Serbian President Boris Tadić joined the ceremonial lighting of the Hanukkah candles at the Sukkat Shalom Belgrade Synagogue on Wednesday night.

President Tadić used the opportunity to spread a message that the Jewish festival reminds us of the importance to show respect and tolerance towards people of all backgrounds.

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The ceremony was organized by the local Jewish community in cooperation with the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE), and was attended by Israel’s Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger and local Rabbis Yoshua Kamenetzky and Isak Asiel, along with hundreds of members of the Jewish community.

"We often speak of the necessity to protect human identity. These occasions are an opportunity to speak about the protection of not only Jewish, but the individual identity of all in Serbia," Tadic said.





Tadic lighting candles with Chief Rabbi Metzger (Photo: Belgrade Jewish community)

The president spoke of the variety of Serbian identity and about the country's diverse multi-layered society that strives to respect and protect human rights.

President Tadic also said that during the 20th century both Serbians and Jews were subject to great suffering, and that people should always stand by those who are persecuted and suffer discrimination.

The president also promised that Staro Sajmiste, the site of a former concentration camp located on the bank of the River Sava, will be turned into a memorial site that will preserve the memory to all who perished.

The memorial will host a "library of silence" and other institutions which will show the tragic history of the Jews, Serbians and Roma who were killed during World War II.

Chief Rabbi Metzger spoke about the connection between Serbs and Jews and thanked those Serbs who saved members of the Jewish community during the Holocaust. “We must be faithful to those that love us,” he said during his address.

The organizers of the event included Vladimir Cizelj, an active member of the local Jewish community, and Rabbi Kamenetzky, who is the local representative of Chabad with the support of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky.

Other attendees included the Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Irinej Bulovic, the Bishop from the Catholic Church, Stanislav Hochevar and the Reis ul ulema, Adem Zilkic, from the Islamic community in Serbia and ambassadors and diplomatic representatives.

Rabbi Arye Goldberg, director deputy of the Rabbinical Center of Europe, spoke about the importance of the renaissance of Jewish life in the Balkans.

“There is a reawakening of an interest in Judaism and Jewish traditions amongst the Jews of the Balkans,” Rabbi Goldberg said. “The Rabbinical Center of Europe is assisting in the revitalization of Jewish life in communities that almost lost their strong and historic identity.”

The RCE is an organization, dedicated to serving the needs of European Jewry, which represents over seven hundred rabbis and Jewish communities throughout the European continent.