![Barack Obama hosts a Seder dinner 2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Barack_Obama_hosts_a_Seder_dinner_2009.jpg)
The White House Passover Seder was an annual private dinner held at the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
on the
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...
of Passover during the presidency of Barack Obama. Obama initiated it in 2009 for his family, staff members, friends, and their families. The gathering recited the Passover
Haggadah
The Haggadah ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each J ...
, discussed the themes of the
Passover Seder and their relation to current events, and partook of a holiday-themed meal. Obama hosted and attended the Seder each year from 2009 to 2016. It was the first Passover Seder to be conducted by a sitting U.S. president in the White House.
Background
A
Passover Seder is a ritual meal held by Jews on the first two nights of the Passover holiday (first night only in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
). The Seder is traditionally conducted in the home by the family and their invited guests, although it may also be held by any group of Jews, such as members of a synagogue, condominium complex, student group, army base, etc. At the Seder, participants read the
Haggadah
The Haggadah ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each J ...
, a ritual text recounting the liberation of the
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
from slavery in
ancient Egypt. The reading is accompanied by visual aids in the form of the symbolic foods on the
Passover Seder Plate
The Passover Seder plate ( he, קערה, ''ke'ara'') is a special plate containing symbolic foods eaten or displayed at the Passover Seder. The purpose of the Passover Seder plate is to show all the foods that perpetuate and emphasize the ideas ...
. A festive meal is part of the ritual. While
religious Jewish law places certain restrictions on a non-Jew eating at a Seder, non-traditional Jews often invite non-Jews to their Seders, and non-Jews also conduct Seders of their own, although the latter practice is highly controversial.
History
The White House Passover Seder had its origins in an informal Passover Seder conducted on April 19, 2008, by three junior staff members of then-presidential candidate
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
's campaign. At the time, Obama and his campaign team were in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in advance of the Pennsylvania primary, and the Jewish staffers realized they would not be able to go home to be with their families on Seder night. The three staffers –
Eric Lesser,
Herbie Ziskend
Herbie Ziskend is an American political advisor and a deputy director of communications for the Biden administration since August 2022. He has previously served as a communications advisor for Vice President Kamala Harris from 2021 to 2022, and a ...
, and
Arun Chaudhary – obtained a "Passover kit" with wine,
matzo
Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which '' chametz'' ( leaven ...
,
macaroon
A macaroon ( ) is a small cake or biscuit, typically made from ground almonds (the original main ingredient), coconut or other nuts (or even potato), with sugar and sometimes flavourings (e.g. honey, vanilla, spices), food colouring, glacé ...
s, and
Haggadah
The Haggadah ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each J ...
s from the
Hillel House at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
and were conducting a late-night Seder in a meeting room of the Sheraton Hotel in Harrisburg when Obama walked in. "Hey, is this the Seder?" Obama asked. He and a group of aides, all non-Jews, joined in to recite the Haggadah. Obama was familiar with the ritual, having attended Passover Seders for the previous nine years. At the end of the Seder, when the assembled said the traditional wish, "
Next year in Jerusalem
''L'Shana Haba'ah B'Yerushalayim'' ( he, לשנה הבאה בירושלים), lit. "Next year in Jerusalem", is a phrase that is often sung at the end of the Passover Seder_and_at_the_end_of_the_'' isan_in_the__Hebrew_..._and_at_the_end_of_the_' ...
", Obama added, "Next year in the White House".
The following year, with Obama elected president and his junior staffers working in the White House, Obama encouraged the group to hold the Seder again.
[ The 2009 event was the first time that a sitting U.S. president conducted a Passover Seder in the White House.] The White House switchboard was reportedly swamped with callers seeking a dinner invitation. The White House Seder was scheduled for the second night of Passover to allow Jewish staffers to spend the first Seder on the first night of Passover with their families.[ About 20 guests sat around a table in the Old Family Dining Room reading the Haggadah and sampling the traditional Seder foods. Malia and Sasha Obama, being the youngest in attendance, recited the Four Questions][ and engaged in the search for the ]afikoman
Afikoman ( Mishnaic Hebrew: אֲפִיקִימוֹן ''ʾăpîqîmôn'';So spelled and vocalized in de Rossi 138 (Parma A) and Kaufmann A50; also spelled in the Cambridge manuscript and by the "Rabbi Jehoseph" cited by Adeni. Modern pronunciatio ...
.[
Obama hosted the White House Passover Seder for all eight years of his administration.][ Among the annual traditions for the White House Seder were Obama's imitation of ]Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
, Chaudhary's speech on the Hillel sandwich, and the hiding of the afikoman
Afikoman ( Mishnaic Hebrew: אֲפִיקִימוֹן ''ʾăpîqîmôn'';So spelled and vocalized in de Rossi 138 (Parma A) and Kaufmann A50; also spelled in the Cambridge manuscript and by the "Rabbi Jehoseph" cited by Adeni. Modern pronunciatio ...
under the watchful eye of a Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
member.[ The Seder convened in the Old Family Dining Room and lasted for two hours. During Obama's last year in office in 2016, the Seder was held on April 26,] the sixth day of Passover, due to Obama's previously scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
on the first and second nights of Passover.
Themes
During a visit to Israel in 2013, Obama stated that he brought the Passover Seder to the White House to acquaint his daughters with the story of the Exodus, whose themes resonated with his personal beliefs.[ He said:
]To African Americans, the story of the Exodus was perhaps the central story, the most powerful image about emerging from the grip of bondage to reach for liberty and human dignity – a tale that was carried from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement into today. For me, personally, growing up in far-flung parts of the world and without firm roots, the story spoke to a yearning within every human being for a home.
