Christmas Menorah 2

hi boys and girls for today's read-aloud

we're going to continue our story

the christmas menorahs how a town fought

hate

and you know this title really makes me

stop and think because i know that a

menorah is about hanukkah

not about christmas so i wonder

what they mean by a christmas menorah

and i'll warn you this story the ending

kind of makes me cry a little bit so

you'll have to excuse me if i get a

little choked up at the ending

if you remember when last we left isaac

schnitzer had a rock thrown through his

window that

took down his menorah because he was

jewish and there were some haters out

there

who were targeting people who were

different than them and isaac's not sure

he wants to put his menorah

back in his window i'm already getting

choked up

many people remember and his mom went on

tv on the news because they're picking

up right after she was on tv

many people in billing saw mrs schnitzer

on tv

and had read about what was happening in

the town newspaper

then a special meeting was called by

chief inman and a woman named margaret

mcdonald

she was a friend of the schnitzer's and

had worked with many of the churches in

billings on special projects the day of

the meeting was cold and blustery but a

big crowd filled the hall

isaac's parents were there too the

police are doing everything they can

excuse me to catch these people chief

inman told the crowd

but it's important that we take a stand

as a community

we have to show that an act of hate

against even one person in billings

is an act of hate against us all i have

an idea

said mrs mcdonald let's see what her

idea is

the schnitzers have been urged to take

down their menorah so they won't be a

target

but that's not the answer continued mrs

mcdonald

what if the rest of us were told to take

down our christmas trees and lights

because people might throw rocks at us

for being christian

i say let's take a stand let's all put

up menorahs

great idea said reverend tourney who was

the minister of the first con

of the first congregational church i'll

speak to the other religious leaders who

won't

who couldn't come to the meeting tonight

then we'll talk to our congregations

but where can we get menorahs someone

asked i think i have a solution

reverend tourney answered our sunday

school

just had a lesson about hanukkah and we

handed out pictures of menorahs to all

the children

we'll make copies of the picture and the

churches can help distribute them

throughout the town let's do let's do it

called becky

thomas a neighbor of the schnitzer's

lots of others in the crowd shouted

their agreement

reverend tourney smiled the plan would

just might work

the day after the meeting isaac's class

talked about what had happened to isaac

and his family

isaac's teacher mrs pearson had asked

isaac to bring his menorah and to

explain why his

family celebrated hanukkah his friend

theresa hanley had never seen a menorah

what are the candles for she asked

so isaac told her the story about

hanukkah

some bullies threw a rock in the window

where i had my menorah isaac blurted out

just because i'm jewish

were you scared jonathan wanted to know

well maybe a little isaac admitted that

was a hard thing to happen to you and

your family

mrs pearson said i read about it in the

billings gazette and so did the other

teachers were all very sorry

and angry like isaac said hanukkah

celebrates

the fight for religious freedom the

truth is people have to fight this

battle over and over again

we're doing it now in billings

has anyone else in the class ever been

picked on for being different

and do you know someone else to whom

that happened i know someone teresa

volunteered last year there was a boy in

my class his name is caleb

and he's cheyenne he comes from the

reservation

some of the kids didn't like that they

weren't very nice to him so i tried to

be his friend

i talked to him and we played games

together then the other kid

started to play with him good for you

mrs pearson told her

how did it feel when the other kid

started following your example

it made me feel happy teresa answered my

sister has to use a wheelchair jeff said

and some kids at school stare at her and

tease her because she's different

they shouldn't do that it hurts her

feelings and sometimes it makes her cry

yes it's very cruel mrs pearson said

what do you think

we you would do if someone was bullying

you

maybe i would go to another school

jasmine answered you might want to

said mrs pearson but wouldn't that be a

little like running away

it's just the opposite of standing up

and saying to a bully

i won't let you push me around yeah if

you run away from bullies they'll know

you're they're scared and they'll push

you around even more said matthew

my dad told me that he's absolutely

right i'll be right

back he's absolutely right mrs pearson

agreed

that's why the town is taking a stand

because when people stand up to bullies

especially when they're standing up

together lots of times

the bullies back down and sometimes

something else happens too the people

who are being picked on

know that they aren't alone they know

other people care

so some of us are going to be putting

menorahs in our windows even though

we're not jewish

we want to show our support for isaac's

family and the other families that are

being harassed in billings

teresa liked the idea she had been

trying to imagine how she would feel if

someone threw a rock into her window

because she had a christmas tree

it wasn't fair that isaac had to have

this happen to him

she knew she had to do something to help

when theresa came home from school that

day

she told her mom what the class had told

her what the class had talked about

