Tonight, @FLOTUS Melania and I were thrilled to welcome so many wonderful friends to the @WhiteHouse– and wish them all a very #HappyHanukkahhttps://t.co/wyPkpTsP1ipic.twitter.com/XhNXZSBEC8
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 8, 2017
The Obama White House Chanukah parties were a disgrace. I had the misfortune of writing some of the worst of them. They were horrible.
The Susan Talve/T'ruah abomination crawling with anti-Israel activists and shouts of "Allah" was the very worst.
But the White House chose Susan Talve to light the Menorah. Talve is a member of the anti-Israel group T'ruah which is currently promoting assorted "soft BDS" programs. She's also a Ferguson activist. Her behavior was deeply insulting to the religious Jewish community and made it clear that the White House was determined to hijack even a Chanukah party to promote an anti-Jewish agenda.
Talve screeched, "I stand here with my fierce family of clergy and black lives matter activists who took to the streets of Ferguson".
Then, not satisfied with having made a disgrace of the Chanukah ceremony, Susan Talve declared, "I stand here to light these lights to say no the darkness of Islamophobia and Homophobia and Transphobia."
Talve babbled about insuring "justice for Palestinians" and began gleefully chanting, "Ins'Allah, Ins'Allah". Or "Allah Willing".
And then somehow it got worse next time around.
The afternoon reception was bestowed on Steven Exler, a clergyman associated with Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a social justice seminary. The only entertainment value came from Steven Exler's insistence on finding ever more exotic ways to mispronounce Chanukah in a bid for authenticity. At one point he was pronouncing it as two words. "Ha""Nuke-ah".
"Over these last 8 years so much light has shone forth from this very space."
Turning to face Obama, Steven Exler declared, "This White House is a lighthouse, a beacon of freedom and justice, a beacon for the divine light that rests in the soul of every American and every human being, for the partnership of shining that light, and for teaching us time and again to find light in the midst of darkness, we turn to you President and Mrs. Obama, to say thank you."
Obama is a beacon of the divine light. Surely we have enough halo photos of him to prove that. But beacon, bacon, let's not quibble about it.
It was quite a change this time around.
President Trump told the actual story of Chanukah. (The Maccabees were fighting to liberate Jerusalem, they were not fighting climate change.) And his grandchildren lit the Menorah. Rabbi Meir Soloveichik thanked President Trump several times for recognizing Jerusalem and the room had to pause for the applause.
" Well, I know for a fact there are a lot of happy people in this room," President Trump began.
And he later noted, "But no force has ever crushed your spirit, and no evil has ever extinguished your faith. And that is why the Jewish people shine as a light to all nations. And right now Im thinking about whats going on and the love that's all over Israel and all about Jerusalem."
Rabbi Soloveichik said, the second blessing is one that is usually said on the first night of Hanukkah. Even though that first night is not until next Tuesday, he said it was appropriate to say it this night because it is one to salute joyous tidings. And he said the news on Jerusalem qualified as joyous tidings. Jerusalem, he said, lies at the heart and soul of every Jew. Now, he said, an American president has courageously declared Jerusalem is the capital. More applause. God, he said, has allowed us to live to see this very joyous day. He then lit the top light on the Menorah and the grandchildren lit the first light. He then led the audience in singing Maoz Tzur.
And the haters of the Jewish people who haunted Obama's Chanukah parties, like J Street and T'ruah were no longer in sight.