passover

How to Celebrate Passover, Obama-Style

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama pays his respects in the Hall Of Remembrance during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, on July 23, 2008 in Jerusalem, Israel. Obama continued his tour of the middle east with a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, which commemorates the six million Jewish Holocaust victims killed by the Nazis during World War II. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
Photo: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

President Obama has been celebrating Passover with a small group of friends and family since he participated in an impromptu Seder organized by three young aides on the campaign trail in 2008, and the Washington Post reports that he’s added some of his own traditions over the years. The meal is now served on the Truman china and may involve a silver Seder plate recently gifted by Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, but other elements of the White House Seder are easy to reproduce. They use Maxwell House Haggadahs, read the Emancipation Proclamation, and make the president’s former aide recite his corny joke about a sandwich of matzoh, haroset, and bitter herbs, which allows Jews to “fulfill your entire religious commitment with one sandwich.”

How to Celebrate Passover, Obama-Style