Thousands post Hanukkah photos for 'Project Menorah' amid rise in antisemitism
When Adam Kulbersh's 6-year-old son Jack expressed interest in joining in on the holiday season with Hanukkah decorations, Kulbersh said he had hesitations.
"I wasn't sure that I felt comfortable doing it this year. The rise in antisemitism is historic," said Kulbersh.
When Kulbersh aired his concerns to his friend Jennifer, who is not Jewish, he said she offered to place a menorah in her window in solidarity.
"I thought if one friend could do that for me, I think other friends can do that for other Jews. I just wanted to activate those friends," said Kulbersh.
Thus, "Project Menorah" was born.
"Project Menorah is a grassroots movement encouraging non-Jews to place a menorah, along with their other holiday decorations, in their windows this December in fellowship with Jewish friends and neighbors," according to the project's website, which Kulbersh started weeks ago.
Kulbersh said in the few weeks since launching the project, he has seen thousands of posts, primarily from people who imply they are not Jewish in their captions, taking part in the event.
Kulbersh said the trend, which can be tracked on social media using "#projectmenorah" and "#onlyloveliveshere" has brought in photos of menorah decorated windows from all over the world, including Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, Italy, France and Germany.
The website offers an option for a printable menorah as well as resources to locate real menorahs online.
Kulbersh noted the long and rich history of allies standing by Jewish people in times of strife.
"In every era people have attacked our people, the Jewish people. But in every era allies are there," he said.
Kulbersh noted historic examples like Miep Gies, the Dutch citizen who assisted Anne Frank during World War II and held her diary, as one of several examples of non-Jewish people helping Jewish people in times of need.
Widespread menorah presentations is a practice that has reportedly been done at least once in order to show solidarity with Jewish people under attack. The 1995 documentary film "Not In Our Town" documents a similar instance.
According to the documentary and local publications, after several attacks against local minority groups, including a Jewish family, in Billings, Montana, the Billings Gazette printed a full-sized menorah for all newspaper recipients to hang in their windows to show solidarity with the Jewish people of Billings.
In present day, experts say the ongoing war in the Middle East between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas appears to have incited a new wave of threats against Jewish communities in the United States.
Since Oct. 7, when terrorist group Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel, the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism said it found a 388% year-over-year increase in reported antisemitic incidents across the U.S.
"Publicly displaying Hanukkah lights is an important part of the holiday tradition, and throughout our history our community has had to balance whether to uphold that tradition in times of danger and adversity. But today, in part thanks to years of investment we've made to ensure that our communities know how to secure themselves, we are hearing many Jews say that it's particularly important to proudly display their menorahs and bring more light into this dark time," said Jewish Federations of North America President and CEO Eric Fingerhut in a quote shared with ABC News.
Kulbersh points to his friends' show of unity for inspiring his project to celebrate Judaism in times of strife.
"I'm just a dad who wanted his kid to hang up some Hanukkah decorations and was afraid to, and a friend did something kind for me."
