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Parashat Miketz

12/14/12

Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

Last night I celebrated Chanukah with President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House, among a couple hundred other national Jewish leaders. It was an awesome experience in so many ways, and I think it will take some time to articulate what it meant in any organized way. But I want to try, while it’s really fresh, to reflect on this experience in a way that connects to our Torah portion this week.

I woke up yesterday morning, got dressed in fancy holiday wear, flew to Washington, got a manicure (which only happens about once every 3 years for me), and showed up at the White House. There we were, a couple hundred Jews, many wearing yarmulkes, some wearing black fedoras, all eating Glatt Kosher food. The West Point Jewish chorus sang Hanukkah songs, and another military academy orchestra played Hanukkah and other Jewish music. And we surrounded by Christmas trees – gorgeous Christmas trees and greenery and wreaths and lights all over the White House. We gathered to light the menorah with the President and Michelle. A Jewish chaplain who celebrated Chanukah last year in Afghanistan, had the honor of lighting the menorah, a menorah rescued from a severely damaged Long Island synagogue after Hurricane Sandy. And our voices filled the East Wing with the Hebrew blessings.

What does it mean to be an American Jew? What does it mean to be invited by a Christian President to celebrate Chanukah in a White House adorned for Christmas? What does it mean to have power and influence in our nation’s capital, as Jews? What is my unique message for my President, when I have his attention, when I’m grasping his hand for less than 1 minute?

This week Joseph, the Hebrew, is taken from his cell in an Egyptian dungeon. he is dressed and bathed, his hair is cut and he appears before one of the most powerful men on earth, to interpret a dream and to deliver a message. Joseph’s influence is so potent that Pharaoh makes him his right-hand man. Joseph gets an Egyptian name, and Egyptian wife, and he names his children “God has made me fertile in the land of my affliction” and “God has made me forget my father’s house.”

So, what does it mean to show up at the White House as Jew, with a Jewish name, to celebrate a Jewish holiday, and to deliver a Jewish message? What does it mean to have my power and influence in this country celebrated and validated, and to have my religious culture celebrated in the President’s house? I left with my heart bursting. I am so proud. I am so, so grateful to be an American Jew. And I was very aware that we have a heavy responsibility. Our influence is louder and more powerful than our numbers. We are no longer “court Jews” who have to make nice, or who, like Joseph, have to assimilate and take on a non-Jewish identity in order to gain entrance to the seat of power.

I asked the President to not only stand strong with and for Israel, but to stand strong for peace. I told him, in my less than 1 minute, when he was holding my hand and looking me in the eye – that thousands of American rabbis want peace. I hope he got the message. And I hope I fulfilled my responsibility.