On the occasion of the beginning of the Hanukkah holiday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy together with the rabbis of Ukraine took part in the lighting of Hanukkah candles, UNN reports.
The Chief Rabbi of Dnipro, Shmuel Kaminetsky, said a blessing and spoke about the significance of Hanukkah, which symbolizes a great miracle.
"The struggle between light and darkness continues. We see that thanks to you, the axis of evil is becoming much weaker, and we will soon defeat it. We will light these candles and hope for the Almighty to help us, and we will pray with everyone to see great miracles soon," he said.
The Head of State congratulated the Jewish community on the holiday and thanked them for their prayers for Ukraine and Ukrainians.
"Thank you for being in Ukraine and supporting everyone. We have a unique country - today is both Christmas and Hanukkah. It is very good that in Ukraine we can all live together, fight the darkness because there is light," the President noted.
Zelensky emphasized that the Hanukkah menorah that was lit today was presented to him by Argentine President Javier Milei during his inauguration last December, the fourth of the eight days of Hanukkah 5784.
Rabbi Meir Stampler, Chairman of the Council of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, noted that Hanukkah also reminds the world of the victory of a small number of people over a powerful enemy.
The ceremony was also attended by: Chief Rabbi of Beit Menachem Chabad (Kyiv) Yonatan Markovich, Chief Rabbi of the Jewish religious community of the Central Synagogue of Kyiv Moshe Asman, Chief Rabbi of Simcha Chabad Left Bank (Kyiv) Mordechai Levengartz, Chief Rabbi of Lviv Mordechai Bold, Chief Rabbi of Mykolaiv Shalom Gottlieb, Chief Rabbi of Odesa Avraham Wolf, Chief Rabbi of Sumy Yechiel Levitansky, Chief Rabbi of Kharkiv Moshe Moskovich, Chief Rabbi of Kherson Yosef Wolf, and Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine Rabbi Raphael Rutman.