The first Hanukkah candle was lit in Budapest’s Nyugati Square on Sunday, marking the beginning of the Jewish Festival of Lights. Speaking at the public celebration which has by now become a tradition, Slomó Köves, the chief rabbi of the Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation (EMIH) said that waiting for miracles is not the opposite of action, but the prerequisite of it. He added that if ‘we work for a miracle, one will happen’. He emphasized that the Hungarian Jewish community is well aware that the past 25–30 years have been a real miracle: Jewish people have become able to proudly practice their faith in Hungary, and for this miracle to happen the Jewish community itself was needed—they had to take action.
State Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office Balázs Fürjes welcomed the attendants of the celebration and wished the Jewish community them happy holidays on behalf of the Hungarian government. He emphasized that the Christian and Jewish communities, the people of the Old and the New Testament, are essentially one, stressing that the two peoples stem from the same roots. The state secretary expressed his conviction that a moment will come when ‘we will be one and united, but we can already say today that there is more that unites than what divides us.’
Hanukkah is an eight-day festival usually celebrated in December. Hanukkah reaffirms the ideals of Judaism and commemorates in particular the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem by the lighting of candles on each day of the festival.
Viktor Orbán’s Greetings to the Jewish Community
Last week, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent a letter to the leaders of the Hungarian Jewish religious communities on the occasion of Hanukkah. In his message he wished the Hungarian Jewish community happy holidays. The PM highlighted that the candles that would be lit on the hanukkia in Nyugati Square represent the victory of light over darkness. He reminded that a year ago, he wrote in his letter that the flames of Hanukkah represent the reality of miracles. ‘And now, with our lives being overshadowed by the war and its economic consequences, we are longing even more than before for the miracle that the festival can bring…May the celebration of Hanukkah this year bring not just joy and love, but also peace to the world, the PM said in his letter.’
