Today is the last day and culmination of Chanukah (Hanukkah), the Jewish festival of light. Here is the synagogue in my city of Sofia, illuminated for the occasion:
This year, sadly, the festival is passing under the shadow of the Oct. 7 massacre when Hamas launched a massive attack and killed about 1,200 innocent Israelis - the worst mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. A young man from the kibbutz Kfar Aza was a guest of the Jewish community of Sofia. He had suffered from Palestinian terrorists before, having lost an eye in Gaza during his military service in 2014. He told how on Oct. 7, together with other residents, he desperately fought to protect his kibbutz from the surprise attack, while his wife and baby were hiding in the "safe room" for 30 hours. Many people of the kibbutz were killed, and some were taken hostage. The survivors became refugees in their own country because it is still too dangerous to return to Kfar Aza. The young man angrily condemned the hypocrisy of the world which pressures Israel for cease-fire while the terrorists are still holding Israeli hostages. I am glad that two days ago in the UN, my Bulgaria abstained when an anti-Israeli resolution in this line was voted:
Throughout the world, a terrifying anti-Semitic orgy has been raging since the Oct. 7 massacre, with Arab immigrants and morally and intellectually degraded Westerners celebrating it and condemning Israel and the Jews. In these dark times, anyone who has at least a little integrity should support Israel to its victory.
May light banish darkness!
Happy Chanukah!
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