FOCUS: The good news of the gospel tells of a radical hospitality where boundaries, barriers, and walls are
overcome by a grace that knows no bounds.
“I didn’t know so many people were Jewish!”
It was the Schnitzers’ second Hanukkah in Billings, Montana, and five-year-old Isaac wanted the menorah to be in his bedroom window. But as Isaac and his sister, Rachel, prepared for bed, a brick hurled from the street sent shards of glass flying through the room.
The day after the incident, an FBI agent advised the family to get bullet-proof glass in their windows and to take down the menorahs. Instead, they decided to put the menorah back in the window and call the local newspaper.
The next morning, a member of the local Congregational church read the story and phoned her pastor. Echoing the World War II legend from Denmark where Nazi occupiers were thwarted by King Christian and thousands of other non-Jews who donned yellow Star of David armbands in solidarity with their Jewish
neighbors, a plan was hatched.
Within days, the word was out and paper menorahs were distributed for display in windows throughout town. The Target store had some plastic menorahs but soon sold out. An antique store in Billings reported a Christian woman buying a very expensive, antique menorah to place in her window. The marquee at the
Catholic High School read, “Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends.”
Soon, hundreds of homes in Billings had menorahs in their windows. Some were shot out by bullets, some shattered by bricks. Hate calls were made to Christian families. Margaret MacDonald, whose idea it was to put up the paper menorahs, said she thought it would be a simple thing for people to do. But when she went
to put the menorah in her own window, she hesitated: "With two young children, I had to think hard about it myself. We put our menorah in a living room window, and made sure nobody sat in front of it." The community would not be intimidated. Each night of Hanukkah, more and more menorahs were placed in
windows. The local paper printed a brightly colored full-page menorah, urging its 56,000 subscribers to place them in their windows.
On the last night of Hanukkah, hundreds of homes had menorahs in them. As the Schnitzers drove around town that night, Isaac saw all of the houses with menorahs in their windows and exclaimed, “I didn’t know so many people were Jewish!”
To receive a complete copy of the text used for the session, please contact Pastor Marj at daytonfirstcong@gmail.com. It will be sent as an email attachment for your perusal as opposed to printing multiple pages, a stewardship practice. Because of copyright law, we are not able to make the materials available here. Another option would be to purchase a copy of Felten and Procter-Murphy's newly-released book, Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity from your local bookseller.
Questions to be considered in light of the video and readings:
How are our prejudices and insecurities intertwined?
Describe the “humanity beyond our prejudices” to which we are called.
How do the ministries of Creech and Phelps conflict or sync with Jesus’ message of radical equality and grace?
What has Mel White learned along his Spiritual Journey?
What other practices or characteristics of the human condition might be included in the “natural” vs. “un-natural” conversation?
The “body of Christ” is just one New Testament image in which difference is honored. Explain.
What’s the common denominator?
List the priorities of a “right side up” faith community.
