Happy Hanukkah, everybody! Chag Chanukah Sameach! Thank you, Rabbi Shemtov, for the very kind introduction. It’s truly an honor to celebrate the beginning of Hanukkah with you all, and to participate in this wonderful ceremony.

The lighting of the National Menorah has become a great American tradition. For many years now, by its presence in the heart of our nation’s capital, this tradition has introduced people of all faiths to a profoundly moving story – the miracle of Hanukkah.

Even though it was more than 2000 years ago that a small group of Maccabees drove out their oppressors and secured their right to worship freely, their courage is something that resonates today. It is strength we can draw on. It reminds us how fortunate we are to live in a country that was founded by those in search of religious freedom. It reminds us of our own obligation to safeguard that freedom from generation to generation.

As a person of faith, I have always been moved by the demonstration of faith that is at the heart of the Hanukkah story. After their victory, the Maccabees rededicated the Second Temple in Jerusalem by building a new altar and lighting a menorah. Although the menorah only had a one day supply of oil, its flame burned for eight straight days. It was a miracle that sustained the Jewish people in their hour of need – an inspiration to all people of faith. As President Obama said last year, when we celebrated Hanukkah at the White House, it “teaches us that our light can shine brighter than we could ever imagine with faith…and it’s up to us to provide that first spark.”

This National Menorah lighting ceremony has inspired Americans of all faiths with the Festival of Lights. It took many years of hard work – with special effort by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement – to bring this tremendous menorah to these grounds. Here, on the Ellipse, with the White House visible through its branches, the National Menorah powerfully affirms our diverse religious traditions as well as our shared values.

This Hanukkah, like all Hanukkahs, families, friends, and communities will gather together to recall the Maccabees’ triumph and the miracle of an oil lamp that burned for eight days. They’ll recite the candle lighting blessings as they light their menorahs – probably a bit smaller than this one – and reflect on their many blessings. They’ll eat traditional foods cooked in oil, like potato latkes and sufganiyot. Parents will play the dreidel game and wager chocolate coins with their children, recalling the children back then who hid their Torah study from the Assyrians by playing with spinning tops. And as generations come together for Hanukkah, they’ll reflect once again on timeless rituals and stories to bring more light into the world through tikkun olam.

So this is a joyous occasion. And yet we are mindful, even as we gather here tonight, that while the light of freedom burns brightly for us, and our generation, it flickers for others – refugees fleeing religious intolerance and oppression, people targeted for their faith, people whose faith is perverted by others. We are Americans – and as Americans, we do not turn our backs on those who seek sanctuary, nor do we stay quiet in the face of bigotry or intolerance. We stand up for one another, and for the persecuted around the world. That’s what we remember this season – that we were strangers once, too. That our inheritance gives us an obligation to remain true to our values. That, as the Jewish tradition teaches, by saving one life – we save the world.

This National Menorah stands for those values – values that are Jewish and American alike.

Thank you all very much for the opportunity to be a part of this celebration. On behalf of President Obama, the First Lady, and all of us at the White House and across the entire administration, Happy Hanukkah everybody!

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)