Don't Let the Lights Go Out: Be Like Ahmed al Ahmed

Psychiatry & Society

Hanukkah is meant to be a time of light, says H. Steven Moffic, MD. Taking away the darkness from patient's lives and society—that is the light psychiatry can bring.

This year, right before Hanukkah, 3 tragedies erupted. The first was the shooting at Brown University, the second was a shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia, and the third was the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner by their son. The perpetrators of the second shooting were stopped by a heroic passerby named Ahmed al Ahmed.

"Be a bystander who responds. We can all be bystanders when we see discrimination and stereotyping... Everyday, there is stereotyping and discrimination that goes by without a word. If we all try and head that off across the board, we may make a big dent in what's going on nowadays," said Moffic.

When Jewish people are discriminated against, further widespread discrimination tends to follow, shares Moffic. This is his Jews as the "canaries in the coal mine" theory.