i want to have menorahs in our window

mom for isaac theresa said i've been

thinking the same thing our mom said

but it's a decision we should make as a

family we've got to wait until everyone

comes home

then we'll all talk about this together

seem like forever before teresa's three

sisters and her brother and her father

were home

finally as they ate their supper the

family talked about teresa's idea

i don't know much about hanukkah michael

said me either said juliana

teresa told her family how isaac had

explained the holidays

the other children wanted to hear more

so they went to the encyclopedia and

looked up the section about hanukkah

each children read a part out loud

this hanukkah this holiday is pretty

neat michael said

i like the part about the maccabees in

the encyclopedia has a picture of a

menorah just as teresa had described it

let's draw our own menorah she said and

put them in the window

but what if people think we're jewish

elizabeth asked

so what if they do michael said we could

get a rock thrown through our window

that's what

said elizabeth nervously or maybe

something worse

we would be taking a risk mr hanley said

but some risks are worth it

people shouldn't be treated this way

what if this happened to us wouldn't we

want people to help

count me in michael said i'll do it said

elizabeth juliana

and kathleen agreed to think of it like

this said mrs

hanley we never did like our living room

window much anyway the family laughed

but they knew what they would do

mom isaac said as he walked to the door

after gymnastics my friend greg told me

that the catholic high school

put up a big sign in their window that

said let's try to get along

and someone threw a brick at it and

smashed the window in a zillion pieces

yes i know his mom answered it was just

i was just at a meeting about it as

usual those cowards did their dirty work

in the dark so they couldn't be seen

thank goodness the school was emptied

and no one was hurt

is the school mad at us isaac asked her

honey why would the school be mad at us

if they're mad at anyone they would be

mad at the people who threw the brick

his mom said but they were sort of doing

this for us and now their window got

smashed

isaac's mom thought for a moment before

she answered yes isaac they're doing it

for us

and for the other families that these

haters are trying to scare but they're

doing it for themselves too they're

trying to make billings a better place

to live for everyone

then isaac's mom had an idea don't take

your coat off for going for a drive

where isaac asked surprise it's almost

time for dinner you'll see

it was getting dark as isaac and his

mother began to strive slowly through

the neighborhood

look mom isaac cried look at all the

menorahs in house after house in the

frosty windows isaac could see pictures

of menorahs

there wasn't a single street without the

hanukkah symbols like our home house

isaac said that's right his mother

agreed

did anyone else have rocks thrown

through their windows isaac asked yes

they did his mom answered

but you know what isaac shook his head

people have become even more determined

the billings gazette printed a full-page

picture of a menorah

and asked people to display it on a door

or window in their homes and they did

isaac people put up thousands of

menorahs

isaac was silent for a bit thinking then

he said slowly

mom remember last year when i told you i

wanted to bring some of my hanukkah

presents to school

to show the other guys aha his mom

answered well now don't be mad but i

didn't

tell them they were hanukkah presents i

felt funny mom nobody else gets hanukkah

presents everyone else

gets presents for christmas and i didn't

want to be different i just wanted to be

like the rest of the class

so what did you do i guess i sort of

told them they were christmas presents

but not this year mom he added quickly

this time

i'll show my presents i'm going to say

they're from hanukkah i'm glad

isaac his mom said softly mom stop isaac

suddenly shouted what is it

she asked slamming on the brakes look

ahead was a house

with a big picture window taped into the

window was a large picture of beautiful

menorah

drawn with many brightly colored crayons

over the menorah was a message

for our friend isaac it read with love

from teresa

and the rest of the hanley family

underneath was a picture of a jewish

star

and a christian cross she didn't tell me

she was doing this

isaac said she never said anything

isaac's mom oh and there's the picture

of the window isn't that wonderful

isaac's mom turned toward him and saw

there were tears in her eyes

you know honey hate can make a lot of

noise love and courage are usually

quieter but in the end they're the

strongest

all the way home isaac looked at the

menorahs in his neighbor's windows

he thought about what his mom had said

and then he made a decision

the next day was gray and gloomy but in

the evening a warm

inviting light shone from isaac's

bedroom

gathering around the window where isaac

and all the hanley children

they had to just finish putting up new

holiday decorations

isaac's menorah was perched on the sill

each branch was brightly lit and shown

on the sign

which had been strung across the length

of the window happy hanukkah to everyone

in billings

the sign read with love isaac

and at the end it says as hanukkah

passed and christmas grew near

more and more menorahs could be seen

throughout billings the town continued

to fight against the acts of hatred and

slowly but surely those acts began to

stop

the townspeople told each other that

this was a gift they had given to

themselves and it was their best holiday

gift

ever that's the end bye boys and girls