Around Thanksgiving, when his friends were putting up their Christmas decorations, Jack Kulbersh, age 6, wanted to join in and hang his own holiday lights.
Jack’s father, Adam Kulbersh, wasn’t so sure. The Kulbersh family holiday decorations usually include a lighted menorah in the window. But the news lately was grim: A Jewish pre-school vandalized; a cemetery desecrated.
“There’s armed guards everywhere,” said Kulbersh, a Los Angeles resident, originally from Dunwoody. “The news right now is covered with antisemitic violence.” He told Jack maybe they better not put up a menorah this year and make themselves a target. “My gut reaction was to close the curtains.”
He told his worries to one of his best friends, Jennifer Marshall, who lives in South Tampa, Florida.
“When he told me that, it made me sad, “ said Marshall.
Credit: Jennifer Marshall
Credit: Jennifer Marshall
Marshall, who was raised Catholic, went out and bought a lighted menora and put it in her window. She sent a photo of it to Kulbersh and posted it on her social media sites.
This immediately cheered up Kulbersh.
“I don’t think I realized what a weight was on my chest for the past few months,” he said. “This act of kindness from a friend so lifted my spirits that I felt like I had to do something about it.” In the meantime, Marshall received a flood of appreciative comments on Facebook and Instagram.
That gesture prompted Kulbersh, and his sister, Valerie Kulbersh, of Decatur, to dream up Project Menorah. He told her “I want to do something for people like us who are scared and people like Jennifer who want to help.”
Due to the violence overseas and antisemitism at home, many Jews feel embattled. Non-Jews want a way to comfort their friends. Project Menorah was an answer. Kulbersh quickly created a website where allies could download a pattern for a menorah, print it out, color it in, and put it in a window.
Credit: Adam Kulbersh
Credit: Adam Kulbersh
According to the website, “Project Menorah is a grassroots movement encouraging non-Jews to place a menorah, along with their other holiday decorations, in their windows this December in fellowship with Jewish friends and neighbors. It is a simple way to show support for the Jewish community.”
“The response has been overwhelming and exciting and humbling and gratifying,” Kulbersh said. “It has torn through social media. The Facebook post has been shared thousands of times. In less than a week we’ve drawn 3,000 followers.”
The idea has spread to at least 22 states, and to England, Australia, Canada and France. The other day an image arrived of a Project Menorah printout being held up in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
The clash between Israel and Gaza makes some conversations about Judaism and Israel difficult. But Marshall, a media buyer, said that her display has nothing to do with that conflict and is strictly about assuring her friends that antisemitism is unwelcome in her home.
Credit: Project Menorah
Credit: Project Menorah
“It is all about non-Jewish people supporting Jewish people so they can celebrate their holidays,” she said. “Everybody should be able to celebrate their holidays.”
The traditional Jewish festival Hanukkah began Thursday, Dec. 7, and continues through Friday, Dec. 15.
Credit: Misty Moffitt
Credit: Misty Moffitt
Misty Moffitt, who works at a barbershop in Decatur, cuts hair for four members of a Jewish family. They told her how they worried about the rising number of hateful incidents.
“It made me feel sad my that my friends feel unloved and unsafe,” she said. Then the family posted a link to Project Menorah. Moffitt printed out her first menorah and hung it in the window of Maxim Barbers. “I’m a non-Jewish person, I don’t know what to do,” said Moffitt, “but one thing we can do is let our clients know you’re so welcome here and you’re not alone.”
For Adam and Jack Kulbersh, the expressions of solidarity were all they needed. They got busy decorating.
“We’re not going to live in fear,” said the elder Kulbersh. “We’re going to open our curtains.”
