Jewish neighbors in the Magic Valley are celebrating Hanukkah this week, just days after a deadly mass shooting at a religious celebration in Australia.Twin Falls Neighborhood Reporter Lorien Nettleton spoke with local community members about the holiday and how Idahoans feel about the recent antisemitic attack.Nettleton met with Rabbi Tony Prater at his downtown office. A lifelong resident of Twin Falls and a longtime downtown businessman, Prater seemed like the right person to ask how the small Jewish community was doing."There's a word in Hebrew called Hanini, which is a word that means here I am," Prater told me. "I've been here all my life, here I am, and I'm not going anywhere, and I'm surely not gonna hide." WATCH: Twin Falls Rabbi shares message of 'light' in response to hate Twin Falls Rabbi's Hanukkah Message: Spreading Light Despite HatePrater said about 125 Jews call Twin Falls home. The number is smaller now than it was in the past, and Prater told me how Jews have been part of Twin Falls life since the city's founding."Twin Falls was settled," Prater said. "We came here to farm, but they also wanted businesses."When Nettleton asked if Prater had experienced any changes in attitudes or if Idaho had remained fairly stable, Prater acknowledged a shift over the last 10 years."It's nothing like what happened recently, like in Australia or anything like that, but ... definitely there's a different feel," Prater said.Prater has long been a fixture in Downtown Twin Falls."I remember my first time being downtown, I mustve been about three," he said, recalling a store called Carol's that sold fine furs. "And so as a child, of course, I would get inside all of the furs," he said.ALSO READ | Chabad Jewish Center opens with new amenities for Jewish communityNow, as CEO of Jensen Jewelers, Prater's office is Downtown, and he devotes a lot of time to community efforts as a way of giving back.In December, he helps put up lights on the trees on Main Avenue, but he hasn't always been met with open arms."I was out one day recently just adjusting a light on a branch that looked a little awry, and I had somebody come up behind me in their big white Dodge pickup and holler at me, 'Hey jew boy, leave our Christmas lights alone,'" Prater said. "Not realizing it was the 'jew boy' who put the lights up for the community."During the eight nights of Hanukkah, neighbors who celebrate focus on spiritual light over darkness."We light candles when we project light into the world. We put the menorah in your window for a reason," Prater said. "It doesn't matter to me whether you light your Christmas lights or you light your menorah, put some light out in the world,"- This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less