Chief Rabbi leads Poland's Jews in Hanukkah celebration

Rabbi Michael Schudrich ushers in Hanukkah on Warsaw's Gryzbowski Square, 16 December. Photo: PAP/Jacek Turczyk

Rabbi Schudrich lit candles on Tuesday evening on Warsaw's Grzybowski Square, where he was joined by Ambassador of Israel Anna Azari and other dignitaries.

As is typical for Hanukkah, dishes fried in oil were handed round, including kosher doughnuts.

Rabbi Michael Schudrich ushers in Hanukkah on Warsaw's Gryzbowski Square, 16 December. Photo: PAP/Jacek Turczyk

Poland's Union of Jewish Religious Communities (ZGWZ) has further cause to celebrate this month, as a ban on the slaughter of animals without prior stunning was repealed in the country's Constitutional Court on 10 December, under the condition that it is done for religious purposes.

The union had filed a complaint in August 2013, arguing that the ban, which came into effect on 1 January 2013, contradicted laws on the freedoms of religious minorities.

Hanukkah lasts for eight days, and this year it will end on the night of 24 December.

President of Poland Bronislaw Komorowski was represented by the head of his chancellery, Jacek Michalowski, who stressed the family-oriented nature of the holiday.

Prior to the Second World War, Poland provided a home to over 3 million Jews. As a result of the Holocaust and subsequent waves of emigration, only about 40,000 remain today. (nh)

Source: PAP