From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
VP swears in Deborah Lipstadt as antisemitism envoy
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
WASHINGTON — Deborah Lipstadt has been ceremonially sworn in as US special envoy to combat and monitor antisemitism by US Vice President Kamala Harris.
The ceremony takes place in Harris’s office across the street from the White House.
In attendance are Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Sen. Jacky Rosen and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz along with members of Lipstadt’s family.
An emotional Lipstadt holds back tears as she recites her oath of office line by line after Harris.
She is sworn in on a copy of the”US Army Talmud,” which was printed after the Holocaust by a delegation of rabbis from a Displaced Persons camp who saw a need to compensate for the Jewish books of scripture burned by the Nazis. On top of the US Army Talmud is a Book of Psalms that belonged to Lipstadt’s mother.
