Syracuse, N.Y. — The annual lighting of a public menorah started Sunday evening in downtown Syracuse to mark the first night of Hanukkah.

Rabbi Yaakov Rapoport, of the Chabad chapter in Syracuse, and Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh climbed into a city fire truck to light the menorah. The mayor is concluding his eight years in office at the end of the year.

Rapoport and Walsh said they were disturbed by an antisemitic terror attack earlier Sunday in Australia. Two gunmen opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration there, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more.

Rapoport said it was important that Jews not let a global rise in antisemitism deter them from practicing their faith.

“We Jews have faced adversity for thousands of years,” he said. “We’re still here and we’re still bringing light t

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