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White House Hanukkah Reception CSPAN December 9, 2017 11:29am-11:52am EST
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that will be an opportunity for the gop conference to show how they can govern and if they cannot get that together that will have serious political consequences. >> kelly major is a reporter for cq roll call. thanks for the updates. >> thanks a lot. today, president trump is in jackson mississippi for the opening ceremony of the mississippi civil rights museum and the museum of mississippi history. he just tweeted, and headed to the great state of mississippi at the invitation of their governor phil bryant. looking forward to seeing the new civil rights museum. he will tour the museum and give live remarks about one hour from now. we will bring you live coverage. , presidents week
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trump hosted a reception. his family was also in attendance. this is 20 minutes. i know for a fact there are a lot of happy people in this room. jerusalem. thank you. are thrilled to welcome you in so many wonderful friends to the white house. we wish you a very happy hanukkah. i want to thank vice president pence and his wife. they can get under the ropes, they are young and strong. , on up. -- come on up.
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well as secretary mnuchin and secretary shulkin, i also want to thank our incredible first lady milani a -- our incredible first lady milani a. she has worked hard to make the white house a special place for this joyous season. we have done this so many evenings and i think we set a record two nights ago, we shook hands for three hours and 25 minutes. that was not fun, even though i love the people. i am also proud that my beautiful grandchildren have joined us tonight. [applause] right here as we celebrate with all of you the sacred traditions that they observe each year at home. this evening we gather to celebrate the story that is told in jewish homes across the country and all over the world, a story that began more than .000 years ago
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a tyrant made practicing the byish faith punishable death. he desecrated the jewish temple and including the holy of holies. a small band of jewish patriots rose up and defeated a mighty army and soon reclaimed their freedom. maccabees did the not end there as they prepared to rededicate the temple, they found only enough oil to light the lamp for a single night. to findl were stunned that for eight days, the lamp continue to burn brightly, a presence in his trolling place and a symbol of the faith and resilience of the jewish people. you do have faith and you do have resilience.
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the miracle of hanukkah is the miracle of israel, the descendents of abraham, isaac and jacob have endured unthinkable persecution and oppression. no force is ever crushed your spirit and no evil has ever extinguished your faith. that is why the jewish people shine as a light to all nations. right now, i am thinking about what is going on and the love that is all over israel and all about jerusalem. [applause] pres. trump: on behalf of all americans, i also want to say how grateful i am for jewish congregations throughout our country.
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you cherish your families, support your communities and uplift our beloved country's. a time for jewish families to celebrate the miracle of the past and the promises of the future. we are proud to stand with the people of israel and renew our enduring bond. have twoessed to special hanukkah lamps for the celebration. beenenorah on my left has lit every year since the early as days of our nation. it comes from the first american jewish congregation, whose original members came to this land in the 16 50's. that is a long time ago. it is a symbol of the history and home the jewish people made in the united states. today we are honored to have with us the congregations 10 spiritual leaders since the american revolution.
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hcongregation's tent spiritual leader since the american revolution. thank you rabbi for being with us. is so happy with yesterday he does not care if i get it exact. also deeply honored that louisa is here to share this evening with us and to make a few remarks. survivor,a holocaust the first three years of her life were spent in hiding in an attic. an amazing situation to be in. cannot light the candles we are about to light this evening but they let them in their hearts. lamp thatt is a
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a city inhe ghetto in southern poland, a city that was ravaged by the holocaust. it will remain unlit in memory of that darkest hour and in order to preserve this relic so we never ever, ever, ever forget. we thank god that a woman who was born into that nightmare of oppression now lives in this land of the free and that she, along with everyone here tonight, and light the menorah for all the world to see. the world is watching. our nation is stronger and our world is more full of promise because of the jewish people, the state of israel, and the faith that burns so brightly in your hearts. -- you all have [applause] pres. trump: thank you very
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much. may you all have a truly blessed and happy hanukkah. god bless you and god bless america. thank you. [applause] pres. trump: congratulations. big day. they give vent. -- big event. very important. congratulations to everyone in the room. i would like to invite louisa to say a few words. >> thank you. [applause] president, mrs. trump, thank you very much for inviting me here to your hanukkah celebration today. it is an honor for me to be here. my name is louisa and i'm a survivor of the holocaust. i am one of approximately 80 survivors who volunteer at
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united states holocaust memorial museum. freedom is a holiday of . during the first years of my life, we cannot celebrate hanukkah because my family was not free. country, thern, my netherlands, was occupied by nazi germany. life for jews and jewish families became more and more restricted and when i was six months old we had to go into hiding because deportation of jews to the death camps in poland had begun. my parents, 18 month older friends of i, with my mom lived in an attic in amsterdam for almost three years. only my father used to leave when we needed food, medicine, and sometimes he brought back some news.
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he did not have a radio or a newspaper. it was a storage attic on top of a rowhouse with its own walk-up in the middle of amsterdam. it was about five blocks from where anne frank was hidden. when you are in hiding, you never go outside. i never met her. the attic had one small dormer window, we had very little natural light. there was no kitchen or bathroom, just a small toilet with a sink with cold water. after discussing what to take into hiding with us, my parents decided on a camping stove. we needed that for when there was anything to cook, and sometimes we have to just boil water because there was nothing to eat. some pots and pans and utensils, mattresses for the adults and a crib for me.
