Barcelona's Jewish community celebrates Hanukkah with lighting ceremony

The Jewish community of Barcelona celebrated Hanukkah with an event in Sant Jaume square on Tuesday afternoon.   

The Chabad Lubavitch community, dedicated to bringing Jewish traditions to the public, organized the celebration to mark one of the most important holidays in the Jewish calendar. 

David Libersohn, Rabbi of the Chabad Lubavitch Community of Barcelona, said that the Festival of Lights is the "paradox" of wanting to illuminate the world "even in moments of difficulty." 

He acknowledged that this year's context is "absolutely different," in reference to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. 

Carles Armengol, Director of Religious Affairs for the Government of Catalonia, advocated the "spirit of peace" and coexistence, expressing the hope that the light of Hanukkah "will illuminate the paths of peace and justice throughout the world."  

Albert Batlle, Councillor of Ciutat Vella, sent his best wishes for the celebrations, stressing that they were taking place in "difficult times" and assuring that the images coming from the land "of Judaism, Christianity and Islam" were "very present". 

He expressed the hope that next year's celebration could take place in a different context, of "peace" and in a "reconciled" world. 

The event, with surveillance by Catalan police Mossos d'Esquadra, unfolded smoothly, although there was a moment of tension before the ceremony began when one person shouted a pro-Palestinian slogan. 

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights 

Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and marks the triumph of the Maccabees over the Greeks and the restoration of Jewish independence.  

The festival commemorates the purification of the Temple in Jerusalem and the miraculous burning of the menorah for eight days with a small amount of oil. During Hanukkah, an eight-branched menorah, called a Hanukkiah, is lit.  

The celebration began on December 7 and ends on December 15, with the lighting of six candles on a large menorah on the sixth day. The total of eight candles includes a day of rest on the seventh and a day considered "supernatural" on the eighth.