Obama Passover Seder UPDATE: Photo, Guest List, Menu

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama hosted close friends and staff at a private White House meal Thursday evening to mark Passover. It's part of the new president's effort to reach out to Jewish voters.

A photo, courtesy of the White House:

The White House said the Seder meal was traditional, including matzo, bitter herbs, a roasted egg and greens in the family dining room in the executive mansion. The evening also featured the reading of the Haggadah, the religious text of the holiday.

Passover began at sundown Wednesday. It celebrates the Jewish exodus from Egypt after 400 years of slavery.

Among those invited was Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama's closest advisers, and family friend Eric Whitaker, who was visiting from Chicago and attended a Seder last year with the campaign. First lady Michelle Obama and the family's two daughters also attended.

The staff guest list included aides from the campaign trail who marked last year's Passover at the Sheraton hotel in Harrisburg, Pa. Obama's personal aide, Reggie Love; Michelle Obama's deputy chief of staff, Melissa Winter; personal aide Dana Lewis and associate social secretary Samantha Tubman all received invitations.

Also on the guest list were Eric Lesser, a personal aide to senior adviser David Axelrod, and his family. Lesser worked during the New Hampshire primary and later handled baggage for traveling reporters. White House videographer Arun Chaudhary _ a constant presence on the trail _ landed invitations for his family.

Others in the exclusive group included Michelle Obama's counsel and friend Susan Sher; Herbie Ziskend, a staff assistant to Vice President Joe Biden's policy and economic advisers; and White House deputy director of advance and special events Lisa Kohnke.

White House aides said they believe it was the first president-hosted Seder at the White House.

Comments

[robertogt]

Obama is correct when he says the U.S. is no longer a Christian nation. This photo op speaks for itself. We have lost our direction as a Christian nation. D.C. is now occupied territory.

[evaesthetic]

Yay! Recognizing that this is NOT a Christian nation is a good thing. That way, everyone can feel involved and not left out of their government. Sorry that equality bothers you. I know you like to feel superior, that's what your kind of Christianity is about.

[IntellectuallyHonest]

We could do more to include a whole bunch of other groups. Like it or not, American Jews are the most privileged group in the entire country. Just look at how many senators, cabinet secretaries, and high-level officials are Jews. Once you find that out if you didn't already know, you will understand why that group causes so much resentment. One place where Jews are way underrepresented is in the Armed Forces. They truly are a people of power and influence, I don't care what anybody says.

[greymom]

Happy Passover to all my Jewish friends. My husband came home with a kosher brisket from Trader Joe'shttp://www.gourmet.org/recipes/beef/nach-waxman's-brisket-of-beef/ this week. I think he thought it was a tri tip and he could throw it on the grill. I remembered a wonderful seder my neighbor invited us to in the 80's. The brisket was the main dish. I went searching for recipes and I found this one, on recommendation of my son, who is from Texas and usually smokes his brisket.

Here is the link http://www.gourmet.org/recipes/beef/nach-waxman's-brisket-of-beef/. It is from the Silver Palate New Basics cookbook.

Our brisket was the Easter meal today and it was fantastic. The only difference in the recipe is that I used tapioca flour since I am celiac and gluten intolerant. I served with quinoa pilaf and we ate like kings. Mazeltov!

[Pizzafist]

Greymom, what did you have for dessert? I like pie.
http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2008/07/25/alg_apple-pie.jpg

[OneLiberalLady]

I love it!!!!!

[MikeLicht]

I sent the Obamas my Bubbe's special Passover macaroon recipe:

1. Open can.
2. Serve.
3. Eat.

See

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/moses-and-macaroons/

[Lahonda]

As of this moment, this event has not been published by the Jerusalem Post, online.

Why does that not surprise me?

[azbird]

You are mistaken, it has been posted in the Jerusalem Post, and long enough for there to be over 50 talkbacks

[Lahonda]

If one searches the english version of the online Jerusalem Post for the words "obama" or "seder" or both in the search of the entire newspaper, a reference cannot be found. The closest is for the "Don King" seder.

[scotsense]

What would be really nice would be a nice dinner for some clebrated free thinkers to recognise Darwin's 200th birthday, imagine that!

[Pete2069]

Well Obama should invite the controlling party of our government to the white house.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

So... did they play "hide the matza"? Did Sasha take the matza and hide it in some urn from the Monroe administration and only produce it when she finally got the finalization of the puppy? I want the rest of the story.

