The language of hatred is frequently used, yet it should not be tolerated, President Rosen Plevneliev said in the Sofia Synagogue, where he traditionally greets the Jewish community on the occasion of the Festival of Lights. The Head of State lit the main candle of Hanukkah whereby he conveyed the message of peace and understanding, of tolerance and humanism.
Currently attempts are made to dim or even extinguish the lights, the President said and recalled that today frequently “someone tries to deprive somebody of their freedom and dignity.” “There is always someone in any society who throws a stone at the different person, at the person stigmatized as a stranger or enemy and currently it is even easier to adopt such an approach by using the anonymity of the digital technologies. The latter provide the opportunity to easily hurt or offend someone, to conveniently single out someone as the person to blame for our own problems,” the Head of State emphasized. “However, hatred and anonymity are not good advisers,” Rosen Plevneliev said.
The President was adamant that the flourishing state and successful society are the result of the deeds of people who promote constructive causes and have made the difficult choice to be active citizens, to defend justice, the rule of law, human rights and freedoms. The Head of State provided a lot of examples of noble causes, among which is the “Do Good” initiative of the Shalom organization and the Alaxandrovska Hospital. The President called on for never forgetting the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews during World War II and nowadays – the deed of the Bulgarian fire-fighters who helped to contain the disastrous fires in Israel in 2013.
“It is a matter of personal choice to fight for the light because it is worth it and because what goes down in history are those rare yet important moments when we provide a fascinating example of humaneness and show our readiness to defend humanity and freedom,” President Rosen Plevneliev further said on the occasion of Hanukkah.