Hanukkah candles lit at Western Wall in memory of Eli Kay

The lighting of the second Hanukkah candle at the Western Wall tonight (Monday) was dedicated to the memory of Eliyahu Kay, the man who was killed in a terrorist attack in the Old City last week. Kay’s family participated in the ceremony.

The event was also attended by MK Miri Regev, Director General of the Religious Affairs Ministry Shimon Matuk, President of Yeshiva University in New York Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.

Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Places Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich said: “We live in a generation of great miracles – but also the generation of the birth-pangs of the messiah. A generation of struggles and great difficulty. It is not easy to understand the magnitude of the hour. The magnitude of our privilege to live in this generation.”

“Our soul compels us to look at the here and now. To see the little things. To me, Eli, may G-d avenge his blood, understood the greatness of these days, of life in the Land of Israel, of working in the Holy Land, of life in Jerusalem,” he added.

He said, “Eli taught us all to look at the big picture. You brought here today the great light of Eli, may G-d avenge his blood, your light, and that of your parents and siblings.”

Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana said at the ceremony: “During the days of Hanukkah, we commemorate the great miracle that happened to the people of Israel in the days of the Hasmonean Dynasty. Our great victory over the Greeks. G-d has given the many into the hand of the few, the wicked into the hand of the righteous, the evil into the hand of those who practice your Torah.”

“But it must also be remembered that already in the generation of Matityahu’s sons the division of the people began and after 73 years the sons of Shlomtzion fought with each other and allowed the Romans to conquer the land and destroy the Temple,” he cautioned.

“The message to all of us from the story of the Hasmonean Dynasty is that we all have a duty to do everything to be united. No miracle will help us if we are not united,” Kahana concluded.

Source: Arutz Sheva