Chanukah Heroes
ON THIS SECOND NIGHT, we reflect on the miracle of aliyah and the rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948. Traditionally Chanukah recalls the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days and the rededication of the Temple. This year, let us recall the miracle of a century of aliyah, and the return of the Jewish People to our historic homeland.
Ida Nudel
Chanukah Hero:
Ida Nudel, Israeli activist
Ida Nudel chose to become a refusenik, a Soviet Jew denied permission to emigrate abroad to Israel. She decided to request an exit visa from the USSR in order to protest the rampant Soviet anti-Semitism. Once denied, she became an activist, organizing campaigns and hunger strikes for the cause of permitting Soviet Jews to make aliyah. She was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison in Siberia. Two years after finishing her sentence, she was visited by Jane Fonda, who worked to campaign for her release. Israeli President Chaim Herzog designated an empty chair at his Passover Seder in her honor. In October 1987, she was finally granted an exit permit. In Israel, Nudel continues as an activist for the betterment of society, and wrote an autobiography, "A Hand in the Darkness."
Nudel is a Chanukah Hero because:
- She is not afraid to stand up for her rights, even against terrible odds and rampant anti-Semitism
Adisu Masssla
Chanukah Hero:
Adisu Massala, First Ethiopian Jew in the Knesset
Born in Ethiopia in 1961, Massala made aliyah in 1980 by plane, after crossing the Ethiopia-Sudan border. In Israel, he became a social worker and chairman of the United Ethiopian Jewish Organization. The first Ethiopian Jew to be elected to the Knesset, Massala served from 1996-1999.
Massala is a Chanukah Hero because:
- His election exemplifies the Jewish and Zionist values of democracy and the integration of immigrants into Israeli society.
- Massala cares deeply about the issue of the education of Ethiopian Jewish children, working to decrease the school dropout rate and increase sensitivity in schools about learning needs of Ethiopian Jews. Furthering education is a Zionist value – which ensures the future of the Jewish people.
