(OTTAWA) - As Hanukkah begins at sundown this evening, Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP (Saanich - Gulf Islands) would like to extend best wishes to Canada’s Jewish community.
Hanukkah, the festival of lights, begins on the 25th day of Kislev in the Hebrew Calendar and is observed for eight days and nights. To commemorate the Miracle of Hanukkah, one new branch of the menorah is lit each night.
The celebration honours the Judean Revolution against the Seleucid Empire in Jerusalem, in the 2nd century B.C.E. These candles serve to commemorate the miracle of Hanukkah when, after a great battle, they had recaptured the Holy Temple in Jerusalem from the Seleucids, the Judean Maccabees discovered that there was enough oil to keep the Temple lamp lit for a single day, but this remaining oil lasted for eight days.
“On behalf of the Green Party of Canada, I would like to wish all those celebrating Hanukkah this year a joyous holiday season spent with family and friends,” stated May.