Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff at the White House Rosh Hashanah event on Sept. 30, 2022. Photo by Official White House Photo by Cameron Smith

By Jacob Kornbluh May 16, 2023

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host Jewish leaders on Tuesday for a White House Jewish American Heritage Month reception. 

The White House said Biden will highlight his record of fighting antisemitism, ahead of the highly anticipated rollout of the administration’s national plan to combat antisemitism later this month. 

Douglas Emhoff, the Jewish husband of Vice President Kamala Harris who often speaks about combating domestic antisemitism on behalf of the administration, will also address the crowd. 

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A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the event, said that the plan — developed in recent months by the interagency task force created last December — will address “increasing awareness and understanding of both antisemitism and Jewish American heritage, improving safety and security for Jewish communities” and “reversing the normalization of antisemitism and addressing antisemitic discrimination.”

The White House didn’t provide many details of the plan, but said that the document incorporates conversations with more than 1,000 Jewish community leaders across denominations and will include more than 100 “meaningful actions” that government agencies will take to counter antisemitism and more than 100 “calls to action” for Congress, local governments and technology platforms to combat the rise in antisemitism. 

Tuesday’s event will feature a musical performance by Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond, the actors from the Broadway revival of Parade. Accompanied by composer Jason Robert Brown, they will bring to life the story of Leo and Lucille Frank, who faced the harsh realities of antisemitism in the American South in the early 1900s.

In the tradition of  lavish White House Hanukkah receptions, the menu, prepared by award-winning Israeli chef Michael Solomonov, will include his signature “Moroccan chicken cigar rolls, smoked sable on challah, and stuffed fairy tale eggplant with lentil and harissa,” the White House said.

This post was updated 

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