About 200 people gathered at the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, to celebrate Hanukkah. The event came a day after a father and son opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration at one of Australia's most popular beaches, killing 15 people. (Photo by Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — At the annual Statehouse menorah lighting, members of South Carolina’s Jewish community paid tribute to the victims of an antisemitic mass shooting on a popular Australian beach, saying hate cannot extinguish the light of unity.
About 200 people gathered in freezing temperatures Monday evening to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Lights, a day after a father and son opened fire during a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach, killing 15 people, according to police.
“Our hearts are broken for the families who lost loved ones, for all those injured,” Rabbi Hesh Epstein of Chabad of South Carolina said in opening the hour-long ceremony. ”We join our brothers and sisters in Sydney in grief and prayer and unwavering solidarity.”
Those killed were between 10 and 87 years old, The Associated Press reported. They included a rabbi and Holocaust survivor, according to Chabad, the event’s organizer. At least 42 others were being treated at hospitals on Monday morning, several in critical condition.
Australian authorities have yet to officially name the victims. Police fatally shot one of the gunmen, a 50-year-old man. The other shooter, the man’s 24-year-old son, was wounded and hospitalized, according to the AP.
Survivors shared stories of people running, screaming, hiding under tables and blankets. Videos captured the sound of gunfire for at least 7 minutes.
The massacre was Australia’s deadliest shooting in three decades.
A 1996 shooting in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to pass strict gun laws, making mass shootings very rare in the country.
The shooting also marks the single deadliest attack on the Jewish community since Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. About 1,200 civilians were killed in Israel and Hamas took some 250 hostages.
As part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement, the Trump administration in October secured the release of 48 hostages, both living and deceased, who had remained in Hamas custody for about two years. Since Oct. 13, Hamas has released all but one of the deceased hostages, according to the American Jewish Committee.
“Hanukkah was never meant to be celebrated only when the world feels safe and calm. In fact, Hanukkah was born in uncertain times like this,” Epstein reminded those gathered at the Statehouse. “We cannot — we will not — allow the darkness of terrorism to extinguish the light of our celebration.”
Children from the Cutler Jewish Day School in Columbia sang songs and shared lessons with the South Carolina crowd.
“This is not just a ceremony; this is a statement,” said Jessie Dowsakul, executive director of the Columbia Jewish Federation. “As Jewish communities around the world gather to celebrate Hanukkah, we do so carrying a heavy truth. Antisemitism is rising, openly, aggressively, and without apology. Jewish communities are being targeted simply for existing. Moments meant for joy, worship, and togetherness are being interrupted by hate.”
“Not today. Not on Hanukkah. Not any day. There is no place for antisemitism here,” Dowaskul added. “Not in our institutions, not in our communities and not in our state.”
To close out the ceremony, college students from the University of South Carolina chapter of Chabad climbed the ladder to light the candles signifying the first two nights of Hanukkah.
“Each one of us is a light. Hanukkah reminds us to use our light and share it with others,” Rabbi Alicia Rothamel of Columbia’s Beth Shalom Synagogue told the crowd.
“This past Sunday we were reminded yet again that there are some in this world who wish to extinguish that light. So, I am incredibly grateful and overwhelmed with joy to see all of us here tonight.”
There were no protesters or other disruptions at the annual Statehouse event started in 2003. It is named for the late state Sen. Isadore Lourie, who founded the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina in 1994 after 30 years in the Legislature.
Hanukkah began Sunday evening and continues through Monday, Dec. 22.
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