Montenegro President:
Montenegro embodies the spirit of Hanukkah
The President of Montenegro attended a Hanukkah
ceremony alongside the country's Jewish community.
By ZVIKA KLEIN Published: DECEMBER 23, 2022 19:07
Chief Rabbi of Montenegro Rabbi Ari Edelkopf at a Hanukkah lighting ceremony, December 21, 2022.
(photo credit: MONTENEGRO JEWISH COMMUNITY)
While standing next
to Podgorica’s huge public hanukkiah and the capital city’s Clock Tower,
Montenegro’s President Milo Dukanovic addressed the nation’s Jewish community
about the principles of freedom and faith represented by Hanukkah this past
week.
“We are proud of our multi-ethnic, multi-religious and
multicultural harmony, and the fact that there is no occurrence of antisemitism
in Montenegro,” Dukanovic said. “Just as we are proud of the fact that
Montenegro is one of the two countries in Europe where there were more
Jews at the end of the Second World War than at the beginning.”
The president
thanked Montenegro Chief Rabbi Ari Edelkopf and the Jewish community “for the
invitation and the opportunity to personally greet you on the occasion of
Hanukkah.” He added that he wanted to “congratulate everyone who celebrates
this great holiday. I consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to
participate in the solemn act of lighting the hanukkiah today.”
Prijevod
Dok je stajao pored velike podgoričke hanukije i Sahat kule u glavnom gradu, predsjednik Crne Gore Milo Đukanović obratio se židovskoj zajednici u zemlji govoreći o načelima slobode i vjere koje predstavlja praznik Hanuka.
“Ponosni smo na našu multietničku, multivjersku i multikulturalnu harmoniju i činjenicu da u Crnoj Gori nema pojave antisemitizma”, rekao je Đukanović.
“Kao što smo ponosni na činjenicu da je Crna Gora jedna od dvije zemlje u Evropi gdje je Židova bilo više na kraju II. svjetskog rata nego na početku.
Predsjednik je zahvalio glavnom crnogorskom rabinu Ari Edelkopfu i židovskoj zajednici "na pozivu i prilici da ih osobno pozdravi povodom Hanuke". Smatram privilegijom što danas imam priliku sudjelovati u svečanom činu paljenja hanukije.” ...
Dodao je da paljenjem hanukije, zajedno sa hanukijom u jevrejskim domovima širom Crne Gore, Izraela i svijeta, “slavimo slobodu kao temeljno pravo ljudi, pravo na izbor i mogućnost da živimo po vlastitoj savjesti i uvjerenjima. .”