Obama Attends White House Seder

According to the Los Angeles Times, President Barack Obama held the first ever White House Passover seder. However, some in the Jewish community were left irritated by the event.

After the White House made the seder public, many Jewish leaders in the area started to contact the White House inquiring to the whereabouts of their invitations. E-mails sent to the White House were accidentally given to the press.

One staffer wrote in an e-mail, "Apparently Jewish [residents] here and in neighboring states are now calling wondering why they have not been invited."

Rabbi Capers Funnye, First Lady Michelle Obama's cousin, said, "I would hope that there would be a sense of understanding that . . . also, Seder is about family, I think you would certainly have to limit it. . . . You want to be inclusive, but you also want to be prudent in being inclusive as well."

Most of those invited were the same people who attended a seder in Harrisburg, Pa., while on the campaign trail. Both seder dinners were planned by Eric Lesser, an aide to Obama senior adviser David Axelrod. However, Axelrod and the other most prominent Jewish member of the administration, Rahm Emanuel, were not in attendance.

While many in the Jewish community were upset by the exclusiveness of the seder, one group, the National Jewish Democratic Council, endorsed it.

"By hosting the first presidential Seder in America's history, President Barack Obama shows the personal and deep relationship he has with the Jewish community, there is no question, Obama is a true friend of the Jewish community," Executive Director Alexis C. Rice said to the Associated Press.