The first Jewish spouse of a president or a vice president, Emhoff publicly highlighted his various tenets of faith while his wife was in office.
The lighting tradition dates back to 1979 when President Jimmy Carter was in office. But it was President Ronald Reagan who officially designated the candlesticks as the Menorah Nation.
Vice President of the United States at the time, Joe Biden, a very religious man, spoke at the ceremony in 2014.
“The truth is that our Jewish heritage, Jewish culture, Jewish values are an essential part, an essential part of who we are,” Biden said at the time, wearing a black Yamaka. “It’s fair to say that Jewish heritage is American heritage. It’s who we are as a people.”
Light acts as a catalyst – kicking off “Festivals of Light” across the country and around the globe, according to the National Menorah website.
They say the ceremony attracts tens of millions of viewers and see it as a symbol of the beginning of Hanukkah celebrations.
The National Menorah website says: “In this way, we reaffirm our celebration of freedom, inspired by the historic and current triumph of rights over strength, light over darkness. , understanding and justice for intolerance and bigotry,” says the National Menorah website.
.
