{"id":19411,"date":"2017-12-20T14:19:18","date_gmt":"2017-12-20T19:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=19411"},"modified":"2018-01-03T16:21:46","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T21:21:46","slug":"we-pledge-to-stand-strong-and-stand-together-in-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/we-pledge-to-stand-strong-and-stand-together-in-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe pledge to stand strong and stand together in unity\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

A message of strength in unity was sent out into the world Monday night as dozens of Aurorans gathered for the Town\u2019s first official Menorah Lighting Ceremony.
\nHeld at Town Hall early Monday evening and attended by Mayor Geoff Dawe and Councillors John Abel, Wendy Gaertner and Tom Mrakas, as well as Aurora MPs Leona Alleslev and Kyle Peterson, it was, in part, an event intended to send a message to the community after a local spate of anti-Semitic graffiti incidents, most recently outside Aurora High School.
\nFor those in attendance, it was time to shine a beacon of positivity throughout the Aurora community in response to the incidents.
\n\u201cThe message of Hanukkah is even in the most horrific darkness, we must stand strong and stand proud. When we stand together, when we stand unified, the force of good expels the forces of evil and spreads its wings for all to benefit,\u201d said Rabbi Yosef Hecht. \u201cAnother message this holiday teaches us is \u2018add a little light\u2019. Light by its very nature not only benefits one\u2019s self when it shines but also everyone in the vicinity. A little light can expel a whole lot of darkness.
\n\u201cIn light [of recent events] in our very own back yard, we pledge tonight to stand strong and stand together in unity. Rekindle the menorah and pledge to continue to illuminate the world. With adding more light, we will act with a bit more goodness and kindness, preparing the world for a time when we will know of no evil, know of no hate, and live together in a more peaceful world.\u201d
\nThese sentiments were shared by Mayor Dawe and Ms. Alleslev, both of whom spoke at this week\u2019s ceremony.
\n\u201cThis is just not something I grew up with, it\u2019s certainly not something I want my children to grow up with, or my grandchildren who are coming soon \u2013 and it\u2019s not something we want our residents to be experiencing,\u201d said Mayor Dawe on the incidents.
\nAdded Ms. Alleslev: \u201cHanukkah reminds us that in dark times there is always hope and that peace can \u2013 and must \u2013 be triumphant. Regardless of our religion, we have shared values of peace, love, hope and understanding and that is our strength, what unites us as Canadian. That is why I was so disheartened to hear about the incidents and recent events at Aurora High School.
\n\u201cThis act of intolerance is an act of the few. It is not a reflection of our community, but we must remain vigilant to ensure that our values carry the day and shape the country for our future. Now is the time to be thankful for everything we have in Canada and, of course, the peace that we\u2019re fortunate enough to enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir A message of strength in unity was sent out into the world Monday night as dozens of Aurorans gathered for the Town\u2019s first official Menorah Lighting Ceremony. Held at Town Hall early Monday evening and attended by Mayor Geoff Dawe and Councillors John Abel, Wendy Gaertner and Tom Mrakas, as well as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/2017-12-21-06.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-535","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 05:58:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}