“In the past year, a short video was pinned to the social media feed of Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger, of Sydney. In that video, filmed last Hanukkah, Schlanger steps out of his home, smiling, announcing: ‘Here’s the best response to combat antisemitism!’ As a song — ‘Just a Little Bit of Light’ — plays, he lifts a large menorah from his car, fastens it onto the roof, lights it, and dances beside it, out in the street. It is a moment of joy, confidence, and trust in the idea that anyone facing bigotry can bring their full self into the public square. This year, at a Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach, Schlanger was murdered together with another 14 Jews who had assembled to publicly celebrate the holiday.

Schlanger’s video and his killing point to a question that reaches beyond the Jewish community: Who is able to bring their full identity into public civic life, and what does that say about the society in which we live?…”

Read the full piece on Slate