On Thursday evening, the small progressive Jewish community in York will gather at Jewbury, the city’s medieval Jewish cemetery, to light memorial candles and say prayers for 150 people who died in a 12th-century pogrom at Clifford’s Tower.
The flames will then be used to light the eighth and final candle on menorahs, or special candelabra, brought to the ceremony by members of the community, marking the end of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light that began last Thursday.
“It’s very symbolic to end Hanukkah in a blaze of light,” said the community’s rabbi, Elisheva Salamo. But, she added, the mood hanging over this year’s festival was sombre amid the ongoing war following Hamas’s deadly assault on Israel on 7 October, which has been described as a modern-day pogrom.
Hanukkah is usually a joyous festival in the Jewish calendar. It celebrates the victory of a small group of Jews, the Maccabees, in their struggle to freely practise their faith. They lit an oil lamp to mark the victory, but had only enough oil to last one day. Miraculously, the lamp burned for eight days.
During the festival, Jews light one candle on the menorah on each of its eight nights. Gifts are exchanged, special food is prepared and eaten, and there are songs and games.
But the lead-up to this year’s Hanukkah has been marked by mourning and trauma after the rape, mutilation and murder of about 1,200 Jews on 7 October and the continuing agony of relatives and friends of those held hostage by Hamas. Many Jews are also distressed at the deaths, injuries, devastation and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas.
“The mood is subdued. People are very concerned with what’s happening in Israel and the rise in antisemitism here, and most of us are also very concerned about the civilian death toll in Gaza,” said Jonathan Wittenberg, the senior rabbi of Masorti Judaism UK. “The meaning of Hanukkah – light in the darkness – is exceptionally close to home this year.”
The horrific spike in antisemitic abuse and attacks since the Israel-Hamas war began has had an impact on this year’s Hanukkah celebrations. There have been anecdotal reports of some Jews being unwilling to light menorah candles in the front windows of their homes for fear of drawing attention to their religious identity.
The “escalating tensions from the conflict in the Middle East” were cited by Havering council as the reasoning for its cancellation of a display of Hanukkah candles outside its town hall. After an outcry – including protests from the Muslim Association of Britain, which offered to provide security – the council reversed its decision.
Norwich council reduced its public celebration of Hanukkah to one night amid security concerns.
Gary Mond, chair of the National Jewish Assembly, said some people may be deterred from attending public Hanukkah events this year. “Many Jews in this country are very fearful at the moment,” he said.
Rabbi Charley Baginsky, the chief executive of Liberal Judaism, said it was impossible to ignore the events of the past two months – “not only what happened on 7 October, but what’s happened ever since, whether that’s grief, antisemitism, damage to community cohesion” – during this year’s Hanukkah activities.
“You can’t get away from the fact that, in its history, Hanukkah has a sense of triumphalism. At this moment, that’s definitely not what our communities are looking to emphasise. They are looking to emphasise the sense of light in the darkness, of being together, of being part of a wider community of neighbours.
“Judaism has an inbuilt sense of, that even at the most celebratory moments, you remember the sad times, or the people who are missing. That is very present this year.”
