Lean into the light
Dec. 18 (28 Kislev 5786)
😟 It’s been a week of violent, disturbing news inside and outside of the Jewish community. I won’t recount it all here.
🇦🇺 There’s no shortage of hot takes on the Bondi Beach, Australia massacre: Calls for support of the Jewish community, graphic video footage, personal accounts, and exasperation. Jewish donors raised $1 million for Ahmed Al Ahmed, the man responsible for taking down the shooter. Sofia and Boris Gurman, the couple who first encountered the gunman, were killed while trying to stop him.
🕯️ The Chabad community has called to continue celebrating the light of Chanukah. That’s what we will do. Just like the days after Oct. 7, 2023, we will march forward into the light while staying aware – but not afraid of – darkness.
May the memories of the Bondi Beach massacre victims be a blessing.
🎗️ Matilda Britvan, 10
🎗️ Edith Brutman, 68
🎗️ Dan Elkayam, 27
🎗️ Sofia and Boris Gurman, 61 and 69
🎗️ Alex Kleytman, 87, Holocaust survivor
🎗️ Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, 39
🎗️ Peter “Marzo” Meager, 61
🎗️ Reuven Morrison, 62
🎗️ Marika Pogany, 82, Holocaust survivor
🎗️ Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41
🎗️ Boris Tetylroyd, 68
🎗️ Tibor Weitzman, 78
💝 Closer to home, a fundraising campaign has been started to help a Dunwoody family who lost their home after their lit menorah started a fire this week.
Stay safe, and take good care.
Y’alla,
Logan
🍑Celebrate local flavor with Georgia Grown gifts! Build beautiful baskets or grab flavorful stocking stuffers from local craft makers. Enjoy chef demos, tasty samples, and meet the farmers. Visit us Sat., Dec. 20, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Cook’s Warehouse Ansley Mall. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Leaders split from ADL
✍🏼 A top litigation volunteer at the Anti-Defamation League is making public his letter of resignation.
Joe Berman said in an interview that the venerated civil rights group had become a “useful idiot” for the Trump administration by failing to respond aggressively to antisemitism on the right.
“Whether intentionally or ignorantly, ADL is providing cover to people who intend great harm to our nation,” Berman wrote in the letter.
The Atlanta-based ADL Southeast office has seen turnover in the last 18 months as several longtime ADL employees have left.
➡ Read more about Berman’s exit on JTA.
Italian Ruins to DIVE for!
SPONSORED BY FERNBANK MUSEUM
🌊 Journey beneath the waves with Sunken Treasures, Ancient Seas at Fernbank Museum.
You won’t want to miss this immersive journey beneath the Mediterranean Sea to uncover ancient shipwrecks, artifacts, and lost worlds. Featuring real relics found off the coast of Italy, HD video explorations, and more, this exhibition reveals how underwater archaeologists bring the past to light.
➞ This exhibit is open daily, or you can swing by for after-hours during select special events! On view now until Jan. 11, 2026.
Jewish storytelling fest
💬 The Atlanta Jewish Storytelling Festival is returning in January. Celebrating the rich tradition and contemporary practice of Jewish storytelling in the community, the festival caters to all ages.
Events range from Spark! local storytellers to Shabbat story prompts to personal stories with featured guest Laura Simms.
ℹ️ Most events will be held at The Breman from Jan. 10 to 11. Check the website for details.
Adamah sends teens to Israel
🇮🇱 Adamah and RootOne have announced a three-week teen Israel journey to explore the land, its diverse communities, and the challenges and opportunities shaping our global future.
The trip is designed for current 9th to 12th graders to meet leading environmentalists, activists, and climate industry innovators, while traveling throughout Israel with a group of environmentally minded American and Israeli peers.
💻 Applications are due Jan. 30.
RELATED
👨🏾💼 Jewish Changemakers is accepting applications for winter and spring virtual internships for ages 21 to 27.
Grandma Honey’s sweet kugel
👵🏼 Rough Draft reporter Sarra Sedghi interviewed Carolyn Chayet (aka “Grandma Honey”) and cooked her kugel recipe as part of her Grandmas of Atlanta recipe series.
Chayet has lived in Atlanta for nearly 60 years. She and her husband were seeking warmer climates in the 1960s, relocating their Cleveland-based food delivery business to Atlanta.
At 89, Chayet likes to stay active. In addition to reading, baking, and spending time with her six great-grandchildren, she attends weekly pilates classes, makes it a point to visit New York-style deli Bagelicious in Marietta every Friday, and is an avid mahjong player.
👉🏼 Read more about Grandma Honey and her kugel recipe.
Opinion: My religion was ‘None of the above,’ until Oct. 7 and now Bondi
🧯 Judaism is on fire — or really, being Jewish is on fire. The mass murder of Jews on Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah celebration was only the most recent example. But the reaction that surprised me the most was how unsurprised I was watching the news reports on Sunday morning. Like too many, I have become anesthetized to mass shootings in general and those targeted toward Jews in particular.
🌎 Until recently, I could feel removed from this global phenomenon, given the ambiguity of my own religious identity. Despite my last name and appearance, for most of my life, I didn’t identify as Jewish. Instead, I was the confused product of a Baptist mother from Selma, Alabama and a Jewish father who escaped Nazi Germany just in time.
📰 Read the full article on the Forward.
Look & Listen
📦 Nu Reads is a new, curated subscription to literature, letters, and nerdy-fun extras by the Jewish Book Council.
🎙️ Chutzpod this week explores family dynamics, sibling rivalry, maternal manipulation, and more.
What’s doin’ around town
SPONSORED BY CONGREGATION OR HADASH
✌🏼 Dec. 18: Drop-in Jewish meditation.
🥣 Dec. 19: Hanukiyah lighting, latke dinner, and Shabbat.
📖 Dec. 23:Chapter & Verse virtual Jewish Bible study.
🎧 Dec. 25:Chagigah party with DJ Idan Cohen.
✡️ The last night of Chanukah is Dec. 21.
🕯️ Light Shabbat candles this week at 5:14 p.m.
🕎 Light the candles. Share the latkes. You and family are invited to celebrate Hanukkah with Or Hadash on December 19—candle lighting at 5:15, a family latke dinner, then Shabbat services🎶. RSVP now so we can save you a seat.
🍑Celebrate local flavor with Georgia Grown gifts! Build beautiful baskets or grab flavorful stocking stuffers from local craft makers. Enjoy chef demos, tasty samples, and meet the farmers. Visit us Sat., Dec. 20, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Cook’s Warehouse Ansley Mall. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Before you go
🕎 Hours after the news broke in Bondi Beach, Australia, Chabad Intown increased security and encouraged the Jewish community to celebrate the first night of Chanukah on Decatur Square. Longtime Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett was there to welcome the crowd. She’s pictured here with Rabbi Eli Schusterman.