On Thursday afternoon, AJFCA Board Chair Jim Kahn, Board Member Seth Cohen and I had the honor of attending the White House Hanukkah Celebration, hosted by the President and First Lady in the East Room of The White House.  Along with hundreds of other honored guests (Administration Senior Officials, Jewish communal and religious leaders, and celebrities) we ate kosher food, lit the Hanukkiah, and shared the joy of the holiday.  It was an awe-inspiring experience, one which I will not soon forget.  The event also made me think about how fortunate we are to be a diaspora community in the United States.

In this week's Torah reading, Va-yiggash, we read about the beginning of the first Jewish diaspora community.  After revealing his true identity to his brothers and enjoying a tearful reunion, Joseph arranges for his father Jacob, all of his brothers and their households to join him in Egypt.  Because Joseph is the second most powerful man in the kingdom, his family is graced with property, provisions, and all they need to thrive, even though the country is enmeshed in a terrible famine. We know that the prominence of these foreign Jews will not last, but at least in this parashah, Jacob and his family enjoy a privileged station in their host country.

The United States is not a modern day Egypt, and Jews are not more privileged than other faiths or nationalities.  But, from the policy briefing I attended on Thursday morning to the celebration in the afternoon, it is clear that Jews are fully engaged and accepted, something that is less than common since the time of Joseph.  Much to be thankful for.

Have a peaceful Shabbat.