BALTIMORE — The first night of the festival of lights, celebrating the miracle of Hanukkah, is always a special one. But this year it holds even more weight as the holiday brings light in even the darkest of times.
WATCH: Finding light in the darkness
“That's how we survive and so here we are more determined than ever, more committed, more proud, more defiant to shine the light of the menorah," Rabbi Yaakov Kaplan of the Chabad of South Baltimore said. "To shine the light of goodness, of kindness, of godliness, and to shine our Jewish pride. Am Yisrael Chai. The Jewish people are alive."
On the coldest night of the season, the air was still alive with joy at the Inner Harbor. A small faction of Baltimore’s Jewish community watched as Mayor Brandon Scott and Council President Zeke Cohen joined Rabbi Yaakov Kaplan to light the Esther Ann memorial menorah, a 32 foot tall kosher lamp at the corner of Pratt and Light streets.
Sunday's public gathering was not unlike what was planned in Australia, until two gunmen had other plans for the holiday, killing 16 and injuring more than 30.
"They chose Australia, one of the first places in the world to light the Hanukkah candles, because the message was meant to travel worldwide, a message of fear," Yaakov Kaplan said. "But they misunderstood who they were dealing with, because we are literally celebrating a holiday that was born out of devastation, of people who had every reason to give up and instead searched extensively for a single point of light and when they found it, they lit it with joy and with pride."
Police in tactical gear and added security joined celebrants as the attacked stoked fears across the globe.
Many met that fear with bravery, by choosing to continuing to celebrate, whether at McKeldin Square or at the Chabad they call home.
“The cold won't deter us and evil won't deter us," Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan, head Rabbi of Chabad of Maryland, said.
“This is what is sending the message to the terrorists that they will not win," Rabbi Velvel Belinsky of the Ariel Chabad in Pikesville said.
Across the region, menorahs were lit. The traditional prayers , three for the first night, were still recited.
Even with heavy hearts and deeply personal connections to the victims across the world, observers persisted.
“As a yeshiva student, I was sent for one year to help working in Australia with the Jewish community, and I was working at the very Chabad center that organized this menorah lighting [in Australia]," Belinsky explained.
Belinsky is close with the Head Rabbi there, who lost his son-in-law in the attack.
"Amongst those that was killed was a colleague of mine, a fellow Chabad Shliach Rabbi Eli Schlanger," Yaakov Kaplan said. "[He] dedicated his life to lifting others up, and he was chopped down by evil terrorists.”
But before the Bondi Beach massacre, the past year has been marked with a notable increase in violent antisemitic attacks from Boulder, Colorado to Washington, D.C.
"It is very sad that this is the world we need to live in today, but at the same time we need to stay optimistic. We believe there is still more good in this world than bad," Belinsky said.
Rabbis across the region continue to encourage Jews to still attend holiday events over the next week, to keep lighting the darkness.
“All it takes is for people to be passive and people to be afraid, and those who will create mayhem succeed and win," Shmuel Kaplan said. "And we will not let that happen."