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my parents never talked about the outside world with us or about their worries. -- or all relatives of our relatives. they do not want to miss anything or anybody. they kept us busy with a form of homeschooling and we loved it. we thought our life was normal. we never talked about religion or celebrated holidays. that would have been too dangerous. otherayer books and -- otherings like jewish things were buried and my mom had given our menorah to a friend to keep for us. we were often hungry and cold but we thought that was normal. not have survived without the courageous help of people from the resistance. my loving parents had only one
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thought -- keep their children safe. we were lucky. the first time we celebrated hanukkah together i was four years old. we received a very special -- ant -- and orange orange. my brother and i had never seen one. spelling it and holding it was so special. i did not want to eat it. i was afraid i would not have a present anymore. i want to make sure we always have a bowl of oranges on the table to remember our freedom. after my husband retired from the army, we moved to the washington, d.c. area. i wanted to volunteer at the holocaust museum but i had to tell my parents first. my parents never talked about our years of occupation. my dad surprised me, he said if you do not speak now, people will not believe that it really
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happened. one day, the museum will speak for us, but i will speak for us as long as i can. hatred cost 6 million jews to be which 1.5 million were innocent children. chance.er had a people let this happen by not standing up to hatred. they were in different. we cannot let that happen again. hatred and prejudice should not have a place in the world. we all have to work -- [applause] we all have to work for a future where all children will have a chance to smell and -- to smell an orange.
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i wish everybody a happy and healthy holiday. [applause] >> before we commence with the ,ighting, i want to thank you mr. president, and the first lady for the very gracious hospitality you're showing us this evening and for all that this evening represents. of akah is a jewish story miracle that occurred over 2000 , and whatin jerusalem the president called yesterday and his remarkable address the capital that the jewish people established in ancient times. [applause]
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>> but the menorah also embodies an american idea. if you go to jerusalem today, you will see that in contrast to most jewish communities around the world that kindle the lights inside their homes, their they do it as it was done originally, right outside the door of their homes. what that represents is both a jewish idea but an american idea. when people leave their homes, they take their religious identity with them. they do not check their beliefs at the door when they enter the world. what this evening represents is that as american jews, we cannot only bring our beliefs with us out into society and out into the world, but we can bring it
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out of our homes and into your home, into the home of the president of the united states, the home of the american people. we thank you mr. president and you mrs. trump for all that this evening embodies for all of us. [applause] >> because it is not yet the usual blessing over the menorah and the hanukkah lamp will not be said. there are two blessings we can pronounce before the president's grandchildren actually light this beautiful hanukkah lamp that represents so much of jewish history and american jewish history. the first blessing is a blessing that according to jewish tradition is recited when we are in the presence of a head of state. according to the rabbi, we are instructed to recite this blessing in order to remind us
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of the god from whom all power and distinction derives, just as the american founders stroked remind us that as americans it is from god that our rights survive, not from the state but from god. in the presence of the president , we recite the blessing first in english and then in hebrew. lord our god,ou, king of the universe who bestows power and distinction upon flesh and blood. hebrew]g the second blessing we recite is the one said according to jewish tradition when we received joyous tidings. on theecited by all jews first night upon a cut and we can say it now because of the joyous tidings we have just received. [applause]
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jerusalem lies at the heart and soul of every two and of judaism itself. we pray three times a day for the rebuilding of jerusalem and representsf hanukkah not only the undying light of judaism but the light of jerusalem itself that burns in every jewish soul. now that we have received joyous , for the first time since the founding of the state of israel, an american president has courageously declared what we have always proclaimed. jerusalem is the capital of israel. [applause] >> we therefore bless god, who
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has allowed us to live to see this joyous day and so we say -- hebrew]g [applause] proceed with the lighting of the menorah. -- i will light the top light and then the president's grandchildren will kindle the first light, heralding the upcoming first night of hanukkah as soon as the presidents grandchildren like this might, please join me and singing the first stanza of one of the most beloved of hanukkah songs. weean please join me because do not want to subject the president and the first lady to my own singing.
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happy hanukkah. [applause] livelook at the mississippi civil rights museum which is having its opening ceremony today in jackson, mississippi. president trump will be there to tour the museum and make remarks from inside. that is -- that is happening at 12:30 p.m. eastern. we will take you back when the event get started. until then, here's a portion of today's washington journal. joining us now is eric
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morath, economy reporter with the "wall street journal." he is here to break down the november jobs of report. thank you for joining us this morning. let's start with the headline -- "the u.s. economy is hitting while stones not seen in more than a decade, marked by a --ust hiring that has led to nonfarm payrolls a seasonally adjusted record 86 straight ." its of expansion also says "the unemployment rate is down to 4.1%, down for two straight months the holding at a 17-year low." what is the reason for some of these positive figures? guest: we have been in a long stretch of economic
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