Hanukkah in Berlin attended by German President. Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ambassador Jeremy Issacharoff celebrate Hanukkah at the Israeli residence.
Friday, 15 December 2017, Berlin, Germany: Year 2018 shall be a rather special one for the State of Israel as it celebrates seventy years of recreation in contemporary times; to mark the latter milestone the German Federal President, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his spouse Ms Elke Büdenbender were honorary guests at a reception hosted by Israeli Ambassador to Germany, H.E. Jeremy Issacharoff at the Israeli Residence in Berlin.
Demonstratively Federal President Steinmeier and Ambassador Issacharoff lit the three Hanukkah lights marking the latter feast as well as the outset of “Israel at 70″ commemorations. One light is lit up for every day of the celebration, which in 2017 fell on 12 December 2017 according to the Gregorian calendar.
חֲנֻכָּה (Hanukkah), also known as the “Feast of Lights”, or “Feast of Dedications” is a Jewish holiday commemorating the rebuilding of the Holy or Second Temple at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenist Seleucid Empire. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December according to the Gregorian calendar.
The festival is observed by lighting the candles from a candelabrum with nine branches, known as “Hanukkah menorah” (or hanukkiah). One branch is typically placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight candles. This unique candle is called “shamash”, which is Hebrew for “attendant”. Each night, one additional candle is lit until all eight candles are lit up together on the final night of the holiday.
The ceremony on 15 December at the Israeli Residence marked the opening of year-long festivities to mark 70 years since the founding of modern Israel in 1948. The Jewish state managed to harness crucial international backing after the mass killings of European Jews by fascist regimes in Europe.
For further information:
Allocution by German Federal President, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier: http://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Reden/2017/12/171215-Chanukka-Englisch.pdf?__blob=publicationFile
Hanukkah reception 2017 on Deutsche Welle: http://www.dw.com/en/german-president-steinmeier-lights-menorah/av-41814096
Israel in Germany: https://www.facebook.com/IsraelinGermany/
Ambassador Jeremy Issacharoff: https://www.facebook.com/AmbassadorIssacharoff/?fref=mentions
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Pictures by Embassy of the State of Israel to the Federal Republic of Germany – Credit to Ruthe Zuntz
