Light up the Church!

Stand in solidarity with our Jewish neighbors. On November 9th, 2022, synagogues and churches kept their lights to remember the horrific Night of Broken Glass, Kristallnacht. The Nazis tried to extinguish the light of the Jewish people forever; we say “Never Again!” Will you and your church, business, or home group join us in leaving the lights on November 9th, 2023?

Topics: Antisemitism

Starting in the late hours of November 9, 1938, and continuing throughout the next day, Nazi mobs torched and vandalized hundreds of synagogues throughout Germany and damaged, and often completely destroyed, thousands of Jewish homes, schools, businesses, hospitals and cemeteries. Nearly 100 Jews were murdered during the violence, which came to be viewed as the prelude to the Final Solution and the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust.

How can one commemorate one of the worst atrocities known to mankind?

On Thursday night, November 9, 2023, we will mark the abhorrent night when the lights of Germany’s synagogues went dark in 1938 – Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass. In memory of this night and its countless victims, lights in churches and synagogues throughout the world will blaze all night long. Light shall replace darkness; Resurgence shall replace loss; Friendship shall replace destruction; Good will triumph over evil.

We encourage you to also remember the horrific attack on October 7, 2023, when Hamas murdered 1,400 people (Jews, Arabs, and others in Israel) and took more than 200 hostages.

Christians will join Jews in this powerful statement:
The Jewish People will never be destroyed.

We suggest you add a prayer event to this day of remembrance, whether that looks like an hour-long prayer meeting or a prayer open house at your house of worship.

Please do not miss this event! Make sure that your church, ministry, business, home group, school, organization, or even private home is counted among the Christians who stand by their Jewish brethren worldwide by leaving the lights ON all night Thursday night, November 9, 2023!

Participation in Light Up The Church is free of charge. Registrants are requested to submit a picture of their church (or other participating building) in the daylight upon registration, and a picture of it lit up on November 9.

Light Up The Church is an initiative of Root Source; CMJ USA encourages churches to participate as a way of building bridges with our Jewish neighbors.