Anti-Semitic Violence Followed Us to Brooklyn

This year, we decided to escape Brooklyn, where Jews had been attacked constantly during Hanukkah. A close friend, Dalia Shusterman, had been walking home from a Hanukkah party last Thursday night with a few friends when a raving woman allegedly ran up to the group, spewing Jew hatred, smacked one woman and ran ahead to assault another innocent victim. (It was, police say, the second time in less than a week that she had attacked someone; she had been released from jail quickly the previous time, and was released and rearrested again after the second incident). So last Friday, we drove an hour upstate to Monsey, N.Y., to enjoy the fresh air and nature and visit my best friend from college, who now lives there with her family. After havdalah, a quick service commemorating the end of Shabbat, we shepherded our kids over to the menorah table and each one lit a candle. We sat down to enjoy the lights for only a few minutes, and then most of us headed out to a Hanukkah party at a local synagogue.