Candles were lit jointly by ambassadors from the United States, Israel, Canada, leaders from National League of Democracy (NLD) and Parliament in Myanmar’s only synagogue to celebrating the Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.
“Today we have a powerful message to convey-- the importance of religious freedom and tolerance for all minorities,” said Rabbi Eliot J. Baskin from Denver, the US, hosting the ceremony on December 12, marking the end of the eight-day celebration period.
Those attending included U Tin Oo, Vice Chairman of the NLD, and U Sein Tin Win, Speaker of Yangon Region Parliament who stood side by side, together with Daniel Zonshine, Israeli Ambassador to Myanmar, Derek Mitchell, US Ambassador to Myanmar, and Mark McDowell, Canadian Ambassador to Myanmar. They each kindled a candle on the menorah and sang the hymn Ma’oz Tzur while holding hands.
Museah Yeshua Synagogue was filled with about 150 people. The celebration gathered the local Jewish community of about 20 people, and non-Jewish guests from embassies, the government and other religious leaders including Baha’i, Hindu, Muslim and Buddhism.
This wa the fifth year when Hanukkah was celebrated as an open event in Yangon for Sammy Samuel, the organizer and this generation’s preserver of the synagogue. After Myanmar saw the transition from a military junta to a quasi-civilian government, Moses Samuel, late father of Sammy, decided to celebrate Hanukkah by engaging more communities as this festival allows non-Jewish people to take part, wrote Sammy Samuel in “Hanikkan with Spirit in Yangon.” (Courtesy of Mizzima)
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