Cardinal ‘ashamed’ as lawmaker puts out Hanukkah candles in Poland’s parliament

Cardinal Grzegorz Rys of Lodz, chairman of the Committee for Dialogue with Judaism of the Polish bishops’ conference, strongly condemned the incident in which a far-right Polish lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the Sejm, the country’s parliament.

“In connection with the incident in the Sejm committed by Mr MP Grzegorz Braun, who extinguished the Hanukkah candles and declared that he was not ashamed of what he had done, I declare that I am ashamed and apologise to the entire Jewish community in Poland,” Cardinal Rys wrote.

Mr Braun, who belongs to the Confederation party, provoked outrage from members of faith communities and other members of parliament when he used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles December 12 during an afternoon event with members of the Jewish community.

Traditional lighting of Hanukkah candles has taken place for the last 17 years in the Polish Sejm.

Rabbi Szalom Ber Stambler and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Piotr Zgorzelski lit Hanukkah candles before Mr Braun put them out.

“All decent people think exactly the same thing, this is an unacceptable thing, this must never happen again. This is a disgrace,” said Donald Tusk, newly appointed prime minister.

Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich told Reuters by telephone that Braun’s actions were not representative of the country and that he was “embarrassed” by them.

“Someone extinguished the Hanukkah candles and a few minutes later we relit them,” Rabbi Schudrich told Reuters. “For thousands of years our enemies have been trying to extinguish us, from the time of the Maccabees right through to Hamas. But our enemies should learn, they cannot extinguish us,” he added.

Polish private television channel TVN24 posted footage on its website that showed Mr Braun using the extinguisher on the Hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah – a nine-branched candelabrum lit during the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah – creating a white cloud.

Asked just after the incident if he was ashamed, Mr Braun replied: “Those who take part in acts of satanic worship should be ashamed,” Reuters agency reported.