Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Obama Celebrates Message of Passover

President Obama is looking forward to “a good bowl of matzo ball soup,” at the fourth annual White House Seder on Friday.

Obama sent out his Passover greeting on Thursday, in which he speaks not only about his love for Passover dishes, but also on the meaning of the exodus story and the search for a cause after being freed from bondage.

“Throughout the years, the search for answers has deepened the Jewish people’s commitment to repairing the world, and inspired American Jews to help make our union more perfect,” Obama said. “And the story of that first Exodus has also inspired those who are not Jewish with common hopes, and a common sense of obligation.“

He also made a reference to current affairs when mentioning the shooting in Toulouse, France, which targeted Jewish school students and teachers. “Just as throughout history, there have been those who have sought to oppress others because of their faith, ethnicity or color of their skin.”

This will be the fourth Seder celebrated by Obama in the White House, a tradition the president began in 2008, when he joined his staff in a makeshift seder on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania. Obama and his advisers told the story many times, but for those who still haven’t heard it, Jarrod Bernstein, the White House liaison to the Jewish community is willing to retell.

The White House Seder, and this is also part of the Obama tradition, is strictly limited to current and former staff members and close friends, distinguishing the event from the annual Hanukkah reception which is celebrated with key members of the Jewish community and has long become the most sought-after ticket for Washington Jewish figures.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected]

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.