KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. A KSHB 41 producer and former member of Chabad at KU shared this story idea with Lily, who has done several stories with the Lawrence Jewish community. Share your story idea with Lily.
—
Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel is encouraging the Lawrence Jewish community to join him in standing strong this Hanukkah season as he mourns the loss of his friend, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed in an antisemitic shooting in Australia on Sunday.
Hours after learning about what happened to Schlanger, Zalman Tiechtel celebrated Hanukkah with the Lawrence community.
“When we were setting up our event last night, putting up our big menorah, I thought to myself, this is exactly what my colleague and friend Eli was doing a day ago when he was brutally murdered," Zalman Tiechtel said.
He said after antisemitic attacks, the Jewish community becomes louder and prouder.
Nechama Tiechtel, who co-directs Chabad at KU alongside her husband, said she and Zalman know several people who were celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach when the shooting happened.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s something that’s far," Nechama Tiechtel said. "It feels very, very close. We feel very threatened when a Jew is threatened anywhere in the world.”
In May, the Tiechtels and the Chabad at KU community mourned the loss of Sarah Milgrim, a Prairie Village native who was killed alongside her boyfriend in a shooting following a Jewish event in Washington, D.C. Milgrim attended the University of Kansas and was involved in Chabad at KU.
On Monday evening, the Tiechtels joined Hanukkah celebrations as Milgrim's parents and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly lit the menorah at the Kansas Capitol.
“It’s so interesting that the theme of the lighting this year is finding light within the darkness and rising above the pain, and we invited Sarah Milgrim’s parents to come and speak because they became ambassadors of light, considering the pain they went through," Zalman Tiechtel said.
Continuing to celebrate Judaism this Hanukkah season is exactly what Schlanger would have wanted, Zalman Tiechtel said.
“One little candle can bring so much light," Zalman Tiechtel said. "So, that’s what we got to do. That’s exactly what Rabbi Eli would tell us to do.”
Zalman Tiechtel said he mentored Schlanger, and they had the opportunity to "grow together on our journey of life.”
“I hear his voice ringing in my ear, ‘Zalman, what’s going on?’ Just full of energy and spirit," Zalman Tiechtel said.
The Tiechtels say it's important for the Jewish community to continue proudly celebrating Hanukkah this year.
"We’re smiling and we keep doing [Hanukkah] events, but we’re crying before and after," Nechama Tiechtel said. "That’s who we are. We keep going forward, spreading the positive message, but it hurts. It hurts so much.”
—
