San Diego leaders mark end of Hanukkah by showing unity against hate

San Diego community leaders rang in the end of Hanukkah with a call for acceptance and peace worldwide by joining together and lighting a 6-foot-tall menorah downtown on Monday.

The event — hosted by Jordan Marks, a Jewish leader and the county’s elected assessor, recorder and clerk came in the wake of the deadly mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia and other antisemitic attacks worldwide.

Marks lamented the attack in Australia that killed 15 people, including a child, and injured dozens more during a beachside Hanukkah celebration. Among those killed was the nephew of Yisroel Goldstein, the rabbi who was shot and wounded in 2019 in the antisemitic attack at Chabad of Poway.

Marks said similar types of violence and hate have no place in San Diego County.

“There was a lot of darkness that came to the Jewish community during this holiday season,” Marks said. “We need this rally of light on the final day of Hanukkah as a response to show that even in moments of darkness, San Diego chooses unity, courage and light over hate.”

During the event, more than 100 elected officials, religious leaders and community members heard from speakers who all denounced bigotry and hate crimes.

During his turn at the lectern, Pastor Jim Garlow shared how he had been to Israel more than 100 times during his life, visiting sacred sites throughout the Holy Land and meeting with people of various faiths.

Garlow condemned violence against Jewish people, even going so far as to call out people within his own faith who have expressed bigoted beliefs.

District Attorney Summer Stephan reminded the crowd that San Diego is not free of its own tragedies spurned by antisemitic hate and bigotry, including instances of hateful graffiti vandalizing a synagogue and destruction of a menorah at The Chabad House at San Diego State University. 

She said that anyone considering committing a hate crime in San Diego County now or in the future would face the “full wrath” of her office and the local criminal justice system.

At the end of the event, Marks invited Ben Midler, a Holocaust survivor, to the front of the crowd. Midler said God had saved him from the Nazi’s atrocities so that he could devote his life to teaching his community and young schoolchildren that bigotry, in any form, is unacceptable.

The leaders in attendance then came to the base of the menorah to light the eight candles from left to right, reminding the audience of the resilience the Maccabees, a small army of Jews, showed in the story against violent religious persecution against them.

“Coming together, we are committing to carry this light beyond the holidays and stand unwaveringly against antisemitism and all hate,” Marks said. “When we stand together, the light wins.”