The First Jewish President

The Jewish holiday of Passover begins tonight and, even for the most secular Jews, it is a very big deal.  Polls show that well over 90% of American Jews attend a Passover Seder (the ritual dinner held on the beginning of the holiday). 

In 2000, when Senator Joseph Lieberman was the Democratic nominee for Vice President, many of us wondered what it would be like if he became President and actually held a family Seder in the White House.

That was before Lieberman left the Democratic Party (and the 80% of American Jews who vote Democratic).  Now the idea of a Lieberman Presidency is not something many of us would contemplate with any sort of joy. Fortunately, it is not something we have to worry about.

Times change.

And tonight, the first African-American President will hold the second Obama family Seder in the White House. A White House Seder -- held for the benefit of the President's family, Jewish staff and closest Jewish and non-Jewish friends --  is a grand occasion.  It wouldn't be if his guest list was political and was designed as a reward for donors or to win political support for the future. But that's not how President and First Lady Obama do it.

It's a family event. The Obama daughters ask the Four Questions, which are answered both through the traditional Haggadah (the prayer book that tells the Passover story) and by the Jewish guests who try to give the best answers they can.

Can anything be better than the first African-American President conducting the Passover Seder (which is the story of the Jews escaping slavery)?  Think of the old African-American spiritual, "Let My People Go" which begins with the words, "When Israel was in Egypt land, let my people go."

So much history (so much joy and so much pain) is encapsulated in the event taking place at the White House tonight.  African-Americans and Jews share a common history of suffering under slavery, racism, and violence.

Black slavery still exists, and, as recent as the early 1940's, my in-laws were slave laborers in Stalin's Soviet Union.

The hate that exploded last week at the Capitol against African-American members of Congress (and one gay Jewish Member) is a reminder, as if we need one, that although much has changed, much is still the same.

As Frank Rich, reminded us in yesterday's New York Times, so much of the venom directed at health care reform - the hysteria, the threats of violence - is not about health care but about the fact that so many Americans are unhinged at the thought of an African-American President (and also a female Speaker of the House).  For all too many, this is their worst nightmare.

But, for most of us, this moment in history is something to celebrate.  Health care reform after a hundred years of failure!  And so many more changes to come.

As a Jew, I feel doubly blessed that the same President who delivered on health care is the President who has just rededicated himself to helping Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace and security.

My father-in-law, who survived the Holocaust by escaping into the Soviet Union (and endured slavery rather than death), used to say that he never understood why some Israelis felt they needed the West Bank and Gaza.  "If there was a Jewish country in 1939 and it only consisted of Tel Aviv or any place in the land of Israel, all our family would have survived.  All they needed was one spot on earth that belonged to the Jews and we would have gone there.  But no country would let Jews in."

Until his dying day, he never understood why some Israelis wanted more Palestinian territory. "Israel is good enough, room enough. There aren't so many Jews. The Arabs can have the West Bank and the places that are theirs. There is room for both."

He would be so proud to see what Obama is doing (needless to say, he was a Democrat).  But he would have been thrilled by the image of an African-American President conducting a Seder in the White House.  It's a dream.  And not just for African-Americans, or Jews, or even just Americans.

This is a moment, one of many since 2008, for all people to cherish. Lift an extra glass of wine tonight for President Barack Obama.