Doug Emhoff mangles the ‘story of Hanukkah’ in since deleted social media post

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the better half of Vice President Kamala Harris, bungled the history behind Hanukkah Monday in a since-deleted social media post where he attempted to explain why Jewish people celebrate the ancient miracle. 

“The story of Hanukkah and the story of the Jewish people has always been one of hope and resilience,” Emhoff, who is Jewish, wrote on X. “In the Hanukkah story, the Jewish people were forced into hiding. 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,” he added. 

“During those eight days in hiding, they recited their prayers and continued their traditions. That’s why Hanukkah means dedication. 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 post concluded. 

Rather than a story of “hiding,” Hanukkah is actually the celebration of a massive victory for the Jewish people. 

Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees, a Jewish militia, liberated ancient Israel from Syrian-Greek occupation about 2,200 years ago, restoring Jewish ritual to the sacred site. 

When the Maccabees sought to light the temple’s Menorah, as part of the rededication ceremony, they found only a days-worth of oil. But when the oil was lit, it lasted, miraculously, for eight days.

Before Emhoff deleted his post, several X users quickly pointed out that the second gentleman, who has been working with the White House on combating antisemitism, missed the mark on the story behind the Festival of Lights. 

“Doug Emhoff apparently thinks the Macabees were hiding out in some sort of subterranean lair with an oil lamp,” Will Scharf, a former federal prosecutor and current candidate for Missouri attorney general, wrote on X. “This is emphatically not the story of Hanukkah.” 

“Reconsecration of the Temple and recommitment to biblical values and teachings is the story of Hanukkah,” he added. 

“I’m really hoping the Second Gentleman left this to some hapless and uneducated intern who couldn’t be bothered to even consult Wikipedia,” Jason Bedrick, a research fellow for the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, said in an X post. Eight days of hiding? Yikes, man!” 

“How could this have happened?” Noah Rothman, a senior writer for the National Review, wondered. 

“It’s inexplicable in general, but at this point in this environment, it is so ponderously inept could only be enemy action. There are saboteurs at work here. Gotta be it,” Rothman added. 

“Wait, what?” writer Katya Sedgwick said on X. “The story of Hanukkah is not the story of ‘hiding,’ but of winning the war. It’s the story of faith and the story of reestablishing the Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.”

“Emhoff is somehow responsible for fighting antisemitism, but he can’t get his terms straight,” she added, incredulously.