By COLlive reporter
A record crowd of 5,000 people gathered for the annual Chanukah celebration in London’s famed Trafalgar Square.
Held on Sunday afternoon, the family-oriented event included hot food stalls and children’s activities such as donut decorating, face painting and an olive press demonstration.
Speakers included London Mayor Sadiq Kahn, British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Deputy Israeli Amb. Sharon Bar-Li, and MK Pnina Tamano-Shata.
The event was organized by Chabad of UK together with the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC).
Participants joined spirited dancing to live Jewish music, and the feeling of Jewish pride was in the air.
“It was a true celebration of how we as Jews in London can literally dance in the street with a giant symbol of Judaism beaming through the city,” said Shliach Rabbi Bentzi Sudak. “Let’s continue to be proud of that.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan wished the crowds a ‘Chanukah sameach’ before asking where else in the world you’d see a Muslim mayor kicking off the Chanukah celebrations metres from a non-Jewish holiday display.
Khan, who has been at the forefront of speaking out against antisemitism in the UK, told the crowd, “This is your city and you’re going nowhere.”
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said to huge cheers, “We’re proud to be Jewish. We’re proud to be British. We’re proud of our Torah tradition.”
