Today is the first day of Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish festival of lights. Jews all over the world light a menorah, a nine-candle candelabra, that commemorates a miracle during the time of the Macabee revolt in the 2nd Century BCE. In 1993 the 50 or so Jewish families in Billings, Montana followed this tradition, including the Schnitzer family.

But 1993 was different. Billings had been experiencing a spate of hate crimes. A skinhead, part of what he considered to be an “Aryan Nation,” threw a rock through the Schnitzer’s son Isaac’s window.

A police officer suggested that they not put up any Jewish symbols. Tammie Schnitzer, interviewed by the local newspaper, said, ” “Maybe it’s not wise to keep these symbols up,” she said. “But how do you explain that to a child?”

The next morning a Christian woman, reading about the incident, imagined what it would be like to tell her children that it was too dangerous to put up a Christmas tree. And she had an inspiration. She went to her pastor and suggested that the children draw menorahs the next morning in Sunday school and that they put them in THEIR windows.

Some estimate that there were eventually 6,000 homes (in a city of 80,000) that displayed Menorahs. It was dangerous. Windows were smashed. Shots were fired into a Catholic school that had joined the campaign. Hateful graffiti was spray-painted on the sides of buildings. The police chief conceded that it was dangerous — but it was MORE dangerous not to do it, he said. For every menorah that was torn down, ten went up in its place. read more…