Jewish, Hanukkah
Digest more
Hanukkah celebrations across the world are turning into vigils for the 15 people killed in a deadly attack in Australia.
A Jewish family in California claims they were targeted by a group of individuals who fired at their home and shouted anti-semitic and racist slurs after seeing Hanukkah decorations.
A number of celebrations on Sunday marked the start of Hanukkah across Tampa Bay as the Jewish community mourned the attack that left 15 dead in Sydney, Australia.
Hanukkah, one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays, begins Sunday, Dec. 14. Known as the festival of lights, Hanukkah is an eight-day holiday in the Jewish faith marked by the nightly lighting of candles.
Sunday's terrorist attack on Jewish Australians in Sydney highlights the community's fears amid rising antisemitism and government inaction since Oct.7, 2023.
Rabbi Abraham Unger, executive director of New Synagogue Palm Beach, said the holiday recognizes the survival of the Jewish people during a time of widespread assimilation and oppression, as it commemorates the Jewish people’s triumph over Greek-Syrian control more than 2,000 years ago.
A mass shooting in which 15 people were killed during a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach was "a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State," Australia's police said Tuesday.