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In the past year, a short video was pinned to the social media feed of Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger, of Sydney. In that video, filmed last Hanukkah, Schlanger steps out of his home, smiling, announcing: “Here’s the best response to combat antisemitism!” As a song—“Just a Little Bit of Light”—plays, he lifts a large menorah from his car, fastens it onto the roof, lights it, and dances beside it, out in the street. It is a moment of joy, confidence, and trust in the idea that anyone facing bigotry can bring their full self into the public square. This year, at a Hanukkah gathering at Bondi Beach, Schlanger was murdered together with another 14 Jews who had assembled to publicly celebrate the holiday.

Schlanger’s video and his killing point to a question that reaches beyond the Jewish community: Who is able to bring their full identity into public civic life, and what does that say about the society in which we live?

For minority groups—religious, ethnic, racial—public visibility is not merely expressive. It is a measure of belonging. The ability to appear as oneself in shared civic spaces signals confidence that one’s neighbors see that expressed identity as legitimate, accepted, and safe. When visibility becomes dangerous, it is not simply an indication that the minority community is at risk. It’s a sign that the social contract........

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