Large Crowd Returns To View 43-Year-Old Tradition Of Lighting National Menorah

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After having to limit numbers at its annual lighting of the National Menorah on the Ellipse on the south side of the White House last Chanukah while the coronavirus pandemic rippled through the country, Chabad was overjoyed to welcome nearly 3,000 attendees on Sunday to celebrate the first night of Chanukah.

Sitting in rows of white chairs covering the grass of what is sometimes referred to as “America’s front lawn,” the event began with the attendees being serenaded with traditional Chanukah songs played by the U.S. Air Force Band, followed by a brief performance by “The Three Cantors.”

 

Emhoff repeated the words of U.S. President Joe Biden’s own speech at this event when he had been vice president in 2014 that “Jewish values are American values.”

“I know this to be true. And like so many of us gathered here today, my family members, my forbearers, my ancestors, they left Europe in search of safety and security,” said Emhoff.

But, he said, that freedom to worship and live as Jews has sometimes been undermined by hate, and quoted his wife, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, that “we must speak the truth about this epidemic of hate.”

“American Jews and Jews worldwide have experienced and continue to experience hostility, discrimination and violence,” said Emhoff. “As the vice president said just a few weeks ago, ‘We must fight anti-Semitism and hate of every kind and call it out when we see it.’ ”

The story of Chanukah, he noted, was about people who did not simply carry on in the face of tragedy, but about people who were committed to their faith and traditions.

“As the people of Israel were being forced to abandon their culture and beliefs, a small but dedicated band reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to God,” said Emhoff. “The ancient Maccabees teach us that in the face of the senseless, the selfless can prevail. In the face of the powerful, the people can prevail. And in the face of darkness, light can prevail.”

‘Resolve to strengthen your identity as Jews’

Standing in front of a new national menorah that he pointed out was made of recycled aluminum, Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), spoke about two surveys he recently encountered.

One survey, he said, indicated that 40 percent of American Jews had experienced anti-Semitism. The second survey showed that 40 percent of young Jews in America consider themselves Jews with no religion or that Jewish identity for them is not based on religion.

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), speaks at the National Menorah lighting ceremony near the South Lawn of the White House on the first night of Hanukkah, Nov. 28, 2021. Photo by Dmitriy Shapiro.

“Now, I know my community and I am fully aware of various levels of observance therein, but Jews of no religion? That is the dream of the Hellenist oppressors of the Maccabees and the Jews of their time, who sought to destroy our temple and our faith and practice,” said Shemtov.

The two survey results, he said, may be related, with anti-Semitism rising to such levels that government officials sought the need to upgrade the position of Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat anti-Semitism to the level of ambassador.

Shemtov reiterated the appeal he made in October at an event on countering anti-Semitism held on the campus of George Washington University that the “most effective way to combat anti-Semitism is robust, informed and involved Semitism.”

“To fight for our Jewish identity, to be peaceful, we must know what it is and what it means,” he said. “So, therefore, I ask you all here today who are of the Jewish faith to resolve to strengthen your identity as Jews. Not to be afraid even as we are concerned and to remember that God told us, the Jewish people, more than any other command—beginning with our first patriarch, Abraham—to be fearless and understand that he is our shield.”

A scissor lift raised the rabbis—as well as Levi Shemtov’s son Rabbi Menachem Shemtov, and philanthropists Louis Mayberg and Brock Pierce—to the top of the 30-foot-high menorah, where they lit the shamash and the first night’s candle. Accompanied by the band, “The Three Cantors”—Jeff Nadel, Avi Albrecht and Aryeh Leib Hurwitz—sung the menorah-lighting brachos.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff served as keynote speaker during the lighting ceremony of the National Menorah near the South Lawn of the White House on the first night of Hanukkah, Nov. 28, 2021. Photo by Dmitriy Shapiro.

Hurwitz said “with precautions, we’ve got back to performing almost entirely back to the way it was before the pandemic. Which is great! I missed the stage but am glad to see that so many are now coming out and getting back to a sense of normalcy.”

In addition to some lively traditional Chanukah songs, the cantors ended with “Oseh Shalom,” in addition to “God Bless America.” JNS.ORG

{Matzav.com}

8 COMMENTS

  1. “As the people of Israel were being forced to abandon their culture and beliefs, a small but dedicated band reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to God,” said Emhoff. “The ancient Maccabees teach us that in the face of the senseless, the selfless can prevail. In the face of the powerful, the people can prevail. And in the face of darkness, light can prevail.”

    Wow, this Intermarried man doesn’t even believe what he just read off the teleprompter. Sick lowlife wasted piece of meat.

  2. Lubavitch honors Emhoff, an intermarried Jew? That promotes the acceptance and normalization of intermarriage. Is that what Chabad-Lubavitch stands for?

    They also honor a Conservative cantor, Jeffrey Nadel, with singing brachos?

    Disgraceful.

  3. “Tradition Of Lighting National Menorah”

    Did the Alter Habad Rebbe light the national menorah in Russia?

    Did the last Lubavitcher Rebbeh light it in his homeland in the Ukraine? In Paris where he lived later?

  4. Cheapens hannukah with the roads filled by chabad menorah cars.

    I saw one hauling it down I77 last week. I was going 73.

    Buckets of fun.

  5. Why are people complaining here?

    This is a giant Kiddush Lubavitch! The Rebbeh taught his Hasidim to seek free publicity with stunts like this. Using such free publicity has fueled the growth of Habad Lubavitch for decades.

    Anything to promote Habad Lubavitch and the Rebbeh MH”M.

    Moshiach now!

  6. Chabad is the closest thing to traditional Judaism.
    Mirdarfen leben mit der tzeiten.
    America is different. We have never had a Jewish second gentleman . We should be proud.
    Chabad makes the rule. The rest……..

  7. tHIS is the opposite of true Yiddishkeit. Think for a moment: What would have been the reaction of Matisyahu and the Chashmonaim if they saw such a travesty?

    They are taking the place of the non-Orthodox “Conservative” movement. On the outside they look frum, but closer examination and observation reveals that they are a separate faith.

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