Chanukah, the Jewish festival of light, was celebrated on Sunday evening at Schuman Square in Brussels with an outdoor candling of the lights together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The festival, which this year started last Thursday evening, is celebrated for eight days. Each evening a candle is added to the previous candles. Chanukah commemorates a successful rebellion against the Seleucid empire, which suppressed freedom of religion in the Middle East in the second century BC, and the rededication (‘chanukah’ in Hebrew) of the (second) temple in Jerusalem.
Today Chanukah is one of the most joyous holidays in Jewish culture, celebrated by religious and secular people alike, commemorating the triumph of light over darkness and expressing hope for a better future.
In 2021, Chanukah was celebrated under the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, last year during Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and this year while the Israel-Hamas war is still on-going with no exit strategy.
In her speech, President von der Leyen said that she always has believed that Chanukah should be celebrated in public and that the streets of Europe should be lit up by the little flames of the Chanukah candlesticks. “But this year, it is even more important to renew this tradition. Because the night around us is especially dark,” she said, referring to rising antisemitism in Europe.
This festival of Lights tells us to keep hoping even in the darkest of times, to keep working for a better future, even when the circumstances seem desperate, she added. It tells us that a small action can make a big difference.
“It is a powerful and empowering message. And for me, personally, the lighting of these candles has become a moment of reflection. A moment to take a deep breath and to look for glimmers of hope in the night. This is a gift that you have made me.”
The organisers, the European Jewish Community Center, says that the public celebration of Chanukah is a showcase for unity and resilience in difficult times.
“We were concerned that this year, we would hear from communities across Europe that they were scaling down Chanukah celebrations,” commented Rabbi Avi Tawil, Director of the Center. “In fact, the opposite is true, now more than ever, the desire is to come out and celebrate the holiday.”
In what has become a tradition, Euro-Chanukah will be celebrated at the European Commission on Tuesday evening (12 December), in the presence of the Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi.
The Brussels Times
