[Family] As Chanukah ends . . . check out Doug & Kamala

[sheri stern]

Gifted by Doug Emhoff & Kamala Harris - to all:  Just found this today, on
the last day of Chanukah, & it makes me KVELL [burst w/pride, Yiddish] to
see how far we've come - to begin a longed-for New Chapter in America with
this Biden-Harris transition: not only with a MENSCH in the White House
again, & not only with the 1st WOMAN EVER, a Woman of immigrant parents who
is Asian-Indian & a Woman of Color, but also with the 1st "Second GENTLEMAN
EVER - AND he's JEWISH! Who could've EVER imagined a Woman of Color AND a
Jewish Family in the White House [actually the Naval Observatory, as the
article below states]?! The accompanying article below was written by Lior
Zaltzman on 12/10/20.

Click on the link:  it's worth it!

**  https://twitter.com/i/status/1337152366085226496

[image: hanukkahdougkamala]

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On the first night of Hanukkah
<https://www.kveller.com/article/hanukkah-basics/>, the internet gave to
me… a new Taylor Swift album
<https://pitchfork.com/news/taylor-swift-releasing-new-album-evermore-tonight/>
 *and* a pitch-perfect perfect candle lighting video from the Biden-Harris
transition team.

Seriously, a lot is bad in the world right now. But this video, which was
posted on Twitter by the the soon-to-be Second Gentleman (title pending), Doug
Emhoff,
<https://www.kveller.com/this-tribute-to-kamalas-jewish-husband-gives-us-all-the-feels/>
is
a short but very moving balm full of Yiddishkeit.

In the video, Emhoff, VP-elect Kamala Harris’ Jewish husband, shares that
Hanukkah is “one of our favorite holidays in our big modern family.”
(Emhoff, as you likely know by now, has two kids from his previous
marriage, Ella and Cole. They call Harris “momala,
<https://www.kveller.com/kamala-harris-has-an-adorable-yiddish-nickname/>”
a Yiddish-sounding amalgam of “Kamala” and “mom.”)

In the sweet video, Harris — who does a perfect impression
<https://www.kveller.com/kamala-harris-impression-of-her-jewish-mother-in-law-is-worthy-of-an-oscar/>
of
her Jewish mother-in-law — shares why the Festival of Lights is her
favorite. While Emhoff uses an Americanized pronunciation for Hanukkah,
Kamala pronounces it with a hint of a perfect “*ch*,” which I truly have to
applaud. She then says she loves the holiday because it really is about
“bringing light to places where there have been darkness,” especially at a
time where there is so much darkness in the world. It’s about “Tikkun
olam,” she summarizes, bringing up the Jewish value
<https://www.kveller.com/tag/tikkun-olam/> of repairing the world,
“fighting for justice and fighting for the dignity of all people.”

“And it’s about joy, and spreading that joy around the world, and sharing
it with your family and with your neighbors, and your community, and that’s
important right now,” Emhoff adds poignantly.

But perhaps the most moving moment is when they light the menorah
<https://www.kveller.com/light-the-menorah-with-kveller-every-night-this-hanukkah/>
(or
hanukiah) together. Harris lights the shamash, and Emhoff uses it to light
the candle for the first night of Hanukkah, which begins tonight, December
10.

It’s a small moment, but for a Jewish person in America —  an America where
anti-Semitism and white supremacy are on the rise
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/anti-semitism-is-on-the-rise-yet-the-press-barely-covers-it/2020/10/23/e4814e96-1549-11eb-a258-614acf2b906d_story.html>
—
it is extremely powerful. To see this couple, who will soon be in the White
House (or, more precisely, the Naval Observatory), carry on this Jewish
tradition — not as a gesture of friendship or allyship with Jewish people,
but because it is a historical part of their blended Jewish family and home
— is deeply meaningful and groundbreaking. We may or may not have shed a
tear (or eight).

Yes, we know this video will not fix all that ails the world. But it does
bring us a little, much-needed light. *Chag shameach, *Doug and Kamala!

Take ACTION for HEALTH, Safety, Justice, & Peace - for ALL, Sheri

I am One, but I am only One. I cannot do everything, but I can do
something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the
something that I can do. . . Helen Keller
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