A specially designed 9.5-meter-high hanukkia will be used by London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Chabad Rabbi Gershon Overlander to light the final candle.
By JONNY PAUL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENTkid & menorah 88.298ap(photo credit: AP)
London's Trafalgar Square will be host to London's first public Hanukka lighting ceremony on Tuesday evening.
A specially designed 9.5-meter-high hanukkia will be used by London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Chabad Rabbi Gershon Overlander to light the eighth and final candle. The ceremony marks the first time London has seen a public Hanukka celebration of this magnitude.
"I look forward to welcoming people to celebrate Hanukka on Trafalgar Square this year," Livingstone said. "The giant menora will provide the opportunity for all Londoners to experience part of the Jewish community's rich culture and tradition and celebrate the contribution the Jewish community makes to the capital."
The hanukkia has been fitted with low carbon "LED" lightbulbs.
Deputy Mayor Nicky Gavron, who is also responsible for climate change issues, is driving the initiative to introduce LEDs to London.
Meanwhile, in Warsaw officials lit a hanukkia in the Polish parliament's lower house on Monday in celebration of Hanukkah, in what was believed to be a first for the parliament building.
Rabbi Shalom Stambler and Deputy Parliament Speaker Jaroslaw Kalinowski jointly lit a candle, which was then used to light seven additional candles on a pre-World War II hanukkia decorated with the crowned eagle - a symbol of the Polish state.
Poland, which is often associated with the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, is trying to remake its image as a warm home for the 30,000 Jews who currently live there.
AP contributed to this report.
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