I thought I'd mention this before the White House erases this from its web site. On December 10, president George W. and the White House staged a Hanukkah reception/minstrel show to prove that our president can impart understanding on at least some religions. His guest-of-honor/token Jew this year was Yehuda Pearl, the father of deceased journalist Daniel Pearl, famously beheaded in Pakistan by Muslim extremists (you may remember they made a movie about him with Angelina Jolie). Daniel Pearl also happened to be my second cousin, and while I'd never met him, my mother has, and she maintains regular contact with Yehuda.
Anyhow, cousin Yehuda called a few days back to tell my mom that he had been invited by Bush to be part of this celebration, and he asked if he could borrow the menorah that belonged to my great-grandfather, Chayim Pearl. I guess my mom agreed and shipped it off to the White House, temporarily. So the menorah normally on my kitchen wall has been touched by Bush. My mom told me that as soon as she gets it back, she's going scrub the hell out of it.
For anyone wondering, my middle name is not "Pearl" but "Pour-El," a far less interesting but more Kryptonian sounding translation that my maternal grandfather uses as a last name.
And no, I'm not good with Photoshop.
EDIT: In the interest of fair play, I should direct you to Christopher Hitchens' recent article "Bah, Hanukkah: The Holiday Celebrates the Triumph of Tribal Jewish Backwardness." He is absolutely right about everything, of course, except maybe his assertion that Greek society was inherently more intellectually vibrant than Jewish society, when I'm sure there were exceptions. Expect this to be the first of many Hitchens references.
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