BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

Tuesday, December 27 2005

Belarus Jews Mark Chanukah in Style

GRODNO, Belarus - Hundreds of Jews gathered in the Belarus city of Grodno to celebrate the holiday of Chanukah. They enjoyed a festive concert in the city's central concert hall, which featured performances by the 'Shalom' Ensemble from Minsk, singer Izmail Kaplanov, and opera singer Ilia Pevzner. Members of the audience listened, while others sang along in three languages - Yiddish, Hebrew and Russian.

Chief Rabbi of Grodno Yitzchak Kofman, a Chabad Lubavitch emissary serving in the region, lit the candles of the Chanukah Menorah. Participants in the festivity then watched a video profiling Chanukah candle-lighting ceremonies in different places around the world. The Chairman of the Jewish community Boruch Kvitkovsky was joined by Vladimir Malinkin, the Head of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Belarus, in wishing a joyous Chanukah to Jews of Grodno and throughout Belarus.

This festive event also involved Igor Popov, the Head of the Department for Religion and Nationalities of the Regional Administration, who also expressed his best wishes to the country's Jewish population. The gathering also attracted members of the Russian, Ukrainian, Polish and other national communities working in the region, as well as journalists from local TV, radio and newspapers.

At the end of the concert, each of the guests received Chanukah Menorahs, through a Chanukah campaign initiated by the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS. The celebration enjoyed wide coverage in the local mass media, bringing the Holiday of Light to thousands of other citizens.

Source:

http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=341590