On Sunday at sundown, Hanukkah celebrations will begin around the world, and will last for the next eight days.
Paris is one of many cities in which its Jewish population traditionally holds various public Hanukkah ceremonies, with its outreach organization Chabad Lubavitch usually sponsoring over 60 celebrations around Paris, including a menorah lighting at the Eiffel Tower. Last year over 6000 people participated in that menorah lighting ceremony, which has been a tradition for 25 years.
However, in the wake of the November 13 attacks in Paris by Islamic terrorists, police have advised Parisian Jews against lighting the menorah, especially as continued threats upon Jews have been made upon them by radical Islamists.
The Parisian Jews said, “Mais, non!” As one Jewish mother tweeted:
Where Jews cannot light the menorah in public, Jews should not live… Paris police tell Chabad not to light their menorahs in public
— ASoldiersMother (@ASoldiersMother) December 1, 2015
Instead, Chabad emissaries and French officials met earlier this week and hammered out a compromise where 19 menorah lighting ceremonies would take place under heavy security. Chabad Lubavitch’s website read, “As a matter of principle, Chabad has always taken the position that shutting down its Jewish activities would be a capitulation to terror, a submission to darkness which the [Hanukkah] lights are intended to dispel.” Chabad also posted this tweet:
Contrary to recent reports, Paris menorah lightings including Sunday's lighting at the Eiffel Tower will continue. pic.twitter.com/FgiyJQKNqK
— Chabad.org (@Chabad) December 1, 2015
Vive la France! Joyeux Hannouka! How we need the lights of Hanukkah to help dispel the darkness in the world around us, especially in these days of terror.
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