November 28, 2008

White House confuses Chanukah and Christmas

http://www.jewishjournal.com/blog/item/white_house_confuses_chanukah_and_christmas_20081128/

Oy Vey.

The White House has done it again when making the obligatory gesture of respect toward Jewish holidays. Last year, President Bush wished Jews a happy Rosh Hashanah a week early. This year his holiday event staff accidentally (I assume) sent out Chanukah invitations to American Jewish leaders that included a Christmas tree on the card:

The message reads that the couple “requests the pleasure of your company at a Hanukkah reception,” written beneath an image of a Clydesdale horse hauling a Christmas fir along the snow-dappled drive to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

And, no, it is not a Hanukkah bush. A close look at the wagon reveals the message “White House Christmas Tree 2008.”

In the background, the White House windows are festooned with Christmas wreaths.

The incongruity of the message did not go unnoticed.

“It’s absolutely bizarre to receive an invite to the White House for Hanukkah in a Christmas format,” said one person who was invited. “They should have consulted with their chief of protocol before sending this out. This belongs right in the ‘Weird But True’ column.”

Charlie Brown’s signing “Oh Christmas Tree” after the jump.