‘More light’: NYC’s defiant Chanukah celebration
Jewish communities around the world, stepped up security around Chanukah events following the Bondi attack.
(TIMES OF ISRAEL) News from around New York City danced, sang and huddled against the cold at a menorah lighting in Manhattan on Sunday night, at a celebration marked by mourning for those killed in the terror shooting targeting a Chanukah event across the world, at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
“Tonight, our hearts are with the Jewish community of Sydney, Australia,” Rabbi Velvl Butman told the crowd at the start of the event, dedicating the service to the victims. “We pray for the souls that we lost.”
The event centred around a massive, 11-metre 1800-kilogram menorah that is erected every year at the southeast corner of Central Park by the Chabad movement.
The lighting of the menorah, certified as the world’s largest, is an annual, public celebration of Jewish life in the city dating back to 1977.
The crowd and Rabbi Butman insisted on maintaining the event’s upbeat atmosphere, despite the tragedy.
“As you all know what happened, we are caught in a bind, because on the one hand, Chanukah is a celebration,” Rabbi Butman said. “But on the other hand, our hearts are heavy.”
“The pain is beyond description,” he said.
“Our spirit is not broken. The Jewish response to challenge has never been fear or retreat – the Jewish response is to add more light and more action,” he said.
Major cities, as well as Jewish communities around the world, stepped up security around Chanukah events following the Bondi attack.
Berlin police said they were ramping up measures around the German capital’s Brandenburg Gate, where a large electric menorah was being lit.
“We have long planned comprehensive security for tonight’s Chanukah event at the Brandenburg Gate – in light of the events in Sydney, we will further intensify our measures and maintain a strong police presence there,” a spokesperson said on X.
Security measures at synagogues and other Jewish institutions are the norm in Berlin, but a police spokesperson said these would be ramped up for the Chanukah period.
Meanwhile in the US, New York mayor Eric Adams said on X that extra protection was being deployed for Chanukah celebrations and synagogues in New York City. In Warsaw’s main synagogue, in Poland, armed security was doubled for its Sunday evening event.
“We will continue to ensure the Jewish community can celebrate the holiday in safety – including at public menorah lightings across the city. Let us pray for the injured and stand together against hatred,” Adams said.
London’s Metropolitan Police said it had also increased security.
“While there is no information to suggest any link between the attack in Sydney and the threat level in London, this morning, we are stepping up our police presence, carrying out additional community patrols, and engaging with the Jewish community to understand what more we can do in the coming hours and days,” it said in a statement.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez asked local authorities to reinforce security around Jewish places of worship during the December 14 to 22 period, a spokesperson for the minister said.
Nunez called for increased deployment of security forces, with particular vigilance around religious services and gatherings that draw large crowds, especially when they take place in public spaces, the spokesperson added.
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