The White House Hanukkah party is Wednesday night; it follows weeks of public discussion over some tone-deaf gaffes -- such as the decision to bill the event as a "holiday reception" and pare down the guest list, interpreted as a "snub" by some Jewish Democrats.
But hey. It's party time now, and one with a teachable moment.
"Those in attendance should have fun, but they should not forget that there are several million co-religionists who think they deserve to be there more," Tevi Troy tells Inside the Beltway.
A fellow at the Hudson Institute, Mr. Troy was a White House Jewish liaison during the George W. Bush administration. His recent Op-Ed for a Jewish news agency that cautioned the White House about the political sensitivities at stake got folks wondering whether a Hanukkah-gate was in the making.
"There are two key lessons for the White House from this incident. One is that the defense secretary can send troops to battle, but the social secretary can start a war," Mr. Troy says.
"The second lesson is that some errors are fixable. The Obamas took a page from Santa's book by making a list but checking it twice -- countering the initial criticism on this issue by expanding the size of the guest list. I hope the White House takes this to heart in substantive matters as well as symbolic ones."