Local Jewish leaders gathered to share a unified message on the Far North Side, saying that even in the face of hateful acts, nothing should stop people from coming together. WGN's Andrea Medina reports on the story.

After the mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, Jewish New Yorkers said they felt the need to stand up for their community.

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.

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

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.

An 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 federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said Tuesday.