terror attack in Australia<\/a> that occurred on the first night of the Jewish holiday.\u00a0<\/p>\nMenorah lighting events took place around NYC following the targeted terrorist attack on a Jewish celebration on Sydney\u2019s popular Bondi Beach on Dec. 14. At press time, the death toll from the attack was 16, with many more injured in the attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite the tragic start to the holiday, the night was aglow at Grand Army Plaza, where the annual Largest Menorah lighting took place in Manhattan. Aly Singhthakur of Tennessee was at the celebration, but admitted at one point she thought about watching it from afar as a safety precaution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came from afar and when I got here, I think the excitement, it comes from within, the excitement and the traditions, and you just want to be a part of it. So why not, to be here in the midst of it? It\u2019s a chance you have to take, and you just never know,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Singhthakur called the Sydney attack a tragedy but added that people can not let such a horrific event stop them from doing things that they love.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing is, you cannot let it keep you indoors and keep you from doing the things that you love, because that\u2019s what they want,\u201d she said. \u201cThey want to get to the better of you. So we\u2019re here. We\u2019re going to show our strength, show our pride, and do what we do best, and let\u2019s celebrate Hanukkah.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca Carroll was also at Grand Army Plaza to celebrate the Jewish holiday. She spoke about the resilience of the Jewish people. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Jewish people have always been very resilient throughout history, and God tells us all to not live in fear, and he protects his children even when tragedy happens,\u201d she explained. \u201cBut\u00a0it\u2019s important not to live in fear and not to let evil overcome you.<\/p>\n
![\"two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/hanukkah-dean-moses-121525.jpg\" "\\"Hanukkah")
Two women bundled up for winter as they attended the Grand Army Plaza menorah lighting on Dec. 14, 2025.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, another woman named Sarah said she is going to be cautious and watch the lighting on the \u201coutskirts\u201d of the event.<\/p>\n
I think when you celebrate it in public, like here, I would be more cautious,\u201d she said. \u201cLike, I plan on coming back for lighting tonight, and I\u2019m not going to be staying right here. I\u2019m going to be more on the outskirts, just in case something happens. I can, like, evacuate more quickly. But otherwise, personally, I\u2019m not someone who\u2019s super afraid, so I\u2019m not very afraid or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like others at the menorah lighting, Sofya Reyfman said matter-of-factly that she is \u201cnot afraid of anything\u201d and would not let the attack overseas stop her from celebrating the holiday.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen I came 36 years ago from Russia, and I know what it is with antisemitism, you know, to the Jewish people. That\u2019s why I\u2019m against, very against it, and half of the life I spent here in New York, and I\u2019m not afraid of anything,\u201d she said,<\/p>\n
Reyfman added that she had no second guesses about coming out to the event, but said it was \u201cvery sad\u201d what happened in Sydney.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very sad, but we have to stay, stay and fight and be around the menorah<\/a> during the holiday,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nReyfman shared that she was very happy when she moved to the United States, but is distressed by the recent uptick in antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel by Hamas terrorists.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope it will go away,\u201d she said. \u201cSlowly it\u2019s going away because one year ago, it was worse. Now it\u2019s getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NYPD ramped up security at menorah lightings across the city following an antisemitic terror attack in Australia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3862,36248,36249,9,56,63,65,64,36199],"class_list":["post-70608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-antisemitism","tag-hanukkah-celebrations","tag-menorah-lightings-in-nyc","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-terrorist-attack-in-australia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"police](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/399E1266-6176-42BC-BF32-40A4DCFAA978.jpg\" "\\"Hanukkah")
\t\t\t<\/p>\n