Biden quotes Rabbi Sacks in his message for Hanukkah

This week Joe Biden hosted his final White House Hanukkah reception as president of the United States of America.

Biden marked the start of the Jewish festival of lights on Wednesday 25 December 2024 with a quote from Rabbi Sacks. He proclaimed, “Rabbi Sacks said: A people that can walk through a valley of shadow of death and still rejoice is a people that cannot be defeated by any force or fear.” He then added, “That capacity for faith is the light of the Jewish people. As Hanukkah begins, may it shine from menorahs around the world.”

There have been many notable occasions when Biden has quoted Rabbi Sacks in his official engagements as president. Last year, with a sentiment similar to this year, Biden quoted Rabbi Sacks at his annual Hanukkah reception, saying “You embodied what the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said: ‘A people whose capacity for joy cannot be destroyed is itself indestructible.’”

In October 2022, President Joe Biden and his First Lady Jill Biden hosted Jewish leaders and activists for the festival of Rosh Hashanah and the start of the new Jewish year. On that occasion he stood up to say, “The late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who passed away two years ago, once said that the most important lesson of the High Holidays is that nothing is broken beyond repair. Nothing is broken beyond repair. It’s never too late to change and to be better. I’ve always believed that message, and I also think it’s universal,” he said at the event. “I believe that message is universal. And we’ve emerged from one of our most difficult moments in our history. I believe nothing is broken beyond repair, and there’s a lot we can do to change things and bring people together.... The prayers on Yom Kippur begin with ‘we’: We have gone astray. We have not lived up to the best versions of ourselves – as individuals and as a community. It’s a recognition of a powerful truth: that we fail together, we forgive together, and we heal together, too..." In closing, he added, "Now, if I acknowledge everyone by name, we’ll be here for the Hanukkah reception in December,” as his guests chuckled.

The same Rabbi Sacks quote that Biden shared at his Hanukkah reception party this year on 25 December was also shared by President Biden's official accounts on social media platforms such as X (formerly 'Twitter') and Facebook.

Watch the clip below, or watch the full Hanukkah reception speech here >