A Chanukah Call for Jewish Courage in Uncomfortable Times

By Moshe Bodner and Jeff Eisenberg

“Where have all the good men gone?” It’s a line from an old song, but it feels painfully relevant today, especially as we light the Chanukah candles and retell a story that was never meant to be nostalgic.

Across the globe, antisemitism is no longer whispered. It is no longer carefully disguised. Hostility toward Jews and anything Jewish has become increasingly fashionable, even reflexive.

Across the Jewish world, antisemitism has become something even more dangerous: normalized. Excused. Explained away. And far too often, met with silence.

In recent weeks alone, we’ve seen a visibly religious Jew physically attacked on the streets of New York City. A mob gathering outside a synagogue on Fifth Avenue. A Holocaust survivor silenced at a public school. Antisemitic incidents surging on college campuses. And abroad, a brutal and murderous terror attack in Australia: a reminder that hatred does not stay contained to “other places.”

The most dangerous part is not any single incident. It is that each incident is increasingly treated as normal.

Antisemitism is frightening. And what is even more frightening is complacency. Last week, we had the opportunity to speak with sixty seniors at a well-regarded yeshiva high school.

When asked what they did as 10th graders in the days immediately following October 7, 2023, all of the students said they “joined the fight”—packing bags for Israel, attending rallies, saying Tehillim, even going on missions to Israel.

When asked what they had done in response to the physical attack on a Jewish man in Midtown Manhattan, the mob outside the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, or the cancellation of a speech by an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, they had no response.

In fact, fewer than five students were even aware that these incidents had occurred!

In other words, neither the parents nor the teachers had spoken with them about these events, and not one student had been encouraged to respond, reflect, or act. Not one student, who two years earlier had jumped into action and “joined the fight.”

Complacency has always been the greatest ally of hatred.

Since October 7, 2023, people of all kinds: students, parents, and educators, have been asking a simple question: What should we be doing?

That question matters. Because Jewish history teaches us a consistent lesson: when Jews wait for others to act on our behalf, we lose. But when we stand up together—visibly and unapologetically—we change outcomes.

Chanukah is not the story of passive faith. It’s the story of action.

The Maccabees did not eat latkes while hoping someone else would fight their battles. They stood up, publicly and defiantly, against a culture that sought to erase their Jewish identity. They were outnumbered. They were unpopular. They were uncomfortable. And they acted anyway.

We’ve been here before in modern times as well.

In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, Soviet Jews were trapped behind the Iron Curtain, denied religious freedom, denied the right to emigrate, denied basic dignity. The world largely looked away, until Jews in America refused to remain silent.

There were rallies. There were marches. There were protests outside Soviet embassies. There were teenagers, parents, rabbis, and community leaders standing in the streets, demanding justice. Those efforts were not polite. They were not quiet. But they worked.

Soviet Jews did not come home because of diplomacy alone. They came home because Jews around the world made it impossible for the world to ignore their plight.

That is the model we need to remember now.

Today, antisemitism wears different clothing: academic jargon, “anti-Zionist” language, moral relativism, but the core hatred is unchanged. And just as troubling is the hesitation many Jews feel about standing up. Fear of backlash. Fear of being labeled. Fear of discomfort.

But Jewish history has never been written by those who choose comfort over courage.

Regardless of party or policy, leadership signals norms, and norms shape what becomes acceptable. On January 1, New York City will inaugurate a mayor who openly identifies as an anti-Zionist, supports the BDS movement, and refuses to affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Silence will not be interpreted as nuance. It will be interpreted as acceptance.

This is not about politics.

It is about responsibility.

No one is calling for violence. No one is calling for chaos. What we need is something far simpler and far harder: presence.

Showing up. Speaking out. Refusing to normalize what should never be normal.

Whether it’s a rally in Washington, a gathering in a local park, an in-school program, or a student-led initiative, Jews standing together send a message far louder than any press release ever could.

The Chanukah candles remind us of a timeless truth: a few lights can push back enormous darkness, but only if they’re lit. Oil left in a flask does nothing. Courage left unexpressed changes nothing.

And Chanukah teaches us that a small group willing to stand when it would be easier to sit can change the course of history.

So where have all the good men gone?

They haven’t gone anywhere.

They are parents deciding whether to speak up.

Students deciding whether to organize.

Educators deciding whether to lead.

Communities deciding whether to be visible.

The good men—and women—are all around us.

They are asking: “What should we do?”

But that’s not the real question.

The real question is: Will we do something?

And if the answer is yes, we will succeed.

History tells us that.

Chanukah tells us that when we act, we accomplish.

Every generation has its moment.

Chanukah reminds us that the heroes are not always loud, powerful, or famous—only willing.

The good men and women are already here.

What remains is the courage to act. n

Moshe Bodner and Jeff Eisenberg are co-founders of the Israel Chesed Center, an organization established immediately following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel. Since its inception, the ICC has facilitated over $20 million in donations to Israel and has taken a leadership role in advocating on behalf of Israel and issues critical to the Jewish community.