Jewish Hanukkah festival begins: First light in Leipzig

At the beginning of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, the candelabrum at Leipzig's synagogue memorial was lit on Thursday. In the evening, the first light shone at the memorial site of the former Great Synagogue in Gottschedstraße.

The Saxon State Rabbi Zsolt Barra opened the festival of the Jewish Religious Community of Leipzig with words of welcome. Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung also took part in the Jewish ceremony. In his speech in front of the Hanukkah candelabra, Jung referred to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. The light of the candelabrum is also a hope that the war will end soon, said the Lord Mayor.

In other parts of Saxony, such as Chemnitz and Dresden, the Hanukkah candelabras were also lit at the beginning of the Jewish festival. The Hanukkah festival (Hebrew: dedication) dates back to the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC. During the eight-day festival, a candle is lit every day on a candelabrum called a Hanukkia.