Illustration by Julie Z. Russo

The hammer has special symbolic significance as an emblem of religious freedom and tolerance. We remember freedom during the Jewish holiday Hanukkah, and the story of the Maccabees (which means “The Hammer”) who challenged King Antiochus in ancient Greece in order to protect their temple and their freedom to only worship one God. At Duke University Chapel this December, the Choral Society of Durham conducted an oratio by Michael Tippet as a message of hope in response to Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass), a pogrom against Jews in Nazi Germany. Today, we are also thankful for our freedom when we remember the civil rights struggle in the U.S. during the 1960s, as well as the abolishment of Apartheid in South Africa led by Nelson Mandela, who passed away this December. Artwork and songs are a way to uphold our rights for equality, and to always be thankful for our liberty.