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The Festival of Hanukkah symbolises light and victory, and those who light the Hanukkah candles come together to honor the memory of those sacrificed for freedom and unity, while celebrating the spiritual values of the Jewish people - solidarity, meeting between cultures, dialogue and respect, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Sunday, agerpres reports.
The lighting ceremony of the first Hanukkah candle has been organized, on Sunday evening, at the Bucharest National Opera by the Embassy of the State of Israel in Romania, on which occasion the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra of Ashdod offered an extraordinary concert, under the baton of conductor Eitan Schmeisser.
From November 28 to December 6, Jews celebrate Hanukkah or Chanukah, the "Festival of Lights," one of the most important Jewish holidays.
It celebrates the Maccabees' victory about 2,000 years ago over the Seleucid monarchy in Syria, which sought to destroy the Jewish religion and hellenize the peoples under its rule.
On each of Hanukkah's eight evenings, a candle is lit in a Hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah, a nine-branched candelabrum. The light is lit at night, and it is placed somewhere in plain sight - on the window sill or on the doorstep.
