It seems that in France, the way to celebrate Chanukah is to open the new casks of wine on the night after Shabbat Chanukah. They sample the wine and toast the holiday, eat beignets, a French version of a donut also popular with café au lait in New Orleans.

I always thought that the new wine, the Beaujolais Nouveau, are shipped to the United States to arrive on the Thursday before Thanksgiving. In fact, this year, late on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, after my Confirmation Class and after delivering corned beef lunches to our seniors, Simon sat down and drank some red wine. We should have realized that it would be more “traditional”, more Jewish to wait for Chanukah. I think we learned that reading Maggie Anton’s series, Rashi’s Daughters.

Tonight’s story comes from another book, Hanukkah: Eight Lights Around the World by Susan Susman.

“Jacques and his friends run through the quiet Sunday streets of Strasbourg, bravely slashing enemies with swords. They are mighty Maccabees on the way to reclaim their Temple. Jacques leads the race across the large square to the Rue de la Paix, the Street of Peace, where the white marble synagogue stands waiting. As always, its two enormous bronze doors are closed. None of the children has ever seen them open.

My father says this temple is so strong,’ says Suzanne, who thinks she knows everything, ’that even Judah and the Maccabees couldn’t have recaptured it.’

‘If this was Judah’s Temple,’ says Jacques, ‘it couldn’t have been taken in the first place.’

The children enter the synagogue through a smaller door. Above them, bronze letters in the white marble say, “Stronger than the sword is My spirit.’

Jacques teacher sits with the children in a circle on the floor. ‘Long ago,’ she says, spinning a small dreidl, ‘children like you used toys like this to fool wicked old King Antiochus.’ The top dances across the floor and hits Jacques’s shoes. ‘That wicked king said no children would be allowed to study Torah,’ says the teacher. ‘But do you thik that stopped the children?’…..They play dreidle.

Later, the rabbi comes to the classroom. ‘The story of Hanukkah is much like our sotry,’ he says. ‘Yours and mine….In the 1940s our synagogues were seixed by our enemies, the Nazis.’ Up and down go the rabbi’s eyebrows. Up and down go Jacques’s. ‘All our synagogues were destroyed. Unlike the Maccabees, who were able to take back their Temple, we had no buildings to retur to after the way. No temple to rededicate. The rabbi raises his arms wide. ‘And so, we built this new synagogue.’

Jacques teacher catches him wiggling his eyebrows and stops him with a stern look. Jacques settles down and listens to the rabbi, even though he already knows the story. Every Jew in Strabourg knows how the Nazis tried to destroy the Jews. That is why the synagogue has been built with heavy sotnes. This is why the massive bronze door stand closed. As a reminder. As a precaution. As a message that this place and the spirit of the people within are stronger than the strongest enemy. As a promise that this synagogue will stand as a haven of safety and worship. Forever.”

What is inscribed over the door of this synagogue, “Stronger than the sword is My Spirit,” is a line from the very haftarah we read as part of Shabbat Chanukah, “Not by might and not by power, but by spirit alone….shall we all live in peace.” It is a beautiful image, a vision of a world at peace. But sadly, this Chanukah, that is yet to be. Life for the Jewish community in France has been very difficult this year. Anti-semetic events and threats have doubled this year. There have been anti-semetic hate crimes to rival some of those during the Holocaust. Synagogues have been torched. Recently a young French Jewish woman was raped and her boyfriend tied up, simply because they were Jews. This latest crime has led to a national outcry and a recommitment to prevent further such attacks.

Just in time for Chanukah, a Jewish organization in France has issued an anti-semitism first aid kit. While humorous, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188918#.VJeZDAF9rA, it belies the seriousness of recent events. Nonetheless, the story tonight, a reminder of G-d’s promise, “Not by Might and Not By Spirit but by Spirit alone, shall we all live in peace.” And some humor, the first aid kits. They give me hope. Let us recommit, rededicate ourselves to eradicating anti-semitism, in France, in the US, around the globe. That is the message of the sixth night.