask why you are wearing a sweater when temps climb above 50 at noontime if it’s freezing in the morning.

And there are the lights cutting through that early darkness everywhere. You have to admit that even though you may not celebrate the holidays that many of those lights symbolize, they do make early darkness a lot easier to take.

And Hanukkah is coming. It’s really the story of hope and perseverance and a miracle to top it all off. And it’s a family time filled with joy and food and light.

Who can’t use a little bit of all of that?

No matter how you feel about the world at large, it’s been another tough year. We have become a fractured country, politically and ideologically. Antisemitism and hate crimes are up. Civility seems to be down.

According to the ADL, as reported in the New York Times, the number of reported antisemitism cases surged in the last year, tripling since Oct. 7, 2023. And in 2023, the group reported a 140% increase over the year before. From Oct. 7, 2023 to Sept. 24, 2024, ADL identified more than 10,000 incidents, divided into categories such as verbal or written harassment, vandalism and physical assault.

And the top five states with highest number of recorded incidents included Massachusetts in fifth place. Final reports for 2024 won’t be released until spring, 2025. Regardless, these numbers are daunting and unsettling.

We need to all work toward a safer and more secure environment. In the coming year, we hope to examine some of the issues surrounding antisemitism locally and how it’s impacting your life.

Here at Jewish Rhode Island we are thankful for all our readers and hope you will continue to submit your news, simchas and letters to the editor. Tell us where you are and where you’ve been through our “We are Read” feature.

We have wonderful advertisers who provide critical support for our newspaper and website. We hope you will remember them when you need a service that they provide.

We will be printing a little later in January. So, look for your print newspaper on Jan. 10, 2025. Don’t forget there will be an electronic newsletter on Dec. 19. And we are online 24/7 at JewishRhody.org with news updates and our Israeli newspapers pages.

Hag Hanukkah sameach! May the lights of your hanukkiah shine brightly again this year and every year!

Fran Ostendorf,

Editor