On the occasion of the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, President Volodymyr Zelensky and representatives of the Jewish clergy of Ukraine took part in the Hanukkah candle lighting ceremony.
Chief Rabbi of Dnipro Shmuel Kaminetsky lit the large central candle of the hanukkiah and recited the blessing in Hebrew. After that, a single icon lamp was lit on the hanukkiah.
Shmuel Kaminetsky noted the significance of the Hanukkah holiday, which symbolizes the possibility of a miracle.
Rabbi Meir Stambler, Chairman of the Council of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, also noted that the primary message of Hanukkah is to tell the world about miracles.
"And you, Mr. President, with your leadership, can tell the world about the miracle of Ukraine," he said.
For his part, Zelensky congratulated the Jewish community on Hanukkah.
"This holiday is about the victory of the human spirit. And that's the most important. I wish all of you, us, and everyone who is always on the side of light, on the side of Ukraine and its people, on the side of life - Happy Hanukkah and victory," noted the Head of the State.
The ceremony was attended by: Chairman of the Council of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine Meir Stambler, Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine Rabbi Raphael Rutman; Chief Rabbi of the Jewish religious community of the Central Synagogue of Kyiv Moshe Azman; Chief Rabbi of Lviv Mordechai Bald; Chief Rabbi of Uzhhorod Menachem Mendel Wilhelm, Chief Rabbi of Zhytomyr Shlomo Wilhelm, Chief Rabbi of Odesa Avrohom Wollf, Chief Rabbi of Kryvyi Rih Leron Ederi, Chief Rabbi of Dnipro Shmuel Kaminetsky, Chief Rabbi of Kharkiv Moshe Moskovitz, Chief Rabbi of Sumy Yechiel Levitansky, Chief Rabbi of Beit Menachem Chabad Synagogue (Kyiv) Jonathan Markovitch.