The White House Seder participants, many of them African Americans, were cognizant of the similarities between the story of the Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
' Exodus from Egypt
The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely Ex ...
and the American civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...
. The themes of social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...
, struggle, and freedom were often evoked during discussion at the meal.[ At the point in the ritual when the prophet ]Elijah
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...
is welcomed to the meal, the guests recited the Emancipation Proclamation.[
The choice of serving pieces was also symbolic. In 2009, the group used silverware from the ]Truman administration
Harry S. Truman's tenure as the 33rd president of the United States began on April 12, 1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and ended on January 20, 1953. He had been vice president for only days. A Democrat from Missouri, he ran ...
, remembering Truman as the first President to recognize Israel.[ In 2013, Israel First Lady ]Sara Netanyahu
Sara Netanyahu ( he, שרה נתניהו; ''née'' Ben-Artzi; born 5 November 1958) is the wife of former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. By profession, she is an educational and career psychologist.[Seder Plate
The Passover Seder plate ( he, קערה, ''ke'ara'') is a special plate containing symbolic foods eaten or displayed at the Passover Seder. The purpose of the Passover Seder plate is to show all the foods that perpetuate and emphasize the ideas ...]
, which was used each year at the dinner.[ Those in attendance read from the Maxwell House Haggadah, which is widely used in Jewish homes.][
]
Menu
The menu at the White House Passover Seder featured traditional American Jewish Passover cuisine such as gefilte fish
Gefilte fish (; from yi, געפֿילטע פֿיש, lit. "stuffed fish") is a dish made from a poached mixture of ground deboned fish, such as carp, whitefish, or pike. It is traditionally served as an appetizer by Ashkenazi Jewish househo ...
, charoset
Charoset, haroset, or charoises (Hebrew: , ''kharóset'') is a sweet, dark-colored paste made of fruits and nuts eaten at the Passover Seder.__According_to_the_Talmud.html" ;"title="isan in the Hebrew .... According to the Talmud">isan in th ...
, chicken soup
Chicken soup is a soup made from chicken, simmered in water, usually with various other ingredients. The classic chicken soup consists of a clear chicken broth, often with pieces of chicken or vegetables; common additions are pasta, noodles, ...
with matzah ball
Matzah balls ( yi, קניידלעך pl., singular ; with numerous other transliterations) or matzo balls are Ashkenazi Jewish soup dumplings made from a mixture of matzah meal, beaten eggs, water, and a fat, such as oil, margarine, or chi ...
s, brisket
Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the nine beef primal cuts, though the definition of the cut differs internationally. The brisket muscles include the superficial and deep pectora ...
, potato kugel, and macaroon
A macaroon ( ) is a small cake or biscuit, typically made from ground almonds (the original main ingredient), coconut or other nuts (or even potato), with sugar and sometimes flavourings (e.g. honey, vanilla, spices), food colouring, glacé ...
s.[ Salads and vegetable side dishes completed the menu.][ Lesser brought handmade shmurah matzah from the Chabad-Lubavitch center in Springfield, Massachusetts. Family recipes were emphasized: in 2015, these recipes included ]matzo ball soup
Matzah balls ( yi, קניידלעך pl., singular ; with numerous other transliterations) or matzo balls are Ashkenazi Jewish soup dumplings made from a mixture of matzah meal, beaten eggs, water, and a fat, such as oil, margarine, or chicken ...
from Ziskend's grandmother, carrot soufflé from Lesser's mother, and Raspberry Ganache Marjolaine from Chaudhary's mother.[ Recipes covered foods from both the ]Ashkenazic
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
and Sephardic traditions.[ The food was not strictly kosher, but ]kosher style
Kosher style refers to foods commonly associated with Jewish cuisine but which may or may not actually be kosher. It is a stylistic designation rather than one based on the laws of kashrut. Generally, kosher-style food does not include meat from f ...
. In 2014, the White House Passover Seder began inviting a guest chef to coordinate the menu with the White House executive chef.
Guest list
Unlike the White House Hanukkah Party, Obama's White House Passover Seder was not a political event. The guest list did not include rabbinical figures, Jewish lobbyists, members of Congress, or Israeli representatives. The guest list of approximately 20 remained basically the same each year. Attendees included the president and his family, members of the president's and first lady's staff and their families, and friends of the Obamas, with a mix of Jews and non-Jews.[
]
Other White House Seders
In April 1993 staffers of President Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
conducted a Passover Seder in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building
The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB)—formerly known as the Old Executive Office Building (OEOB), and originally as the State, War, and Navy Building—is a U.S. government building situated just west of the White House in the U.S. ca ...
, in the absence of the President.[
On April 10, 2017, the first night of Passover, several Trump Administration staffers conducted a Seder in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, but unlike during the Obama Administration, neither President Trump nor his family members attended the ritual.]
See also
* White House Hanukkah Party
References
External links
"Remember the Toddler Who Threw a Tantrum in Front of the President? That was my kid."
'' Slate'', November 18, 2015
{{Jewish and Israeli holidays
Jewish-American history
Jews and Judaism in Washington, D.C.
Kosher style
Passover seder
Presidency of Barack Obama
White House
Food and drink in Washington, D.C.