Prime Minister ‘Scored Gimmels’

J-Wire and COLlive

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lit and held the Shammos in Sydney’s Central Synagogue before declaring that the message of Chanukah is not confined to the Jewish community.

Cantor Shimon Farkas used the Prime Minister’s Shammos to light the menorah in front of 500 members of the community.

Rabbi of The Central Synagogue, Rabbi Levi Wolff, welcomed President Turnbull to the event, his first time visiting the Synagogue since becoming the Prime Minister.

“The Menorah is a shining symbol, reminding us that light ultimately outshines darkness; and that hope overcomes despair, as does freedom triumph over oppression. With each candle that we add, we are collectively encouraged to do even more today than we did yesterday,” said Rabbi Wolff.

“Every Menorah has a Shamash, the one important candle that generally sits a fraction higher and is used to ignite all others,” continued Rabbi Wolff. “To our country, you are the Shamash. You keep the 24 million candles in this nation representing the population sparkling and shining,” he said.

Rabbi Wolff went on to describe the Prime Minister as “one of the dearest and most compassionate friends of the people of Israel.”

Turnbull opened his address by saying that there were members of the Central community whom he had known most of his life, adding, “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be your Prime Minister.”

Mentioning optimism, commitment, persistence and resilience as the qualities on which Australia’s future will be built, Turnbull said: “They are the very qualities that we celebrate in Chanukah. The message of Chanukah is a message for all of humanity. The lights of Chanukah light up not just the Jewish world but the whole world.”

Following his address, the Prime Minister sat down with a group of children to try his luck at playing with draidels. “He scored a few gimmels,” Rabbi Wolff reported.