A visit to Washington and the White House during Chanukah gave our family a profound, teachable moment about being American and Jewish today.
Although my wife and I have visited the White House before under various administrations, we were especially thrilled to accept this invitation by President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, because we were accompanied by our two youngest children.
When we told our boys we were going, they were both “pumped.” “This keeps getting better and better!” our second grader exclaimed, learning he would miss a day of school.
This was our children’s first trip to our nation’s capital, so we traveled a day earlier to visit the sites. At the top of the Washington Monument, we took in the grandeur of all the sightlines and national monuments. We relearned the history and virtues of the father of our country, and how all those who framed this nation acted with belief in an almighty God and freedom from tyranny.
At the National Archives, we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights. We viewed a film that included the history of immigration to America. We told our children the stories of all eight of their great-grandparents, who came to America with little in their pockets but much in their hearts and minds, in pursuit of freedom and the American dream.
At the Lincoln Memorial, we read out loud the words of President Lincoln’s second inaugural and the Gettysburg Address.
Fast forward 100 years, and there was the spot of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Viewing the film of that speech, stirred with emotion, we explained to our children the meaning of that day in history. We told them how our United States of America is not perfect, but how we have worked to correct our mistakes.
We visited the moving war memorials and explained the price of liberty and how members of our family have served their country.
As we toured, taught and learned, I reflected on our family visit to Israel last August, which also was our children’s first-time visit to a place their parents cherish. We traveled the length and breadth of the country and adjusted to its Jewish rhythms and feel, our weekly observance of lighting Sabbath candles and making Friday night Kiddush made even more meaningful because we were in Jerusalem. We also had a lot of fun, rafting on the Jordan, boating in the Kinneret, and camel riding in the desert.
As they would in Washington, in Israel our children connected to sacred sites and to the stories of the founders of a modern, enlightened state, visiting the Herzl Center and the graves of founding fathers like Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion.
We spoke with soldiers at the top of Masada and fighter pilots at the Hatzor airbase. Under his shirt my 11-year-old wore dog tags bearing the names of Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev and Uri Goldwasser—young Israelis captured more than a year ago by Hamas and Hezbollah. In the White House our children would chat with bright young army officers and listen to the Marine Band, and thus the dedicated youth of both nations, America and Israel, would inspire them.
On that seventh night of Chanukah, we looked on as our children spoke with the president of the United States and the first lady. As Jewish American parents, we were filled with pride. The menorah the Bushes lit had special significance; it was owned by the family of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002 by anti-American terrorists. Symbolically, Jewish and American pain and challenges were entwined.
Just as we recognize our tragedies and our problems, so too we celebrate our triumphs. Today, the Jewish contribution to American history and society is fully recognized. Today, the people of that vibrant democracy, Israel, recognize and appreciate their connection to the world’s greatest democracy, the United States of America.
Two traditions. Two histories. Similar values. How fortunate we are that our children are free to learn and grow, nourished by their connections with these two nations.
