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April 11, 2009

White House Passover

By Michael Shaw

Obama White House Seder.jpg

(click for full size)

According to reports, Obama had a Seder with campaign workers in Pennsylvania last year and, in response to the final refrain: “Next year in Jerusalem!”, Obama replied: “Next year in the White House!” So, above he makes good, bringing together many from the group.

Some random thought on the image itself: The photo captures both the wonk-side and the loose side of Obama as he holds up his Haggadah, but looks rather chatty. Putting the kids in the middle of the table is particularly consistent with Passover as a family celebration. And then, White House-wise, do any of you have the low down on the painting? (I was also thinking, perhaps the Old Family Dining Room could use more comfortable chairs.)

There’s been a bit of sniping about who did and didn’t get invited (propagated by the desperate LA Times), and other good natured questions such as: Did Obama get drunk? Did Sasha find the matzoh? Of course, this still is a political image, one guaranteed to warm hearts in the Israel lobby — especially since there’s never been a Seder in the WH before). Overall, however, it captures and documents the inclusive and everyman quality of the President (as expressed by this commenter at Huffpo), and doesn’t deserve too much of a go through the spin machine.

(image: Pete Souza/White House. April 9, 2009. Old Family Dining Room. White House)

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  • http://NotionsCapital.com Mike Licht

    I sent the Obamas my Bubbe’s special Passover macaroon recipe:
    1. Open can.
    2. Serve.
    3. Eat.
    See
    http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/04/09/moses-and-macaroons/

  • http://www.wvablue.com/ Clem Guttata

    Quite the contrast with Mr. Rove’s recent dinner with young activists.
    http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/2009/03/your-turn-karl-shares-a-bite.html

  • http://profile.typepad.com/6p01156f1ecbe8970c zoz

    The portrait over the mantle in the Family Dining Room is Frances Folsom Cleveland, painted by Anders Zorn in 1899.

  • Ursula L

    I’m curious about what kind of Seder this was. There are Jewish Haggadahs, but there are also Christian Haggadahs, which rework the ritual to fit with the Easter story and the Last Supper.
    Does anyone recognize the Haggadah books they’re using? They look somewhat like the ones I saw being given away with the coffee in the Kosher-for-Passover section my local grocery stores have set up, which suggests that it’s one aimed for Jewish use, rather than Christian.
    Given that everything that the Obamas do is somewhat political (by definition) it will be interesting to see which version they chose, and how the choice gets interpreted by various parts of the press.
    Having been to both sorts of Seders, I must say I enjoyed the Jewish ones more. For one thing, they involved a real meal, while the Christian ones were purely ritual, eating nothing but a few bites of the ritual foods.

  • Candyce

    I liked the pillows put behind Michelle and the woman to her left. Mismatched cushions take from other chairs. Just like at my house.

  • Sarah

    I believe Michelle is sitting more toward the middle, next to Malia. The woman with the pillow is most likely Michelle’s mother.
    But I, too, like the use of the mismatched pillows for what must be truly uncomfortable chairs.

  • nenabeans

    What’s with the briefcase and handbag, late arrivals?

  • http://www.doves2day.blogspot.com g

    The briefcase and handbag caught my eye, too.
    The chairs appear to be typical caterer’s special event chairs, known (I have no idea why) in the trade as “chiavari” – a little nicer than the kind you rent, so maybe the WH has an inventory of lightweight and portable furniture they use whenever there is a special event – just the kind of thing an event wonk like myself would notice. They certainly don’t appear to be part of the formal furnishings of the dining room.

  • Johanna

    Couldn’t he have gotten an actual Jew to lead the seder? Also, taking over the custom and liturgy of another religion and grafting his ambition upon it (next year at the white house) is kind of sleazy.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/johntanton jtfromBC

    your comment is confirmed , ‘Mrs. O wears her hair pulled into a loose chignon as she did earlier in the day, and a cream colored jacket.
    http://www.mrs-o.org/
    The atmosphere of informality re cushions, briefcase and handbag on the floor is definitely down home stuff.
    Following the the garden project Michelle might next consider commissioning about twenty local unemployed women, representatives from say Afghanistan to Zimbabwe to craft back cushions. Imagine the comfort and color that they would provide on those God awful chairs.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/6p00e5523476cc8834 DennisQ

    I agree that there’s something inappropriate about this, and several people present seem aware of it. The older man close to the window on Obama’s right side looks like he’d rather be someplace else. The young man in the center looks like he’s gamely responding to something gauche that Malia said. The woman in front of the mantel seems aware that she better not laugh.
    It’s a stunt, and while the Obamas may not intend disrespect, the event seems like Theme Night. Why is this night different? Well, we’re doing Jews tonight.

