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Bahraini, UAE delegation attends Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at Kotel

“Who would have believed that peace would come to our home in such a glorious way? It is a Hanukkah miracle,” says Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch.

Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinovitch and a delegation from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain at a candle-lighting ceremony at the Kotel for the fifth night of Hanukkah, on Dec. 14, 2020. Credit: Western Wall Heritage Foundation.
Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinovitch and a delegation from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain at a candle-lighting ceremony at the Kotel for the fifth night of Hanukkah, on Dec. 14, 2020. Credit: Western Wall Heritage Foundation.

A delegation from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain took part in a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at the Western Wall on Monday night.

Speaking at the event, Rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinovitch said, “Who would have believed that peace would come to our home in such a glorious way? It is a Hanukkah miracle to see a delegation from the Emirates and Bahrain that is taking part in the candle-lighting.”

Rabinovitch also thanked medical workers at the event, saying, “in the name of the people of Israel, I want to thank you, bless you and send you strength. A little bit of light pushes away much of the darkness. Your light—the light of the mission, the light of a love of Israel, a light of dedication—illuminates us all.”

Also in attendance at the event was Health Minister Yuli Edelstein, who thanked the doctors and nurses he said were “fighting the coronavirus day and night.”

He said that just as in the days of the Maccabees, “now too, we haven’t relied on a miracle. Many have worked day and night, in the full sense of the word, in order to bring this miracle closer.”

Edelstein also wished a speedy recovery to Likud Knesset member David Bitan, who has been hospitalized in serious condition with the virus.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

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