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On Thursday, President Obama, along with the First Lady and Vice President Joe Biden, marked Hannukah - the Jewish Festival of Lights - with a celebration at the White House.

Hannukah, however, does not start until sunset on Dec 20, not Dec. 8.

Howard Portnoy of Hot Air notes that Obama also broke with Jewish tradition of lighting "only one candle the first night, increasing that number by 1 each of the eight nights of the holiday." Instead, Obama lit all of the candles.

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Posted by Rappy:

Barry, it's not a candle opera.

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Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
I do take your point about shoulda known better, but obama has his D'oh! moments too,...

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As he has in past years, Rabbi Levi Shemtov, director of American Friends of Lubavitch, supervised all preparation of the food to ensure it met the highest standards of kashrut.

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Getting into the holiday spirit Obama was brimming with jokes and good wishes. "We’re jumping the gun just a little bit," he noted. "The way I see it, we’re just extending the holiday spirit. We're stretching it out. But we do have to be careful that your kids don’t start thinking Hanukkah lasts 20 nights instead of eight."

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Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
Looks like the early nature of the event was acknowledged by the Pres, and the event was carefully overseen by a Rabbi. Jewish newspapers are not reporting any offence, so I'm not sure why not doing it exactly to tradition offends any gentiles.

http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/2011/12/09/3090661/white-house-h
olds-hanukkah-reception-in-the-wake-of-frenzy-over-officials-comments

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As he has in past years, Rabbi Levi Shemtov, director of American Friends of Lubavitch, supervised all preparation of the food to ensure it met the highest standards of kashrut.

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http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4159199,00.html

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Getting into the holiday spirit Obama was brimming with jokes and good wishes. "We’re jumping the gun just a little bit," he noted. "The way I see it, we’re just extending the holiday spirit. We're stretching it out. But we do have to be careful that your kids don’t start thinking Hanukkah lasts 20 nights instead of eight."

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The way I see it, holding it early means that the Jewish attendees get to celebrate Hannukah with their families, as it was intended.

And as for lighting the candle, Obama isn't jewish, unless some nutbag wants to start that as another rumour. He won't be lighting a candle every night of Hannakah, because he won't be celebrating Hannuakah. This is a friendly guesture, political in nature, to sure up the Iraeli/US alliance.

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Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
Nothing. Just wanted to chip in with a bit of reality.

If the worst you can say of your president is that he put on a Hannukah celebration and did it a bit less trad than expected, then he is clearly doing better than I thought.

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Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
In this instance, it didn't sound like a screw up, it sounded like a plan. Events like these are highly orchestrated, they don't tend to make mistakes. When Obama visited Australia for a recently lightening tour, I suspect that had his tiolet breaks itinerised.

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The annual Hanukkah reception timeline at the White House does not change much each year. Usually, there is some unique Menorah, brought especially for the festive occasion (this time, a Menorah made in a displaced persons’ camp after World War II, was lent by The Jewish Museum in New York), a mix of Jewish lawmakers, officials, rabbis, activists and donors, president's remarks, music and good food.

But each year, there seem to be more and more smartphones, with guests barely looking at the President wishing them happy holiday. Instead, everyone is busy taking photos or videos of him.

This year, in a hall traditionally decorated with the Christmas tree (and a Menorah on the podium), President Obama, accompanied by the First Lady, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden, greeted about 550 guests. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was also present, along with the new White House Director of Jewish Outreach, Jarrod Bernstein, the Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, AIPAC's Howard Kohr and Lee Rosenberg, Conference of Presidents' Malcolm Hoenlein, NJDC's David Harris, the Orthodox Union's Natan Diament and many others.

The Hanukkah reception came about a week earlier than the Holiday itself, which the President readily acknowledged, "We’re jumping the gun just a little bit. The way I see it, we’re just extending the holiday spirit. We're stretching it out. But we do have to be careful that your kids don’t start thinking Hanukkah lasts 20 nights instead of eight. That will cause some problems.....

So while it is not yet Hanukkah, let’s give thanks for our blessings, for being together to celebrate this wonderful holiday season. And we never need an excuse for a good party."

"This year," Obama said, "We have to recognize the miracles in our own lives. Let’s honor the sacrifices our ancestors made so that we might be here today. Let’s think about those who are spending this holiday far away from home - including members of our military who guard our freedom around the world. Let’s extend a hand to those who are in need, and allow the value of tikkun olam to guide our work this holiday season. This is also a time to be grateful for our friendships, both with each other and between our nations. And that includes, of course, our unshakeable support and commitment to the security of the nation of Israel," he concluded to applause.

The West Point Jewish Chapel Choir performed for the audience, the food (including Sushi Rolls, Caramelized Pearl Onions, Shitake Mushrooms, Pine Nut Herb Crusted Lamb Chops and Homemade Sufganyot) was kosher under "strict rabbinical supervision of Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Lubavitch Center of Washington (Chabad)," as the White House put it.

When the guests line for a picture with the President (or the kosher raspberry jelly), one can forget - for a while - about political tensions and the 2012 elections.

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But anyone else pauses for too long, or mispronounces a word ( unless it's "corpse" for " corps " ) then it's pile on time.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:
Shocker. The MSM didn't criticize the President for his screw up.

But anyone else pauses for too long, or mispronounces a word ( unless it's "corpse" for " corps " ) then it's pile on time.

Hell, I'm not Jewish, and not even a believer, but traditions and religious ceremonies have their history, and Obama's lighting of the menorah candles like a b-day cake just ignorantly and arrogantly ignores the entire purpose behind Hanukkah.

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Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:

What would you have him do, Rap? Force a whole lot of people to celebrate Hanukkah at an official political function instead of with him? Imagine if you were in Israel and a political official decided to give a nod to Christianity and did it on Christmas day, so you had to leave your family and hang out with the drones.

Obama aint jewish. He's not going to celebrate for 8 days, lighting a candle each day. He's been advised of the most respectful way to do it, and no one Jewish appears to have been offended.

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Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
Geez, what planet do you live on where Jewish people won't speak up when they feel offended.

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Originally posted by AURaptor:

To answer my own question...

It appears there was 1 President to do the same thing.

George W Bush.

He's the one who started it, & lighting all candles at once as well.

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