Poland’s president, Jewish leaders light Hanukkah candles

WARSAW, Poland – Polish President Andrzej Duda and Jewish community members have lit a menorah at the Presidential Palace to jointly mark Hanukkah.

A part of democratic Poland’s tradition is highlighting the long history and role of the Jewish nation in Poland. Hanukkah candles are lit each year at the palace in Warsaw.

Duda, former Israeli ambassador to Poland, Shevah Weiss, along with the leaders and young members of Warsaw’s Jewish community lit the marble-and-crystal menorah.

Accompanied by first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda, the president told the gathering of a few dozen people that he was happy at the joint meeting of a “community of people who jointly build up the Polish society, who want to be together.”