Ealing Marks Final Night of Chanukah
Cross-community celebration takes place outside Town Hall
Police officer Muhammed Dar lights a Chanukah candle
|
December 23, 2025
More than 150 residents from across Ealing and beyond gathered outside Ealing Town Hall on Sunday 21 December for a cross-faith celebration marking the eighth and final night of Chanukah.
Despite steady rain, the crowd watched as all eight candles of a giant Menorah were lit in a joint event hosted by Ealing United Synagogue and Ealing Council. Attendees included members of the Jewish community from across London as well as local Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Sikh residents who came to show solidarity following a difficult week for Jewish communities worldwide.
Ealing Synagogue Chair Gary Barak said the turnout was “overwhelming” and especially meaningful in light of the recent terrorist attack on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, in which several Jewish people were killed. One of the victims was the first cousin of Ealing’s Rabbi Vogel, who nevertheless led the ceremony. “We have so many faiths here… and that means so much to us,” Barak said. “Chanukah should be a very happy time, and after such an awful attack, standing together tonight is incredibly powerful.”
The candle-lighting was shared among eight representatives from local civic, faith and emergency services: Ealing Mayor Cllr Anthony Kelly; Deputy Council Leader Louise Brett; Synagogue Chair Gary Barak; Synagogue Vice Chair Jonathan Glass; Metropolitan Police Faith Liaison Officer Muhammed Dar; London Fire Brigade Borough Commander Ben Moore; Darus Salaam Mosque Imam Mujeeb Mirza; and Ealing Synagogue Council member Alison Shindler.
Glass said the group chose to honour the victims of the Bondi attack during the ceremony. “It just seemed the right thing to do,” he said. “When atrocities like this happen it’s vital we all stand together and become even stronger, and the wonderful turnout tonight demonstrated that so well.”
Imam Mujeeb Mirza described it as “an honour” to be invited to light one of the candles. “We are delighted to stand together with our dear friends of the Jewish community, and we will continue to support each other, especially during these tragic times,” he said.
Following the outdoor ceremony, attendees were welcomed into Ealing Council’s offices at Percival House for traditional Chanukah refreshments, including doughnuts and latkes, hosted by the council alongside Rabbi and Zelda Vogel.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |