Commemoration during the Jewish festival in Berlin
Following the terrorist attack in Sydney, hundreds gather in Berlin at the start of the Hanukkah festival, including Federal President Steinmeier.
Berlin (dpa) – In the wake of the terrorist attack in Sydney, several hundred people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to join the Chabad Jewish community in celebrating the start of the Hanukkah festival. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, his wife Elke Büdenbender and the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the State of Israel, Rabbi Kalman Meir Ber, also took part in the event.
The chairman of the Chabad Jewish community of Berlin, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, expressed his deep shock at the attack in Australia. He said that the community in Sydney had just wanted to celebrate light over darkness. The goal was to send a sign of togetherness and positive cooperation, irrespective of religion or world view, he explained.
Teichtal used emotional words to remember a rabbi who had been killed in the attack, saying that he had been a personal friend.
Teichtal, Steinmeier and Büdenbender lit a torch that was then used to light the first candle on the Hanukkah candelabra in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
The eight-day Hanukkah festival commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the second century before Christ. Every evening, another candle is lit on the candelabra. Traditionally, foods fried in oil are eaten during the festival. These include latkes and jam-filled doughnuts called sufganiyot. These were also handed out at the Brandenburg Gate.
