The US Congress celebrates Hanukkah with a bipartisan menorah lighting
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The US Congress celebrates Hanukkah with a bipartisan menorah lighting

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

U.S. House and Senate leadership gathered on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon to light the Hanukkah menorah, a symbolic sign of unity amid disagreements between the upper echelons of both chambers over the stalled Anti-Seminist Awareness Act.

The menorah used in Tuesday’s lighting ceremony belonged to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), a devout Christian who said his first menorah was given to him by Washington, D.C.-based Chabad Rabbi Levi Shemtov and was given to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY).

Johnson began the event by saying an Israeli craftsman made the menorah from shrapnel from rockets fired by the IDF.

“I am very grateful for this symbolic gift, not only because it is my first menorah, but because when you look at it you are reminded of the true meaning of Hanukkah,” Johnson said. “That in the face of darkness light breaks forth and in the presence of fear miracles arise and in moments of despair eternal hope arises.”

Johnson said the more time he spent with American rabbis and Jews, the more hopeful he became for the future.

Battle between light and darkness

“This year has been a very difficult year for Jewish Americans, for universities and of course for the land of Israel itself,” he said. But in the face of evil and war, the Jewish people have shown “unwavering strength, optimism and resilience.”

It’s very inspiring, he added, and that’s because “we believe that the light of truth always overcomes the darkness of terror.”

Johnson then referred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he held a joint news conference on Capitol Hill in July before the prime minister addressed the joint session of Congress.

“As Prime Minister Netanyahu often reminds us, the battle for Israel’s existence is truly a battle between light and darkness. It is a battle between civilization and barbarism, good and evil,” Johnson said. “So as we solemnly light the first of these eight candles, we remember the power of light within each of us and hold fast to the faith that God has not forgotten his people.”

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Johnson then ceded the podium to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who has publicly criticized in recent weeks for not introducing the AAA as a standalone bill before the end of the year.

“I am proud to stand before you in this great temple of democracy and share with you in the light of Hanukkah,” Schumer said. “As we all know, the story of Hanukkah is, among other things, a story of perseverance in the face of unspeakable hatred. It is a story about how the Jewish people of another age were expelled from their land and forbidden from practicing their religion. Their temple destroyed and desecrated, they gathered to pray in secret, banded together in the hills and fields, and fought against their attackers.

Once victorious, he continued, the Jews began the hard, slow, and painful work of dedicating the Temple and rekindling the eternal flame of hope.

Today, thousands of years later, the responsibility to keep this flame of hope burning lies “with each and every one of us.”

“The world is swirling with strong winds that threaten to extinguish this flame, evil forces of anti-Semitism, hatred and bigotry. We cannot allow these pernicious forces to prevail day after day,” Schumer said. “We must work together on the other side to prevent them from succeeding in America, in the darkness of our world, 436 days after the horrific attacks in Israel on October 7th, with over 100 hostages still held by the evil and terrorist group Hamas.” And with anti-Semitic attacks on the rise at home and abroad, this Hanukkah we must let the flame of hope burn brighter and greater than ever before.”

Jeffries also spoke of the story of Hanukkah as one of resilience in the face of adversity and “hope in the face of oppression.”

“It tells the eternal story of the Jewish people, one of thousands of years of uncertainty, pain, persecution, but above all and ultimately triumph,” Jeffries said. “Hanukkah teaches us that even a small amount of light can drown out a whole lot of darkness.”

“Our Jewish brothers and sisters understandably feel a deep fear about the future,” he said, “but we are on your side.”

“We will do everything we can to crush anti-Semitism and bury it in the ground so that it never rises again,” he said. “We will continue to affirm with moral clarity that anti-Semitism in any shape and form is unacceptable, irresponsible and un-American, and that our country must always be a safe place for the Jewish community.”

Rabbi Shemtov concluded the ceremony by emphasizing the importance of bipartisanship expressed in lighting the candle.

The decision to hold the Hanukkah event “creates an island of togetherness in a sometimes very fragmented space,” he said.

“Hundreds of millions of my fellow citizens across the country who watch these two House leaders, even if they disagree, have a personal respect for each other,” Shemtov said, “that is enormous and spreads a warmth in our country.” that leaves lots of cold melt away.



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