  • bg

    Look up close, they are reading aloud, most are reading together, including the President. The first family, except Obama himself, all have the mishmash of cushions behind their backs, so maybe they are familiar with the chairs and the discomfort, yet they have not formalized it by asking for matching cushions.
    I think it is wonderful that this event happened. After all the chilly Bush years, the Obamas are quite a breath of warm and fresh air. We need it.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/bagnews Michael Shaw (The BAG)

    Taking a closer look, the group is using the Maxwell House Haggadah, a very generic one often given away in supermarkets. No problem with that, especially for first-timers, although I read that Eric Lesser, the Axelrod assistant fifth from the right on the far side of the table, led the Seder and totally knows his stuff. Lynn Sweet from the Sun Times gives an accurate ID of the participants. I was also thinking the pillows might have played a ritual function as the act of leaning and reclining is part of the Seder tradition.

  • Johanna

    If Eric Lesser led the seder, that’s one thing. But leading a seder is a quasi sacred activity, implying that one is Jewish. Would I, a non muslim, not be out of place making the hajj, just so I can get a glimpse of how other religions operate? What if I decided to officiate at a Catholic mass? It was well put by a previous commenter, that the behavior is a kind of theme night thing, a play acting at something that others take solemnly. If he wanted to go to a seder, HE COULD HAVE GONE TO PLENTY IN WASHINGTON. LOCAL JEWS WOULD HAVE BEEN DELIGHTED TO HAVE HIM AS A GUEST. The inappropriate thing here is holding, and possibly leading one on his own.

  • http://www.wvablue.com/ Clem Guttata

    Johanna – As far as I can tell, you are the only person who is suggesting that Obama or any other non-Jew led the Seder. I find it disingenuous to criticize someone for something you have no evidence of.
    The criticism of the Obamas for not being multi-cultural in-quite-the-right-way seems rather misplaced. From everything I can tell, they are being respectful of the holiday.
    Staying as close to reading the picture as possible, I see a group of people who are comfortable with one another. (I don’t read it at all like DennisQ suggested above… esp. as everyone is likely reading from text in unison.)
    It looks to me like a joyful celebration of family, friends, community. From the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder brief description at Wikipedia], the celebration is also in keeping with the “the Seder [as] an intergenerational family ritual” and “an occasion for praise and thanksgiving and for re-dedication to the idea of liberation.”

  • Lauren

    Looks like the Bushes used the same chiavari whenever the gathering was too large for the upholstered chairs – see the bottom photo here: http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/floor1/family-dining-room.htm

  • http://profile.typepad.com/johntanton jtfromBC

    ‘According to reports, Obama had a Seder with campaign workers in Pennsylvania last year and, in response to the final refrain: “Next year in Jerusalem!”, Obama replied: “Next year in the White House!” So, above he makes good, bringing together many from the group.’
    If the Bags report is accurate, THATS ALL I NEED TO KNOW, if others are hung up on the details, or have their knickers in a knot concerning ritual religious behavior so be it.
    My favorite pic is the handshake with the Black English Policeman.
    I have many questions about his policies, but not about his integrity.

  • Johanna

    Alright, it was a seder of vindication, an “I won” seder. Maybe you have to be Jewish to know that “Next year in the white house”, “next year in my new corner office” , and other transformations of the ancient prayer so that it is about your personal ambition and subsequent triumph, are wrong. Yes, I think you have to be Jewish to feel the full extent of the wrongness of this.

  • matt

    what a picture of a black first family hosting jewish friends and staffers to the quintessential jewish family celebration of freedom!
    by the way, as a jew, i’m not offended, but overjoyed.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/johntanton jtfromBC

    I hope Barrack Hussein Obama hosts a Muslim function sometime soon. As an agnostic we are open to any kind of activity, an afternoon in the backyard shooting hoops, weeding the garden or a game of charades would be a gas.

  • http://ocatheists.com LCforevah

    Wow, Dennis, want to tell us all about your supernatural powers of perception? Everything you wrote is purely your opinion
    Something gauche Malia said?
    My, you are self-important.

