US President wished Jews around the world happy holidays on the Festival of Lights
US President Joe Biden posted a message on Twitter on Sunday to wish Jews around the world happy holidays on the first night of the eight-day Hanukkah celebrations.
In his tweet posted shortly after the holiday began in Israel, and several hours before the holiday began in the United States, Mr. Biden said Chanukah told an “unmistakably American” story.
“At its core, Chanukah tells a story deep in the human mind – a story that is inherently Jewish and unmistakably American. From my family to yours, we wish you and your loved ones a ‘Chanukah Sameah’, a happy Hanukkah! “.
The feast of Chanukah commemorates one of the great victories in Jewish history when, in the 2nd century BCE, after defeating the Seleucids ruling the Holy Land, a small group of Jews around Judah Maccabee recaptured and restored the desecrated Temple. of Jerusalem.
When it came to lighting the temple’s seven-branched candelabra (the Menorah), they found a tiny vial of sanctified oil, which should have lasted only a day, but held eight, long enough to prepare a new oil according to the rite.
In memory of this “miracle”, it is customary to solemnly light each evening one of the flames of an eight-branch candlestick (“Hanukkah”) present in most Israeli households, and to consume on this occasion foods fried in oil, including “soufganiya” (plural “soufganiyot”), a dough fried in oil and filled with strawberry jam or chocolate spread, and covered with icing sugar.
