On Monday, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted a Hanukkah Holiday Reception at the White House. The White House released a transcript of remarks at the reception by the Bidens and by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker who last January was held as a hostage by a gunman in his Temple in Colleyville, Texas. President Biden said in part:
Tonight, we’re honored to mark another new tradition we’re establishing tonight. And that is the lighting of what will be the first-ever permanent White House menorah. (Applause.) It will also be the first Jewish artifact in the entire White House collection. (Applause.)...
This year’s Hanukkah ... arrives in the midst of rising emboldenment of antisemitism at home and, quite frankly, around the world.
I recognize your fear, your hurt, your worry that this vile and venom is becoming too normal.
As your President, I want to make this clear — as my dad would say, and many of you have said: Silence is complicity. We must not remain silent. (Applause.)
And I made no bones about it from the very beginning: I will not be silent. America will not be silent. (Applause.) I mean it....
Like this White House menorah, our commitment to the safety of the Jewish people and to the vibrancy of Jewish life that’s tightly woven into every fabric of America, it’s permanent. Permanent.
The menorah was made from historic wood beams rescued during a White House renovation by President Truman.
