This Chanukah will mark more than 14 months since the horrific mass terror attack of October 7th, in which Hamas and associated terrorist groups murdered more than 1,200 people in Southern Israel, injuring thousands more and taking 250 hostages. For Israelis – and for Jewish communities around the world – the pain of that day is still fresh. 101 of the hostages remain captive in Gaza; men, women, elderly, young adults and children.
Chanukah is a time for families and communities to come together to celebrate the miracle of light and the importance of hope. A key element of the festival is “to publicise the miracle”; we also need to publicise the plight of those who remain in captivity.
This Chanukah, the Board of Deputies, alongside the Yellow Ribbon Campaign, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum UK and the British Hostage Families Organisation, encourages the Jewish community to join our ‘Be Their Light’ initiative. We urge individuals, families, communities, schools, JSOC’S, synagogues and youth movements to light a candle each night of Chanukah for those hostages with a British connection still held captive by Hamas.
Synagogues and kosher shops have been provided with printed cards of the hostages with British connections to place by the Chanukiah for the campaign. A digital format is also available on our website, including cards for each night of Chanukah with a story of each hostage to be printed or posted via social media outlets. We encourage you to share pictures of your chanukiah with the hashtags #BeTheirLightUK and #BringThemHomeNow.
We urge you to publicise their plight and share their stories. May we, coming together as a community, provide some light in these dark and challenging times.
May we, coming together as a community, provide some light in these dark and challenging times.
Phil Rosenberg, President, Board of Deputies of British Jews
