The president of Crif (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France), Yonathan Arfi, judged Friday that it was “an error” that the start of the Jewish festival of Hanouka was celebrated Thursday evening at the Élysée, in the presence of ‘Emmanuel Macron. “Indeed, it is not the place within the Élysée to light a Hanouka candle because the Republican DNA is to stay away from anything religious,” said Yonathan Arfi at microphone of Sud Radio, the day after the start of a controversy which highlights the questioning of the principles of secularism.
A video widely distributed and viewed on social networks
The head of state received the annual Lord-Jakobovits prize from the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) on Thursday evening, which rewards the fight against anti-Semitism and the safeguarding of religious freedoms. On this occasion, the Chief Rabbi of France, Haïm Korsia, lit the first candle in the candelabra for Hanukkah.
The video, widely distributed and viewed on social networks, was accompanied by strong criticism from all sides. “It is not traditionally the role of a public authority to host a religious festival,” said Yonathan Arfi, who said he was “surprised”. “I think that it is indeed something which in my opinion is not intended to happen again,” he continued. According to him, “French Jews have always considered secularism as a law of protection and a law of freedom. And anything that weakens secularism weakens the Jews of France.”
A way to forget the absence of the Head of State at the march against anti-Semitism?
Was it a way for the Presidency of the Republic to forget the absence of the Head of State at the march against anti-Semitism on November 12? For Mr. Arfi, “there is fundamentally an error on the subject. He should have been present” because “it was a march of national unity” and “by participating in this march, he would have participated in preserving this national unity “.
The holiday of Hanukkah commemorates one of the great victories in Jewish history when, in the 2nd century BCE, a small group of Jews recaptured the desecrated Temple in Jerusalem. The tiny vial that they then found to relight the candelabra, which was supposed to last one day, actually lasted eight. For eight days, at nightfall, the faithful light a flame on a candlestick called “hanoukkia”, placed in the door or window frame.