[patrizia160]

ABOUT THE OBAMA'S CHOICE OF CHURCH ... I thought it might be a good thing to have a CHAPEL in the White House ... a place where the family could pray without worry of safety. It might an ecumenical setting where religious clergy would conduct a service not only for the first family, but for White House live-in staff . . . or for whomever is visiting. I love this idea! If we could have bowling alleys and basketball facilities, etc. .... why not a CHAPEL?

[BowlingForRevenge]

That's a beautiful idea...a non denominational chapel!

[lynettema]

You know, you can sit on the edge of your bed and pray.

[Emlyn]

Or you can go and sit under a tree and pray. That's what the early Britons did. You don't need a church building to be with God.

[chronic]

Lawd the r!ght w!nger fringe just don't know what to do. LOL!!

[incinerate]

Obama should have also invited Rabbi Capers Funnye (Michelle Obama's cousin) spiritual leader of a mostly black synagogue on Chicago's South side.

[rsprags]

He was busy with his congegation!

[v eyepete]

I have had lifelong, very helpful and generous to me Jewish friends, who during the Jewish holidays went MIA always. I was never invited to a Passover meal and just thought that it was not allowed for them to invite a gentile to the event. There seems to be very few actual Jewish people at the Presidents meal and I wondered if some Jewish people would not think this was such a good idea, since it is being done outside the context of the Jewish experience. I am just wondering......

[rsprags]

You really don't know what you are talking about. Dig a little deeper!

[Rani Merens]

v eyepete, I'm sorry to hear that none of your Jewish friends invited you to their seder. If we were friends and you lived nearby, I would do so. Every seder I've ever done, we have had at least one gentile friend there. Someone was always curious or was alone, and we'd invite them so they could experience a seder. Part of the seder is setting a place for Elijah to come... so it was always a family tradition for us to have a guest or two. The seder is pretty simple, a re-telling of the story of the Exodus, with built-in asking/answering of questions, why we do this or that, why we eat certain foods, why no leavened bread, etc. It's all in a booklet, the haggadah, and everyone sits around the table taking turns reading from it and drinking wine.

Maybe next year, ask your Jewish friends with simple curiosity... I hope you get a chance to attend one.

[disgusted48]

the article says it was an effort to reach out to jewish voters. wasn't he fulfilling the promise he made to jewish staffers last year this time who couldn't make it home for passover?

[2celestial]

I am reminded of my family's Jewish friends who had visited the Holy Land many years ago. Upon their return they showed their children pictures of the trip including a visit to the burial place of the founder of the Bahai (sp?)Faith. They explained to them that the BaHai faithful believe that God speaks to many cultures each in a way that is appropriate to them and that all religions seek truth and goodness. Their youngest son spoke up and said "That's nice! They're not mad at anybody!" Out of the mouths of babes!

[mark12345]

"God speaks to many cultures each in a way that is appropriate to them and that all religions seek truth and goodness".

I believe that too.

[incinerate]

Not anything unusual here. The Báb is buried in Haifi, Israel BECAUSE he and the Bahá'í Faith have were always,and continue to be fervent supporters of Israel and the cause of Zionism. Most of the Bahá'í in India and Iran today still support Israel's policies on religious grounds over the belief's of Islam, and that is precisely why people of the the Bahá'í Faith have been so mercilessly persecuted in Iran since the foundation of Israel.

Prior to 1948 Bahá'í and Muslims showed tolerance towards one another.

[R-N]

Baha'is in the Holy land have had good relations with any government that happens to be in charge, and that is true before or after 1948. The Baha'is are not involved in partisan politics and cannot run for any political office as a result. The clear proof is that Baha'is (and other minorities) specially at this time are subject to relentless persecution in the land of its Birth, Iran, as well as intermittently in Egypt, and for any unbiased observer, it is obvious that they love, are peace loving and loyal supporters of their country and have never performed any actions against their governments

a website that documents this is
www.iranpresswatch.org.

[stevie22]

Barack - Where's the yarlmalke?

[simplify]

President Barack Obama to you

[enjen]

Try spelling it correctly before you make a joke out of it.

[stevie22]

Sorry for spelling it wrong, but when did it become appropriate to attend a Jewish ceremony with a yarmulke? No joke here. Hosting the Seder is all nice, but have the courtesy to conduct it properly.