Biden takes on anti-Semites at White House Hanukkah party

President Joe Biden took on anti-Semites at the annual Hanukkah reception Monday night, where the White House's first permanent menorah made its debut. 

'This year's Hanukkah arrives in the midst of rising emboldenment of anti-Semitism at home and, quite frankly, around the world,' the president said. 'I recognize your fear, your hurt. You're worried that this vile and venom is becoming too normal.' 

Standing in the company of at least one Holocaust survivor and the children and grandchildren of more, Biden said: 'Silence is complicity.' 

'We must not remain silent,' he continued. 'I will not be silent, America will not be silent. I mean it.'

The president and first lady Jill Biden were debuting the new White House menorah, which was made by the Executive Residence Carpentry Shop using a piece of wood pulled from the White House during President Harry Truman's renovations in the 1950s. 

President Joe Biden took on anti-Semites at the annual Hanukkah reception Monday night, where the White House's first permanent menorah made its debut

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden (left) watch as the White House menorah is lit by (from right) Holocaust Survivor Bronia Brandman, with help from Ambassador Michele Taylor and Avigael Heschel. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker was invited to speak 

Holocaust survivor Bronia Brandman lit the first candle Monday night as the White House's official menorah made its debut 

'It's made of historic wood from the beams of this house, rescued when President Truman renovated this building,' Dr. Biden said. 'It was hand hammered silver cups are meant to magnify the glow of the candles, their beauty reminding us both the Hanukkah miracle and the joy it inspired.'

She called it a 'work of love.'

The president remarked that it was the 'first Jewish artifact in the entire White House collection.'

'To celebrate Hanukkah, previous administrations borrowed a menorah with special significance of survival, hope and joy. This year we thought it was important to celebrate Hanukkah with another message of significance: permanence, permanence,' the president added. 

To offer a prayer and song for the candle-lighting, the Bidens invited Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker to speak. 

President Joe Biden (right) hugs Holocaust survivor Bronia Brandman (left) 

First lady Jill Biden (right) spoke at the reception about the White House's first ever permanent menorah 

President Joe Biden (right) talks to a young guest at Monday night's White House Hanukkah reception 

The White House's new menorah was on display at Monday night's Hanukkah reception 

Cytron-Walker was the rabbi at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas during the January hostage crisis. Cytron-Walker was taken hostage himself, but was also instrumental in getting the other hostages out. 

He said that day to him is often described as a 'tragedy.' 

'And I'll respond back that we all made it out. Thank God it wasn't a tragedy. It could have been so much worse. It was terrible and it was terrifying and we were able to get out alive,'  Cytron-Walker told the crowd. 

The Bidens asked 90-year-old Holocaust survivor Bronia Brandman to light the first candle Monday night, the second night of Hanukkah. 

She was joined by Amb. Michele Taylor, ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council and daughter of a Holocaust survivor, and Avigael Heschel, the granddaughter of the late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a leader in the civil rights movement. 

Biden had previously met with Brandman in the Oval Office in January.  

'Evil will not win. Hate will not prevail,' Biden told the crowd. 'Like this White House menorah, our commitment to the safety of the Jewish people and the vibrancy of Jewish life is tightly woven into every fabric of America is permanent, is permanent. Folks.'   

Earlier this month, Biden sent out a strongly worded statement condemning antisemitism in the aftermath of former President Donald Trump dining with anti-Semitic rapper Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, a prominent white nationalist and Holocaust denier.