BILLINGS An annual Menorah lighting event was held Sunday evening on the Yellowstone Country Courthouse lawn in downtown Billings.The event which is organized by Billings Rabbi Shaul Shkedi is held each year on a Sunday during Hanukkah. This year, it fell on the fifth day. "It makes us feel seen," said Shkedi Sunday night. "It makes us known that our needs matter." The event included a video explaining the holiday, as well as Shkedi speaking to the audience about the importance of reflecting, before the Menorah was lit. Close to 50 people gathered to take part. "It's something that the Jewish nation has been working for for so many years," Shkedi said. "To be a bringers of light and to be able to continue to spread that message wherever God places us." Shkedi's positive message was met with peace and love here in Billings, but that isn't the case everywhere. Overseas, the war continues to rage on between Israel and Palestine. "It's a constant weight," Shkedi said of the conflict. Shkedi said the violence weighs heavy on the hearts and minds of many, but that the best path forward is to remain hopeful. "You can't chase away darkness with sticks and stones," Shkedi said. "You chase it away by being a beacon of light in your community." And that's what he and the crowd that gathered in the cold hoped to achieve Sunday, honoring an age old tradition in a time he said it's needed the most. "When it's cohesive, when it's all together, that's ultimately how you banish the darkness," Shkedi said.