Speaking during a Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony at his presidential palace this week, Andrzej Duda said that "the Hanukkah holiday, as a festival of joy, has ... a very profound spiritual and symbolic dimension."
He told the gathering that the Jewish community "has played a very important role in Poland over the course of a thousand years."
"I want to underline that explicitly," he said.
He added that Poland "is a place for all of us, shaped by history and cemented by culture, where we want to continue to live together, in tolerance, mutual understanding and respect."
"In my capacity as President of the Republic of Poland, I would like to stress this very strongly, wishing you a Happy Hanukkah," Duda also said, addressing an audience including Michael Schudrich, the Chief Rabbi of Poland.
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is observed for eight nights and days. This year it began at sunset on Sunday, November 28, and ends on the evening of December 6.
Hanukkah commemorates the 2nd century BCE victory of Judah Maccabee and his followers in a revolt in ancient Judea against the armies of the Seleucid Empire.
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Source: prezydent.pl