Brussels 08.12.2023 Amid war on terrorism the IDF is conducting in Gaza, the European leaders demonstrate firmly their solidarity with the people of Israel, and the European Jews, not only by a political support, but also by respect of the Jewish millennia long beautiful tradition of lightening candles on Hanukkah festival. On Sunday, December 10, the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen will lighten a menorah at Schuman square next to the EU institutions buildings. The symbolism of the gesture has an additional meaning in the atmosphere of antisemitic incidents, which are soaring in countries across Europe.

Commissioner Ylva Johansson, whose brief includes security and immigration, said the European Commission will provide an additional 30 million euro ($32.5M) to bolster security in vulnerable areas, notably places of worship. In the first two weeks since Hamas terroristic attacks on October 7 attack on Israel, Austria recorded a 300% increase in anti-Semitic incidents compared to 2022, while the Netherlands saw a rise of 800% on the previous monthly average, the Commission’s vice-president Margaritis Schinas told a press conference.

“Europe is experiencing an alarming increase in hate speech and hate crime and evidence shows that Jewish and Muslim communities are particularly affected,” the EU commission said in a statement, pledging to invest efforts in a range of actions to reverse dangerous trend.

“Defiant and hopeful, just as we have always been,” says organisers of EU event at Schuman square. Chanukah celebration is first significant Jewish holiday since tragic and harrowing events on October 7th.
.
European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen and other European dignitaries will be at EuroChannukah 2023, taking place between the European Council and Commission buildings at Schuman in Brussels, Belgium on Sunday evening, December 10. The Commission President will light a giant Menorah transferring the Jewish Holiday of Chanukah to the public festival of light within the European multicultural family.

The organisers, the European Jewish Community Center , say that it is a showcase for unity and resilience in difficult times. Avi Tawil, Director of the European Jewish Community Centre, speaking ahead of the event said,
“We were concerned that this year, we would hear from communities across Europe that they were scaling down Chanukah celebrations, hiding away, keeping their heads down. In fact, the opposite is true, now more than ever, the desire is to come out and celebrate the holiday. To shine together.
“Chanukah, at its core, is a holiday about light overcoming darkness, that good can and will always prevail. Our friends, like Commission President Vpn Der Leyen, are standing with us in solidarity, in a common bond, and in this spirit of unity and resilience.

“It’s been an awful few months. But Jews are defiant in the face of darkness, and always hopeful in the light, just as we have always been, and especially during Chanukkah.”

Hanukkah began at sundown on Thursday, December 7 and will end the evening of Friday, December 15, 2023. It is a commemoration of a religiously significant event—namely, a successful revolt led by the Maccabees i.e., the heroes of Hanukkah against their Syrian-Greek oppressors, and the subsequent rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The story goes that in the aftermath of the revolt, the desecrated temple had only enough oil for one ritual nightly lighting of the menorah. However, by a miracle from God, that small amount of oil was able to last for eight full days, giving the Jewish worshippers enough time to procure more.

For eight nights, candles are lit in a menorah, a candelabrum with spaces for nine candles—one for each night plus a “servant” candle called the shamash (shammes in Yiddish). On each successive night, one more candle is added and lit. During the lighting, people recite special blessings and prayers. Songs are sung, and gifts are exchanged to commemorate the miracle in the Temple more than 2,000 years ago.

This year Olaf Scholz became the first German chancellor to light Berlin’s central Hanukkah menorah, in what he called a sign of “solidarity” with Jews amid a surge of antisemitism during the Israel-Hamas war.