Obama will host a Pesach celebration at the White House

US President Barack Obama, despite his lack of Jewish roots, will arrange a celebration of Pesach in the White House.

Obama writes about this in his congratulatory message to the Jews of the whole world.

“Tonight, for the seventh year, I will host a Seder (the traditional Jewish meal on the first day of Passover) at the White House, joining millions of Jewish families as they read one of the greatest stories in human history,” Obama writes.

“The exodus from Egypt was not simple or quick. The desire of the children of Israel for freedom demanded from them the victory of faith over fear and courage over complacency,” recalls the US President.

The American leader also pointed out that the story of the exodus from Egypt has inspired the fight for freedom not only among the Jewish people for centuries: “It inspired young civil rights activists as they walked along the wall in Alabama to their “Promised Land” half a century ago.” The American president is referring to the events of 1965, when in the city of Selma, US authorities brutally suppressed a march of African Americans demanding equal voting rights.

“Tonight, my family and I will read the Haggadah, in which we are instructed to see ourselves leaving Egypt. The Exodus from Egypt reminds us that progress was always slow and the future uncertain, but the Haggadah also reminds us that there is always reason for hope. Like the children of Israel and their leader Moses (Moshe), we are commanded to never lose hope that better days lie ahead. In our own country (the United States), we can continue to move toward a more perfect union, and throughout the earth we are able to multiply the wonders of freedom and peace, prosperity and security. Together, we can continue the hard work of fixing the world,” the US President said.