The 35th annual Hanukkah Menorah lighting celebration at Calgary’s Municipal Building was, in many ways, a very different ceremony from 2022’s event.
Drawing a standing-room-only crowd, the ceremony of Jewish faith and culture was larger and better attended than in the previous year—despite the overtones of politics that had come to dominate discussion of the appropriateness of messages at the event.
In the hours before the lighting, controversy regarding Mayor Jyoti Gondek’s decision to withdraw from the annual event over what she said had turned from an event steeped in tradition and faith, to a political event supporting the nation-state of Israel, became a talking point on social media and by conservative commentators.
Rabbi Levi Matusof of Chabad Lubavitch of Alberta took direct aim at the absence of Mayor Gondek during the evening’s celebration, saying “I was not meant to speak now.”
“The only thing I was meant to do is to introduce the evening and make it clear that this is not a demonstration. This is not violence. This is not darkness. This is life. It’s a peaceful celebration of Hanukkah with the message of unity,” Matusof said.
“Jews are proud to be Jewish, with proper support a community of young and old. We are proud to support Israel, our holy land.”
Matsuof’s comments directly referenced Mayor Gondek’s statements made earlier in the day, while at a media scrum outside a housing conference at the Telus Convention Centre.
“After all of the meetings that I have had with community leaders where the agreement has been to keep the politics away from our city, and to try to bring everyone together in an interfaith type of setting, I’m incredibly concerned that that type of language sends a message that this is an event supporting Israel,” the mayor said Thursday morning.
“If that’s the case, if that’s something that the organizers wish to do, it could be in the form of a demonstration or a protest like we see regularly in public places. It cannot be done inside City Hall, and that was an incredibly difficult decision for me to make to step away from attending. But if the politics could be removed from the faith-based celebration, this would be a different situation.”
The politics surrounding Israel’s prosecution of war in Gaza, following Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7 which killed more than 1,200 Israeli citizens, has led to mass demonstrations in Calgary over the past two months.
Pro-Israel supporters have called for support of the country in its aims to end the threat posed to citizens from the terrorist organization Hamas, while pro-Palestine protesters have decried what they say has been the deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians by Israeli Defence Forces.
On Dec. 6, Portuguese diplomat and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, invoked Article 99 of the U.N. charter, informing the President of the United Nations Security Council that the continued war in Gaza was a threat to international peace and security.
In that letter sent to Jose Javier de la Gasca Lopez Dominguez, Secretary-General Guterres addressed the numbers of those affected on both sides of the war, with more than 130 hostages taken by Hamas still yet to be released, more than 15,000 Palestinians—40 per cent children—killed, and 1.1 million refugees displaced from their homes.
Psalms and politics
Numerous members of Calgary’s conservative-leaning political community attended the lighting, including Councillor Jennifer Wyness in her role as Deputy Mayor, Councillors Sean Chu, Andre Chabot, Dan McLean, and Terry Wong, and former mayoral candidate and councillor Jeromy Farkas.
Several UCP MLAs, former MLAs, and ministers attended, including Minister of Economy, Jobs, and Trade Matt Jones—who in his capacity as minister, lit the first candle on the Menorah.
Calgary Members of Parliament from the Conservative Party of Canada also attended, including Michelle Rempel Garner and Shuvaloy Majumdar, who were both invited to give speeches during the evening’s event.
The lighting of the Menorah was led by a reading of Psalm 122, which references the importance of Jerusalem as being the gate to the house of God, followed by prayers and speeches about the spiritual importance of Hanukkah.
Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees regaining control of Jerusalem and Judea from the Seleucid Empire.
The lighting of candles over eight days represents the miracle of a one-day supply of oil to celebrate the victory in the reclaimed Second Temple, lasting for eight days.
The celebration of Hanukkah has largely been symbolized as the light against darkness, and the triumph of good over evil.
Israel took on greater prominence in 2023
The focus of the 2022 ceremony had been the ability the Jewish community to gather after two-and-a-half years of the pandemic, in person, with Israel mentioned less than the connection of members of Calgary’s Jewish community.
This year’s ceremony was, by the account of some of the individuals speaking at the event, tied directly to Israel and the current war.
Lisa Libin, President of the Calgary Jewish Federation, thanked attendees for coming to the ceremony despite the political climate surrounding it.
“I wanted to start off by saying a huge thank you to everyone in this room today. I know this event tonight has sadly been up against controversy, and I know for the last few months as a community we have felt abandoned and alone. Last night for us only secured that feeling further,” Libin said.
“We could not ignore them and we’ll not ignore the fact that this year’s celebration does not hold the same festive spirits as years past. We have 170 hostages including a baby and a toddler who are not celebrating Hanukkah this year and we have soldiers fighting for our right to stand here safely tonight and always who are not with their own family celebrating Hanukkah this year.
“Hanukkah is an occasion that commemorates the miraculous survival of a band of Jewish fighters in Israel. It is a celebration of victory, and a celebration of hope and the pivotal lessons of Hanukkah is to light up the darkness.”
She spoke about the honour she felt, travelling to Israel with Calgary Jewish Federation CEO Adam Silver and MP Rempel Garner, and the resilience of that nation.
“The resilience and strength is nothing short of incredible, and we came back with a promise to work to ensure that our own community continues to show the same sense of togetherness as we go through this difficult time,” Libin said.
Past-president of the federation, Jordan Balaban, spoke about the Israelis displaced by the war and the horror that communities at the forefront of the Hamas attacks faced.
