
Daily Kickoff: White House Hanukkah scene + Firehouse primary in Virginia
👋 Good Tuesday morning!
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview today’s Democratic primary in Virginia and interview three Jewish artists showcasing their work in Miami this month. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Amb. Michele Taylor, Walter Russell Mead and Albert Reichman.
A buffet of latkes, both potato and zucchini, sushi and smoked fish. Hanukkah cookies, including a vegan dreidel option (“which I deliciously consumed,” Conference of President’s William Daroff tells us) and custard-filled sufganiyot. The Marine Band entertaining attendees with traditional Hanukkah tunes (some guests danced the hora to “Hava Nagila” on their way out).
The mood at the White House Hanukkah reception last night, though largely festive, took on some serious tones throughout the evening. First Lady Jill Biden introduced the night’s featured speaker, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, the former rabbi of the Colleyville, Texas, synagogue who, along with three members of his Congregation Beth Israel, was held hostage in an 11-hour standoff earlier this year. Cytron-Walker led the prayers over the Hanukkah candles as President Joe Biden mouthed along to some of the words.
Biden addressed the crowd after Cytron-Walker, deviating from the prepared remarks visible on teleprompters in the room as he said that Cytron-Walker’s actions during the Colleyville siege “took a lot of courage.”
On script, the president discussed rising antisemitism around the world. “I recognize your fear, your hurt, your worry that this vile and venom is becoming too normal,” Biden said. “As your president, I want to make this clear… silence is complicity. We must not remain silent. I made no bones about it from the very beginning. I will not be silent. America will not be silent.”
Biden also spoke about the new White House menorah, constructed from a plank of wood that once formed a part of the White House’s foundation, possibly dating back to the 1800s. “This year, we thought it was important to celebrate Hanukkah with another message of significance — permanence,” he said. “Like this White House menorah, our commitment to the safety of the Jewish people and the vibrancy of Jewish life is tightly woven into every fabric of America, is permanent. Permanent.”
The menorah was lit by Holocaust survivor Bronia Brandman, whom the president greeted with a hug and a kiss; U.S. Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council Michèle Taylor, the daughter of Holocaust survivors; and Avi Heschel, granddaughter of famed civil rights leader Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.
Biden ad-libbed to praise Heschel, saying that “he inspired my generation — that’s how I got involved in public life. Not a joke.”
Biden then spontaneously welcomed several children onto the stage, including a young relative of Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the son of Israel’s antisemitism envoy Noa Tishby and the daughter of Mandana Dayani, cofounder of the organization I am a voter. At the end of the program, Biden interrupted the closing music to answer a question from Dayani’s daughter, Anderson Traugott, who told the president she wants to become president one day and asked Biden how he became president. (“It’s a good question!” the younger Traugott explained to the crowd. “No one better to ask.”) Watch here.
The president responded by posing two questions to Traugott: “Who are you going to help, what do you care most about?” and “[Is] there something so important to you, you’d rather lose the election than win by doing something you don’t believe?”
Spotted in the crowd was a who’s who of Jewish communal leaders, White House officials (notably Ron Klain, Susan Rice and Mitch Landrieu), Cabinet members (Attorney General Merrick Garland) and elected officials, as well as a cadre of Jewish celebrities and comedians including actress Beanie Feldstein, TikTok star Eitan Bernath, comedian Alex Edelman, composer Benj Pasek and chef Michael Solomonov.
At the end of the evening, Malcolm Hoenlein, the longtime executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, remarked to reporters that he holds the record for attending the most White House Hanukkah parties — 21 in total. Hoenlein told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod, “Although in the early years it was a smaller event, each year was significant. I think the recognition of Hanukkah by the presidents of the U.S. is a positive statement. Each president and administration celebrated in its own way but the theme was in common. It is also a wonderful networking opportunity.”
One missing attraction: “I guess we traded the lamb chops for a White House Rosh Hashanah party,” Bluelight Strategies’ Steve Rabinowitz quipped after not seeing the famous kosher entree of past Hanukkah parties at the White House.
va vote
Virginia Democrats to vote for successor to late Rep. Donald McEachin

Three weeks after the death of Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA) — and just a week after the election date was set — Democrats in the Richmond, Va., area head to the polls today to cast their ballots for one of several candidates vying to succeed the late three-term legislator, Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch reports.
Set the scene: In the weeks since McEachin’s death, state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, a vice chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus who mounted a failed primary bid for governor in 2021, shot to the front of the pack, having earned the backing of Virginia’s two U.S. senators; all the Democrats in its congressional delegation; McEachin’s widow; and Del. Lamont Bagby, a state representative who initially challenged McClellan but dropped out of the race and endorsed her last week. McClellan is facing off today against state Sen. Joe Morrissey, a conservative, pro-life Democrat who has been jailed five times, including a three-month sentence for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, whom he later married. Leon Benjamin, a Richmond minister, won the Republican nomination over the weekend, and will face off against either McClellan or Morrisey in February.
All eyes on Va.: The race has attracted national attention, including from major liberal groups such as EMILY’s List and Planned Parenthood, who are supporting McClellan, as well as pro-Israel advocacy organizations. McClellan earned the endorsement of Democratic Majority for Israel PAC and AIPAC PAC. McClellan earned the support of several prominent Jewish Democrats, including Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), former Speaker of the Virginia Statehouse and now-Del. Eileen Filler-Corn and former state Del. Debra Rodman, who represented Henrico County, near Richmond. “She has a proven track record and really developed the relationships. She ran for governor, so she has that statewide exposure, and she is just known to be a really strong legislator and does the community outreach like no one else,” Rodman told JI.
No conditions: “During her 17 years in the legislature, Sen. McClellan has worked to strengthen Virginia’s long-standing relationship with the state of Israel,” Jared Leopold, Sen. McClellan’s communications advisor, told JI Monday. Leopold declined to make McClellan available for an interview, but added that if elected she would “support foreign aid bills that provide full funding without political preconditions to ensure Israel’s ability to defend itself,” and that, as a supporter of the two-state solution she will “advocate for direct talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders to ensure a lasting peace.”
Against hate: Morrissey, an iconoclastic legislator who has lambasted the party’s handling of the primary, told JI in an interview on Friday that he has worked closely with the Richmond Jewish community and pledged to stand up against antisemitism as a member of Congress. “There has certainly been an uptick in violence against Jewish people. Not just the people, but also where they choose to worship, including a rise in vandalism to synagogues. I think it is horrific. I have spoken out against it and have decried it,” said Morrissey.