US officials, religious leaders and others gathered in front of the White House on Wednesday for the National Menorah Lighting, marking the start of the holiday of Hanukkah with messages of hope and a call to combat rising antisemitism.
Among the speakers at the ceremony was Aviva Siegel, who was kidnapped on October 7, 2023 and was released in the November 2023 deal. Aviva’s husband, Keith Siegel, remains in Hamas captivity.
“I’m Aviva. I was a hostage in Gaza. I felt it, I saw it, and it should not happen to anybody in the world and no Jew,” said Siegel.
“I'm standing now for my Keith, that is still a hostage, and for all the hostages that are still there. We need to bring them home now!” she continued.
“I want to say thank you to everybody that's doing everything they can, and I want the light of Hanukkah to fill all the world, extra light to bring them all back home. So let's just light the candles, please, this year, because we need it to bring them back home. We need them to stop suffering underneath the ground in Gaza,” continued Siegel.
“There's at least 50 hostages that are alive, that are screaming to get out of there, and to come out and to be free and to light the candles at home. So let's hope and wish that it's going to happen soon,” she concluded.
Another speaker at the National Menorah Lighting was US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who said, “We can all benefit from the study of Torah, the mandates to visit the sick, feed the poor, pursue justice, welcome the stranger.”
“There is a yearning for this beauty, this rooted history,” Mayorkas added. “We see it in a post-October 7 surge in synagogue attendance, Jewish learning and communal connection.”
The event, held against the backdrop of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, included reflections on the challenges facing Jewish communities and a renewed focus on unity in the face of antisemitism.
“I think it’s important to note that we’ve done a lot, but we have so much more that needs to still be done and to address and combat antisemitism, if I might say more specifically, because it is different in some ways from other forms of hate and demands a particular focus,” said Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch, as quoted by The Hill.
“And as I expressed at a meeting to which we were invited a few 100 yards behind us just last year, we, the Jewish people, have to worry first about antisemitism so that we can be strengthened enough to help others in society who need our support,” he continued. “It’s almost like on the airplane where they say, put your own oxygen mask on first, because though you’re tempted to save everybody else, you won’t be able to if you don’t survive.”
Rabbi Shemtov, who hosted the ceremony, emphasized the importance of a strong Jewish identity, promoting unity among Jews while welcoming participation from the Biden administration and Jewish elementary school students who joined him on stage.