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UK government mocked for sloppy Yom Kippur social-media post

The Home Office shared a message for Jews that included an image of a seven-branch Temple candelabrum, goblet, and apples and honey in a post for the fast day.

Starmer Mahmood Manchester shooting
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood visit Greater Manchester Police HQ to meet first responders following a terror attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, Oct. 3, 2025. Credit: Lauren Hurley/No. 10 Downing Street.

The Home Office, the United Kingdom government’s interior ministry, was mocked widely for a social-media post for Yom Kippur that mixed up Jewish symbols.

“Wishing the Jewish community in the UK and beyond a blessed Yom Kippur,” the government stated.

It appended an illustration of a seven-branched candelabrum, which is associated with the Jewish Temples and Chanukah holiday, with a wine goblet, and apples and honey, even though Yom Kippur is a fast day.

“This is the equivalent of posting a pic of a Christmas tree and saying ho, ho, happy Easter,” wrote Canadian parliamentarian Michelle Rempel Garner. “Do better.”

“Basically, it’s like wishing a Christian a ‘merry Christmas,’ but instead of a Christmas tree and Santa Claus, there’s only Easter eggs and bunny rabbits,” another social media user said. “And the eggs are ostrich eggs for whatever reason.”

“The Constitution is clear that the states do not have to subsidize antisemitic speech on their college campuses,” the Kentucky attorney general said.
The joint move “shows the strength of our relationship and its ability to adapt to changing circumstances,” the PMO said.
“You couldn’t measure on a Richter scale the concern about El-Sayed,” the Jewish Federations of North America CEO said of the senator-elect from Michigan.
City Hall held invitation-only roundtable discussions in other communities, but both listening sessions near the city’s main Jewish neighborhood fell on Shabbat.