Bethany Mandel: A tale of two Hanukkah celebrations Joe Bidens and Speaker Mike Johnsons

On Capitol Hill this week, where House Speaker Mike Johnson convened a bipartisan pre-Hanukkah celebration, Rabbi Levi Shemtov noted that when the menorah is lit at such an event, it’s purely a symbolic gesture — the actual blessing is reserved for the actual holiday.That prompted a knowing chuckle from a number of us present; at the White House the night before, after all, there was no such concern.Instead, at that celebration, President Biden, his wife Jill and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff lit the menorah and those assembled recited all the traditional blessings, despite the fact that Hanukkah doesn’t even begin until next week. It wasn’t just a misstep but an offense to faithful Jews.Rabbi Baruch Davidson of Chabad explains, “Our caution is founded on an understanding of the third of the Ten Commandments, ‘You shall not take His name in vain.’ Although this verse is classically interpreted as referring to a senseless oath using G‑d’s name, the avoidance of saying G‑d’s name extends to all expressions, except prayer and Torah study.” By uttering the actual prayer and saying the name of G-d within it the week before Hanukkah, the White House was offending observant Jews and showing a lack of the kind of “sensitivity” and consideration the left takes pains to afford other groups. And though a relatively small offense, it’s nonetheless representative of how Democrats have treated the Jewish community: as a mere photo-op prop that is manhandled and cast aside the moment the cameras disappear.It wasn’t any better last Hanukkah, either.On the first major Jewish holiday after the gruesome attacks of Oct.7, the White House invited 800 prominent members of the Jewish community to mark the holiday by lighting a menorah salvaged from a home in the border kibbutz of Kfar Aza, one of the most ravaged communities on that awful day.President Biden was happy to showcase a Jewish artifact from that community, but not actual Jews from Kfar Aza, ...