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On Wednesday evening last week, Annamie Paul, Canada’s newly elected Green Party leader, gathered with friends and family for a virtual menorah lighting ceremony on Zoom. Ever since she clinched the leadership role nearly three months ago, Paul has kept up a demanding schedule, including hundreds of events and interviews, but with Hanukkah in full swing, she seemed grateful for the opportunity to briefly slow down and reflect on her achievement in the company of those who are close to her.
“I’m incredibly moved somehow,” Paul, 48, told the group. “I don’t know what exactly it is. I think it’s a combination of things: being with so many people that I have not seen for a long time, seeing some people for the first time that I’ve spoken with on the phone but never actually seen face to face, knowing that we’re celebrating Hanukkah and that I am the first Jewish woman as a federal leader to be able to do this, and the first Jewish person since 1975.”