The first branch of a giant menorah display was lit at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Thursday at the start of the Jewish Hanukkah festival. The lighting ceremony was led by the chairman of the Jewish Chabad Education Centre, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, and German Health Minister Jens Spahn. The 10-metre (33 feet) tall structure in Pariser Platz is believed to be the largest menorah (also known as chanukiah or hanukkiah) in Europe. The lighting ceremony took place without the usual crowd of visitors this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The display was instead live streamed in a virtual celebration. The eight-day Hanukkah holiday, which began on Thursday at sunset, is also known as the Jewish Festival of Lights. It honors the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the second century BC following victory over the Syrians. But for many, it has come to symbolise the triumph of light over darkness and of democracy over tyranny. Celebrated with the nightly lighting of a branched candelabra called a menorah, Hanukkah usually falls in December but sometimes in late November. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake