By Laurie Baron
SAN DIEGO — It is considered a mitzvah to place a menorah in a home’s window to publicize the miracle of the oil burning for 8 days. In the wake of the October 7th massacres and kidnappings, Jewish organizations advocate doing this to indicate support for Israel. Given the current polarization over the war in Gaza and my own paranoia, I’m reluctant to perform this mitzvah.
I worry that word will get around on the San Diego State campus that one of its retired professors agrees with Israel’s massive bombing campaign that has killed so many Gazan civilians, the majority of whom were children or women. Then I expect the Students for Justice in Palestine to march on my house, break my windows, and call me a genocide enabler.
To avoid this, I might put a sign under the window clarifying my position. It would read something like this: Outraged over the kidnapping, murder, and raping of all civilians. Once word gets out in the Jewish community about that caveat, I anticipate that AIPAC will march on my house, break my windows, and call me a self-hating Jew despite having researched, taught, and written about modern Jewish history for nearly 50 years. Moreover, Elise Stefanik will blacklist me from ever being appointed the president of a university.
I am left with only one option. I will hang a banner calling for peace on earth above the menorah in my window, or perhaps more succinctly state: “A pax on both their houses.”
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Baron is professor emeritus at San Diego State University. He may be contacted via Lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com
Brilliant!