Menorahs in Ukraine Toppled in Hanukkah Anti-Semitism

Stand for Israel | December 2, 2021

Menorah toppled in Hanukkah anti-Semitism in Ukraine — (Photo: The Ukrainian Jewish Committee)

Jewish communities across Ukraine – just like Jews across the globe – are currently celebrating Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. But, sadly, these same children of God face hatred because of their faith. JTA’s Cnaan Liphshiz reports on at least three separate incidents of anti-Semitism in Ukraine this Hanukkah season:

Large Hanukkah menorahs on display in three different locales in Ukraine have been vandalized in suspected hate crimes.
The latest incident occurred Tuesday in Kyiv. A menorah that was erected in the Troieshchyna district in the city’s northeast was knocked down and its lamps were smashed…
Ukrainian ultra-nationalists have targeted Hanukkah menorahs in the past. One of them, identified as Andrey Rachkov, a provocateur with a criminal record, last year filmed himself toppling a Hanukkah menorah in downtown Kyiv while shouting, “Jews to the graves.”
He assaulted police officers who came to arrest him, police said, and has gone into hiding, but still posts rants about Jews on his Facebook page.