For many, official promises to stamp out the “evil scourge” of antisemitism and consider further tightening gun control measures come too late.

Children at Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale got an early start on the holiday festivities, singing songs, playing games and lighting the Hanukkah menorah.

Members of the Jewish community in Pikesville gathered Sunday at ARIEL Chabad for a menorah lighting event on the first night of Hanukkah with increased security measures in place in response to the Australia mass shooting.

Members of Tampa’s Jewish community gathered downtown at City Hall Plaza on Sunday to mark the first night of Hanukkah.

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.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ascribed the fatal mass shooting in Sydney to Australia’s call for a Palestinian state, saying he warned ahead of the attack that the move “pours fuel on antisemitic fire.