Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff, recently told an inaccurate story about Hanukkah on X, formerly known as Twitter, and was met with criticism.
On X, Emhoff posted a picture of himself and Harris commemorating the beginning of Hannukah by lighting a menorah. He then proceeded to tell his faulty version of the eight-day Jewish holiday.
“The story of Hanukkah and the story of the Jewish people has always been one of hope and resilience. In the Hanukkah story, the Jewish people were forced into hiding,” he wrote in a since-deleted post. “No one thought they would survive or that the few drops of oil they had would last. But they survived and the oil kept burning.”
“During those eight days in hiding, they recited their prayers and continued their traditions,” Emhoff, a Jewish man who is working alongside the White House to tackle rising antisemitism, said.
“That’s why Hanukkah means dedication. It was during those dark nights that the Maccabees dedicated themselves to maintaining hope and faith in the oil, each other, and their Judaism,” he added.
Doug Emhoff deleted this, which is not the story of Hanukkah, the Maccabean Revolt depicted in the Bible https://t.co/hhMd38OPMd pic.twitter.com/kvs1UikYOx
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) December 12, 2023
Hanukkah is not about Jews hiding with oil. It is a story of the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple in the second century, praising the victory of a small group of Jewish fighters who liberated the temple from Greek-Syrian oppressors.
When the Jews sought to rededicate the temple, they came across a meager supply of oil that was supposed to last one day but ended up lasting eight days.
Given that Emhoff’s comments about Hanukkah were far from the true meaning of the holiday, he was scolded by some who wondered whether the second gentleman wrote the post.
A senior writer for the National Review, Noah Rothman, went after Emhoff for his major blunder on the story of Hanukkah, saying, “How could this have happened?”
How could this have happened? https://t.co/DN4Lm8PJ8d
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) December 12, 2023
Like Rothman, research fellow for the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy Jason Bedrick criticized Emhoff.
“I’m really hoping the Second Gentleman left this to some hapless and uneducated intern who couldn’t be bothered to even consult Wikipedia,” Bedrick wrote on X.
I’m really hoping the Second Gentleman left this to some hapless and uneducated intern who couldn’t be bothered to even consult Wikipedia.
Eight days of hiding? Yikes, man! https://t.co/E4bVaLs2cC
— Jason Bedrick 🇮🇱 (@JasonBedrick) December 12, 2023
Hanukkah began on Dec. 7, 2023, and ends on Dec. 15, 2023.