“Our solidarity, this time with the people of Israel, who share our Canadian democratic values was deeply impactful by all those we spent our time with. Israelis feel very alone right now, and so do we all collectively as Jews,” Balaban said.
“The road ahead for peaceful coexistence will be long. As Canadians, we can and should do our part in making that road as short as possible through promoting respect, understanding and peace. That is what this community event has always been about. Building bridges, supporting the diversity of Calgary’s cultural fabric, and creating opportunities to come together and celebrate a thousands-year-old fight for religious freedom.
“During Hanukkah, we laid an additional candle each night to commemorate the Maccabean miracle of overcoming persecution and darkness and reunification and rededicating the temple in Jerusalem. The celebration of Hanukkah has and always will be directly and inextricably linked to Israel.”
The speeches by Libin and Balaban were followed by a gaffe in the program, where a video that was announced to be shown, but then was then not.
The video was to be the IDF’s Chief Cantor Shai Abramson singing a prayer for the release of hostages in the war alongside paramedics from Magen David Adom.
Rabi Matsuof said that video had been withdrawn from the evening’s program, and that its inclusion was in error.
Instead, he thanked City of Calgary staff and administrators for helping to make the evening happen, and the Calgary Police and City Corporate Security for helping to keep it safe.
Conservative Party of Canada MPs gets standing ovations
Calgary MPs Rempel Garner and Majumdar both received standing ovations for their speeches that promised to both defend Jewish customs and the Jewish way of life and to unequivocally support Israel.
Rempel Garner said during her trip to Israel had stood in an Israeli kibbutz which had been among the targets of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks, connecting the violence there to the rise in anti-Semitism seen in Canada.
“Jewish Canadians still reeling from the worst attack on their people since the Holocaust, have felt unsafe in their homes, places of worship and schools, as acts of overt anti-Semitism continued to dramatically rise across our country,” she said.
“As we light the menorah tonight, we must also—and I implore you, as a pluralistic community—bring light to each other. To do this, we must not be afraid to take bold actions. First, I acknowledge that Hanukkah has always been and will always be the celebration of Jewish liberation in the Jewish people’s indigenous homeland of Israel.”
Rempel Garner said that the intrinsic celebration of Israel as a part of Hanukkah was akin to the connections other faiths have in their celebrations of their homelands.
“We do this for the same reason that we as Calgarians celebrate Eid, Diwali, and Christmas,” she said.
“Calgarians support the celebration of each other’s faith in peace and in love. Because that’s the very essence of Canadian pluralism, friends. Celebrating each other as we practice our faith isn’t politics, it’s the miracle of our country that must be protected at all costs.”
Majumdar, in his speech which was proceeded by excited clapping and cheering, was direct in his political message for those same attendees.
“I’m standing here alongside my friend and colleague Michelle Rempel Garner, alongside in spirit are conservative colleagues in our caucus who are in Ottawa voting today. I’m looking forward to joining them when I hop on a plane in a few hours and then fighting the good fight in a different place,” he said.
He took direct aim at Mayor Gondek by name, saying that he would share the same message at the menorah lighting as the one that he had shared at the solidarity gathering for the Jewish community on Oct. 9 which she attended.
“Let me say three things that I shared with Mayor Gondek in that setting, and over a thousand of our Jewish friends on October 9, two days after the worst attacks upon the Jews in the Holocaust: Israel has the right to exist,” Majumdar said.
“The Jewish people as indigenous to the land, who through the modern state of Israel, tell the story of the most remarkable indigenous revival on planet Earth.”
Majumdar, speaking about the legitimacy of the Israeli state, directly spoke to what he believed was a root cause of anti-Semitism.
“My third point, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. We’re here because we believe in the existence of a Jewish state, in the lands between the river and the sea, because we know that the Jewish people and the land are inextricably linked and that anyone who says otherwise is denying Jewish people, their history and their future,” he said.
“Across our lands, we see mobs on the march, mayors, cities fall into moral equivalence. Hearts, having turned to darkness. I may not be your Member of Parliament, but I will be your voice, and I vowed to do everything to fight against this ancient hatred alongside the company of some remarkable people who I stand alongside, with the leader of His Majesty’s Official Opposition, Pierre Poilievre.”
City Councillors get lukewarm receptions
Councillor Jennifer Wyness and Councillor Dan McLean both delivered speeches that received lukewarm receptions in contrast to those prior. Neither of the councillors spoke directly about Israel during the evening’s events.
“I think it is important to reflect on how we can all support Calgarians and their identities, and support their freedoms and rights both here and abroad, while we also hold to account actions of individuals or their country’s leadership,” said Wyness.
“The holiday is a time to celebrate and support one another to reflect on our strengths as a collective of individuals with different thoughts, opinions, beliefs and histories. The next eight days are an important time to strengthen the bonds of our communities, with friends, with family.
“So let’s be kind to each other and show forgiveness while we process the large spectrum of emotions this Hanukkah. With the utmost sincerity, I say to you in these difficult times, Calgary’s Jewish community is supported.”
For his part, Councillor McLean focused on the symbolism of the light and warmth of the menorah.
“Tonight as we gather, let the illumination of the menorah serve as a testament to the contributions of our Jewish community to this city,” McLean said.
“I acknowledge that this Hanukkah may be different and challenging for many of you here, present tonight. But the significance of this festival becomes even more profound in times of difficulty, reminding us of the resilience embedded in the spirit of Hanukkah.
“Once again, I want to underscore my unwavering support for the Jewish community here in Calgary.”
