Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, deleted a post on social media Monday night after facing mockery over getting the story of Hanukkah wrong.
“In the Hanukkah story, the Jewish people were forced into hiding,” Emhoff claimed in the now-deleted post on X. “No one thought they would survive or that the few drops of oil they had would last. But they survived and the oil kept burning. During those eight days in hiding, they recited their prayers and continued their traditions.”
“That’s why Hanukkah means dedication,” he continued. “It was during those dark nights that the Maccabees dedicated themselves to maintaining hope and faith in the oil, each other, and their Judaism. In these dark times, I think of that story.”
Emhoff’s retelling of Hanukkah was false.
The true story of Hanukkah involves a small group of Jewish warriors called the Maccabees, led by Judah Maccabee, who revolted against the Seleucid Empire ruled by Antiochus IV. Antiochus had banned Jews from practicing their faith and had desecrated the Second Temple in Jerusalem.
The Maccabees won and rededicated the temple. During the rededication of the temple, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to keep the menorah in the Temple lit for one day. However, miraculously, the oil burned for eight days and more oil was later secured. This is why Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and eight nights.
“I know you’re trying but the story of Chanukah is important and should be recounted accurately,” said former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. “This isn’t close.”
“The rewriting of Hanukkah as a story of Jews hiding rather than Jews fighting against assimilation is absurd, but also very revealing about the attitude of the left,” National Review editor Philip Klein responded.
Other notable responses to Emhoff’s false retelling of Hanukkah included:
Doug Emhoff apparently thinks the Macabees were hiding out in some sort of subterranean lair with an oil lamp.
This is emphatically not the story of Hanukkah.
Reconsecration of the Temple and recommitment to biblical values and teachings is the story of Hanukkah. https://t.co/ERZAWFN9GG
— Will Scharf (@willscharf) December 12, 2023
No, jerkoff, Hanukkah isn’t about Jews HIDING; it’s about Jews FIGHTING FOR THEIR LAND. https://t.co/k5NO5fuxCW
— David Reaboi, Late Republic Nonsense (@davereaboi) December 12, 2023
Oh. My. God. And there’s no one even minimally literate enough in the East Wing to have corrected this. This is like Lucy explaining fir trees to Linus and saying they give fur for coats. Only Lucy is 5 years old. https://t.co/T5GuGVoWAf
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) December 12, 2023
This is totally wrong.
Stick to your wife making up Kwanza stories from her childhood… https://t.co/scxavvqnWd
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) December 12, 2023
In fact, whole point of Hanukkah is that Jews refused to hide. It's about Jews fighting, against overwhelming odds, for the right to exist in what is modern-day Israel. The oil miraculously lasted for 8 nights after the victory, during the rededication of the 2nd temple.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) December 12, 2023