Milwaukee Jewish community celebrates Hanukkah amid rise in antisemitism
Hundreds of people gathered for an annual Hanukkah celebration with heightened security
Hundreds of people gathered for an annual Hanukkah celebration with heightened security
Hundreds of people gathered for an annual Hanukkah celebration with heightened security
Thursday marked the first night of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. Several hundred people gathered for the annual community celebration at Bayshore, with heightened security in place.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, there have been more than 300 anti-semitic incidents across the US in the weeks following Hamas' attacks on Israel in October.
For some, Hannukah has a special meaning this year.
Leo Kleiner proudly displays a Menorah in the window of his Fox Point home.
"It's important to be proud of who we are," he said.
To Kleiner, Hanukkah means "celebrating being Jewish, especially given the times that we are in with the war going on in Israel, and all the antisemitism going on. It is especially meaningful this year," he told 12 News.
"I'm the proud son of two Holocaust survivors who now unfortunately have passed, but it makes me think about what they went through when they were in Poland and concentration camps," Kleiner said.
Kleiner was shaken after a recent neo-Nazi march in Madison.
"I don't necessarily worry about my safety. I have a son who goes to UW-Madison," he said.
He said the march was terrifying to see, and he cannot believe this happened in 2023.
"I went to UW-Madison as well, and never in a million years did I imagine seeing that on campus," he said.
Rabbi Levi Stein, the executive director of Friendship Circle, says for some, Hanukkah comes with an uneasy feeling this year.
For the first time, organizers of the Chanukah Festival at Bayshore had security planning meetings. The Jewish Federation of Milwaukee hired private security in addition to having Glendale police officers at the event. A Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office K9 was also seen at the event.
Rabbi Stein recalled a conversation he had this week with a woman in the community.
"She said, 'We're going to get the menorah and put it in our window,' and her 12-year-old daughter said, 'Why should we put a menorah by our window? Someone's going to throw a stone through it?'" he explained.
He hopes the Jewish community can unite this holiday season.
"You can't fight antisemitism with fear. It's not the right way to respond. You have to fight darkness with light, that's what Hanukkah is all about," he said.
For more information on Hanukkah events in the Milwaukee area, click here.