Yesterday, at the White House, President Bush hosted a Hanukkah Reception. In his remarks (full text), the President indicated that the menorah that would be used at the ceremony belonged to the grandfather of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Reporter Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. Daniel Pearl's parents lit the menorah. Earlier in the day, to mark International Human Rights Day, the President met with a group of Jewish immigrants who had emigrated to the U.S. from Iran, Syria and the Soviet Union in order to gain religious freedom. (President's remarks). Two Jewish members of the President's cabinet-- Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff-- attended the White House Hanukkah reception. One of the interesting photos of the reception on the White House website shows the President speaking at the Hanukkah gathering in a room dominated by two large Christmas trees.
UPDATE: Another photo shows First Lady Laura Bush with three rabbis during the koshering of the White House kitchen that took place before preparing food for the Hanukkah reception.
