"It is a great honor for me, my dear sisters and brothers, to celebrate this day with you. Today, I am celebrating this holiday for the fifth time as the Prime Minister. I would like to mention once again about the unique relationship that has been established between our peoples and has been experienced for centuries and is very distinguished in world history - this is how the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili greeted the Georgian Jews and invited guests gathered in Tbilisi Great Synagogue today to celebrate Hanukkah and symbolically lit the first Hanukkah candle. Merab Chanchalashvili, the chairman of the board of the Tbilisi Great Synagogue, congratulated those gathered on the holiday of Hanukkah, who highly praised the religious policy of the state of Georgia and, in particular, the activities of the State Agency for Religious Issues. The invited guests were congratulated on Hanukkah by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Israel to Georgia, Hadas Meitzadi, the member of the Israeli Knesset, the head of the friendship group with Georgia in the Knesset, David Bitani, the chief rabbi of the Jews of Georgia, Yakob Gagulashvili, and the rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Rakhamin Murdukhashvili. State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, Thea Akhvlediani, Chairman of the State Agency for Religious Issues, Zaza Vashakmadze, former Israeli Ambassador, Shaftai Tsur, members of the Israeli Knesset and other invited guests attended the event celebrating Hanukkah in Tbilisi Great Synagogue. Hanukkah is the most important holiday for Jews, which Georgian Jews, together with Jews living in Israel and other countries around the world, celebrate in a special way. It is a day of renewal and blessing, the victory of light over darkness.