SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- Crowds gathered for a Hanukkah ceremony across from the Morris Performing Arts Center on Sunday.

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and a local Rabbi lit two candles on a Menorah which stands on the Jon R. Hunt Plaza. This was the first public Menorah lighting ceremony.

“It’s really important to have the community come out and come together especially this year,” said one person who attended the ceremony.

The ceremony represents the beginning of Hanukkah for South Bend’s Jewish community. Many other communities across the country held their own on December 2.

“It celebrates not cursing out the darkness, but lighting to show the way,” said Rabbi Michael Friedland.