Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Poland's President Visits Synagogue Service For First Time In History
Lech Kaczynski, president of Poland, yesterday lit a candle in a ceremony marking the beginning of Hanukkah in a Warsaw synagogue. The Hanukkah service also included a prayer for the Polish nation written for the occasion. After the service, the president joined the congregation in sampling potato latkes-- a food that is a symbol of the holiday. Haaretz reports that this is the first time a Polish president has ever attended a religious service at a synagogue in Poland. The only other presidential visit came in the 1920's when Ignacy Moscicki visited a synagogue, but not for a religious service. Even as mayor of Warsaw, Kaczynski befriended the Jewish community, and for the past two years he has hosted a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at the presidential palace. Kaczynski's example has created a spirit of tolerance that has spread to other officials in a country whose Jewish population was largely destroyed in the Holocaust. Meanwhile, current Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz yesterday joined a candle-lighting Hanukkah ceremony in front of the Palace of Culture.