OUTER BANKS, N.C. — The celebration of Hanukkah is all about spreading messages of positivity and light to the world.

The Jewish community says that message is more important now than ever, especially with the recent uptick in antisemitic incidents. Jewish leaders are concerned about the incidents rising around the country. 

Lay leader of the Jewish Community of the Outer Banks George Lurie leads Shabbat at his home in Kitty Hawk once a month.

He started leading services on Zoom during the pandemic to a small group of Jewish people living in the Outer Banks.

“I joined the group right around September of '03 and we had a Hanukkah party with parents and kids who have all grown up. And I said I could run a service… and I’ve been doing it monthly ever since,” Lurie said.   

He loves teaching and connecting with other Jewish people through these traditions.

“I like singing in a group, and it teaches me or helps me learn what it means to be Jewish,” Lurie said.

But with antisemitic incidents rising across the country, there's new emphasis on what this year's celebration stands for. 

“Honestly, it scares me to death, yeah that’s the easiest way to say it. My mothers had a whole mess of uncle who never got out of Poland,” said Lurie.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says that 2021 was the highest year on record of antisemitic incidents since they started tracking them in 1979. Thirty incidents were recorded in North Carolina alone.   

And with hateful rhetoric and conspiracies more prevalent online and even shared by celebrities, the ADL says there have been over 1,500 incidents this year. 

“I’m aware if I close my eyes and say it will never happen, it will happen,” said Lurie.  

He says the problem is so large that it can often feel hopeless – but one little thing he says people can do is call out hateful behavior and speech when they hear it.

“I think when people act like bigots you need to call them out. And you just stand up, and I think, you stand up to bigotry and hate,” Lurie said. 

He’s only aware one antisemitic incident in the Outer Banks in the last 15 years, but knows that nationally numbers are rising. He’s working with the Jewish Community of the Outer Banks on future education programs to help create more understanding.