  • RP

    Johanna, I’m a Jew, and I don’t see anything wrong with this. Then again, maybe I’m not a real Jew because I’m an atheist and because I once organized a seder for some Catholic friends of mine (I believe we also used the Maxwell House haggadot because we were poor grad students). I never got the memo that seders were restricted to Jews only.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/6p00e5523476cc8834 DennisQ

    Who are the players in the scene? On one axis, the guy in the blue yarmulke (“Blue Hat”) is speaking to Marian Robinson. On the other axis, Obama appears to be speaking to Malia. The senior guy to Blue Hat’s right seems to be uncomfortable, as if recoiling from something inappropriate.
    The reactions of the other people in the scene suggest what might have happened. Michelle’s face is partially obscured but it looks like she’s frowning. The lady with the necklace has an ambiguous expression. The man on her left (her husband?) is not entirely in the scene either, although he’s participating in Blue Hat’s attempt to make light of whatever it is that provoked the negative reaction from some of the others.
    I was trying to bring together all the elements in the picture. It’s possible that Obama is not looking at Malia, and that Michelle is not frowning. Senior Guy does appear to be uncomfortable, and Necklace Lady is refusing to acknowledge what just happened. However, here’s this disclaimer: I wasn’t there, and I can only surmise what happened just before the picture was shot.

  • Johanna

    I never said Seders were restricted to Jews. That’s quite a dishonest distortion of what I said. I said Seders (why the hell are you capitalizing them) should be RUN by Jews. I also said the final prayer should not be twisted so that the leader uses it to ask for something personal (next year in my new Hummer). I guess that’s fine with you, too?

  • Books Alive

    These gold-painted chairs are used for group seating in many events that I’ve seen televised, like this Healthcare Forum pic that the BAG used in early March, 2009. It came up prominently in a Google image search.
    Barack Obama,White House forum meeting

  • Johanna

    The woman with the pillow is too tall and slender to be Obama’s mother in law, who appears not to have been present at this seder. Also absent were the high level serious Jews, Axelrod and Emanuel. Why did they decline to break matzoh with the boss on either of the first two nights?? Perhaps they objected to the play acting quality of the white house seder.

  • Dave

    I can’t tell if you’re pulling a Colbert thing or are serious.
    A Jew led the seder–just like at my house!
    The ‘high level serious Jews’? Holy shit, I guess my seder wasn’t kosher. We’re all kinda shleppy middle-management Jews. I only wish that Obama had demanded that Axelrod or Emanuel not attend their family’s seder so they could perform in the WH.
    And the ‘play acting’ quality of the seder? Are you familiar with the -concept-? At my seder, we actually friggin’ PLAY-ACTED! There are kids there. Our job is to involve them, and to use Pesach as education. And guess what? A seder at the White House, with press coverage and all that?
    Is a very grave insult. If they don’t weep from the maror, they’re not frum enough for -me-.

  • Johanna

    I doubt that a Jew led the white house seder. Would you have a different attitude if the president had, because this “Jew led it” seems to be your main point of defense. Obama could have asked the Axelrod and Emanuel not attend one of their own seders, because people usually have two. Didn’t you know? Play acting, as you said, is more suitable for the children, of whom there were only apparently two there.

  • http://alovelypromise.blogspot.com Nell

    @Johanna:
    Take a deep breath and read again, slowly. The WH seder is a recreation of a seder held by Obama campaign staff last Passover, to which they invited Obama. Emanuel was not part of the Obama campaign, or of that seder. This event is a friends-and-family occasion that originally was not supposed to be made public. It is not the Obama White House’s here-is-our-symbolic-national-seder; if it were, Washington-area Jewish leaders would have been invited and it would have been a completely different kind of event.
    The Obamas have attended seders at the homes of Chicago friends in the years before the campaign; they attended the seder organized by campaign staff last year, and they are repaying the hospitality this year with personal and political Chicago friends, relationships that they treasure.
    The picture clearly shows everyone reading or singing aloud. Obama is the host, and is sitting in the position of the host, but the host does not necessarily lead the ritual.
    Those of you who read sinister and disrespectful elements into the picture are saying a lot more about yourselves than about the Obamas and their friends and colleagues.

  • Sarah Lenton

    The cushions are nothing to do with the chairs, comfortable or uncomfortable, they are part of the Passover props. “We recline at table, leaning on cushions, to show we are free people”.

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