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Obama: Hanukkah Is a Time For People of All Faiths To Celebrate

President Obama said the Hanukkah story of the Maccabees “reminds us that faith and perseverance are powerful forces that can sustain us in difficult times and help us overcome even the greatest odds.”

In his first presidential Hanukkah message, released Friday, Obama also said the holiday is “not only a time to celebrate the faith and customs of the Jewish people, but for people of all faiths to celebrate the common aspirations we share.”

“May Hanukkah’s lessons inspire us all to give thanks for the blessings we enjoy, to find light in times of darkness, and to work together for a brighter, more hopeful tomorrow,” Obama said in his statement.

Read Obama’s Hanukkah message in English here.

Read Obama’s Hanukkah message in Hebrew here.

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