US officials use National Menorah Lighting to promote peace, unity

U.S. officials and religious leaders spoke about peace and hope at the National Menorah Lighting hosted in front of the White House Wednesday to mark the beginning of Hanukkah. 

“We can all benefit from the study of Torah, the mandates to visit the sick, feed the poor, pursue justice, welcome the stranger,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the audience, echoing words from a New York Times op-ed written in honor of the holiday.

“There is a yearning for this beauty, this rooted history,” he added. 

“We see it in a post-Oct. 7 surge in synagogue attendance, Jewish learning and communal connection.”

Various speakers at the event alluded to the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has been ongoing for more than a year, and spoke about the need to come together in the face of antisemitism.

“I think it's important to note that we've done a lot, but we have so much more that needs to still be done and to address and combat antisemitism, if I might say more specifically, because it is different in some ways, from other forms of hate and demands a particular focus,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch, said to the crowd. 

“And as I expressed at a meeting to which we were invited a few 100 yards behind us just last year, we, the Jewish people, have to worry first about antisemitism so that we can be strengthened enough to help others in society who need our support,” he continued. 

“It's almost like on the airplane where they say, put your own oxygen mask on first, because though you're tempted to save everybody else, you won't be able to if you don't survive.”

Shemtov served as the host, welcoming Biden administration Cabinet members and Jewish elementary school students to the stage to speak. He made it a point to promote a sense of unity among Jews. 

“Perhaps the best antidote, and most effective one to combat antisemitism is an informed and robust semitism,” Shemtov declared. 

“When we become stronger in who we are, we are better assured of our continued survival.”