Between Emmanuel Macron and Haïm Korsia, a friendly complicity

2023-12-30 06:30:04
Emmanuel Macron and the Chief Rabbi of France, Haïm Korsia, at the international summit The Cry for Peace, organized by the Italian Catholic community of Sant’Egidio, in Rome, October 23, 2022. LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP

This is what he himself calls, with an assumed sense of self-deprecation, ” light the fire “. By lighting a modest Hanukkah candle in the presidential palace of the Elysée on December 7, the chief rabbi of France, Haïm Korsia, triggered a political and media stir of rare intensity. And despite himself, he dragged the President of the Republic into a controversy that both of them would have done well without. “You have to stay quiet”he evades, unwilling to revisit the incident.

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Emmanuel Macron, for his part, worked to play down this episode. “I lit the candle of remembrance, the little red candle, which has no religious character, none”he said on December 20, on France 5. Haïm Korsia then grabbed this candle in memory of Auschwitz to light “the first candles of a celebration which is a religious celebration”. « Did I participate in it? No. (…) Has this ever happened here? Yes. Jacques Chirac has already lit the Hanukkah candles himself. Should I jump on the chief rabbi, tackle him to the ground and tell him “no”? »pretended to question the head of state.

A story that reminded Haïm Korsia of a scene from the cult film Monty Python, holy grail! (1975). We see Brother Maynard bringing the Holy Pomegranate of Antioch to the Knights of the Round Table so that they can get rid of the killer rabbit guarding a cave. Monty Python plays on the contrast between the sacredness of the relic, cited in religious texts, and the widespread destruction it is supposed to cause. The rabbi believes he sees a parable with the Hanukkah candle lit at the Elysée and the turbulence that followed. “It proves that we need a peaceful relationship with secularism”he whispers.

Read also: Celebration of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah at the Elysée: Emmanuel Macron defends himself against any infringement of secularism

In the village hall that evening, around a hundred guests, including rabbis from all over Europe, secular Jews and representatives of different religions and philosophies came to celebrate the awarding of the annual prize to Emmanuel Macron. the Conference of European Rabbis, which rewards the fight against anti-Semitism and the protection of religious freedoms.

A much-discussed affair

So the guests are surprised to see on arrival, on a desk, a small candlestick with nine branches. The chief rabbi indeed requested, during the preparatory meeting, authorization to light, in homage to the victims of the October 7 massacre in Israel, a Hanukkah candle (the festival of lights, both religious and cultural, which begins that evening). Emmanuel Macron gave his agreement. “What would we not have said if he had refused a tribute to the victims of the massacre! “, underlines the Élysée entourage.

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