The 19th annual South Carolina Statehouse Menorah Lighting took place Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — In darker times, we always look for the light. That was the message conveyed by leaders of South Carolina’s Jewish community during the annual menorah lighting on the Statehouse steps.
The rabbis and political leaders spoke hopefully, even as the shadow of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel continues to hang over the eight-day festival of lights more than a year later. The attackers killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 200 people hostage, some of whom remain captive.
“As Hanukkah reminds us, the light of Israel, of the Jewish people and of all who stand for life and freedom will prevail over evil and darkness,” Anat Sultan-Dadon, consul general of Israel to the Southeastern United States, said to applause. “Thank you all for your friendship, for celebrating light with us today. May it soon also reach our 100 remaining hostages, men, women and children who are still being held in brutal captivity in Gaza Israel will not rest, and no member of the free world should rest until they are all home.”
One attendee, Leah Kates of Columbia, was born in Israel and said the devastation of the attack stays with her every day.
War erupted between Israel and Palestine in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack, with a death toll that has surpassed 44,000 in the Gaza Strip, according to local health officials, The Associated Press reported last month.
Robin O’Donnell of Columbia brought her two elementary school sons out to the menorah lighting for the first time this year, saying they are now getting old enough to understand the meaning behind it.
The origins of Hanukkah go back to a different war fought more than 2,000 years ago. A small group of Jews, known as the Maccabees, defeated Syrian-Greek forces to reclaim the desecrated Second Temple of Jerusalem.
The holiday celebrates the rededication of the temple, when oil that was expected to light the menorah for one day burned for eight, becoming a symbol both literal and metaphorical of a light in the dark.
While O’Donnell and her sons celebrated Monday with sufganiyot and latkes, she said they’ve also had more serious conversations about how the Jewish people are still fighting today.
The Kates and O’Donnell families were among some 200 people gathered for the 19th annual Isadore E. Lourie Memorial Hanukkah Menorah Lighting, named for the late state Sen. Isadore Lourie, who founded the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina in 1994 after 30 years in the Legislature.
“Let this menorah lighting ceremony serve as a reminder of our shared responsibility to stand against all forms of hatred, discrimination, intolerance, particularly antisemitism,” said Rep. Beth Bernstein.
“Let us promote unity and respect among all communities, fostering the word world where diversity is celebrated and differences are embraced, and the glow of these candles,” she continued. “May the light of unity and hope shine brightly, not only during this festive season, but throughout the year, guiding us towards a future filled with peace, understanding and good will for all.”
The Columbia Democrat is the state’s only current Jewish legislator. She was joined by former state Sen. Joel Lourie, whose father is the event’s namesake.
“We live in the greatest country in the world where symbols like a menorah and a Christmas tree can be displayed together without fear of persecution or prosecution,” Lourie said. “For his entire life, my father shared his pride that only in America could he be a proud Jew but also a proud American.”
Earlier in the day, Gov. Henry McMaster had issued a proclamation naming January 2025 South Carolina Interfaith Harmony Month. The governor, in the proclamation, called for all South Carolinians to foster compassion and appreciation for the different faiths, beliefs and cultures found in the Palmetto State.
Events are scheduled throughout January celebrating numerous faiths, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, the Baha’i and Unitarian Universalist faiths, and others.
At Monday’s event, Lourie and others also paid tribute to the late former President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday.
Carter’s death came a little more than 45 years to the day since he became the first U.S. president to participate in a public menorah lighting at Lafayette Park near the White House on the fourth night of Hanukkah in 1979, said Rabbi Hesh Epstein, one of the leaders of Chabad South Carolina.
“He openly endorsed what was then the controversial idea of a public menorah lighting ceremony that is now being performed in 15,000 communities around the world,” Epstein said.