Doctor from Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside lights White House menorah

On Dec. 1, Dr. Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital in Oceanside, helped light the fourth candle of the Hanukkah menorah at the White House as thanks and recognition for his work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Glatt got the call from President Biden’s liaison to the Jewish People, Chanan Weissman, extending the invitation on Thanksgiving. During a private meeting with Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses, Glatt blessed Biden, who put his arm around the doctor, who is also a rabbi, and thanked him for the honor.

During the ceremony, Biden lauded Glatt as a “champion of encouraging his congregants in his community to get vaccinated.” Glatt serves as an associate rabbi at Young Israel of Woodmere and lives in the community with his wife of 41 years.

“The torah tells us that we’re obligated to try and protect all people and keep ourselves, as well as our society, healthy,” Glatt said. “This is why the message to try and do proper public health actions is such an important message from a religious point of view.”

Despite the personal praise from the president, Glatt said that his being there was about thanking health-care workers across the country for risking their own health during this long pandemic. He also spoke about how his faith, which was lifted up at the White House, has guided him during the past two years.

“I don’t think I would be able to get through [the pandemic] without faith,” Glatt told the Herald. “Faith is a wonderful way for people to deal with these types of tragedies, knowing that there is a God and a greater purpose in life. We’re here to try to make things better for all mankind.”

Glatt also said the event served as an important moment of visibility for Judaism in the country, as anti-Semitic crimes rise. According to an October report from the American Jewish Committee, one in four American Jews say they have been targets of anti-Semitism and four in 10 say they have changed their behavior out of fear.

Sharing the stage with U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer and the country’s first second gentleman, Douglas Emhoff, who is Jewish, Glatt said he was full of patriotism and gratitude for living in America. “Coming from a background where both of my parents were Holocaust survivors and their families were wiped out by cruel governments, living in the United States is the polar opposite, and it’s something we should celebrate and thank God for,” Glatt said.

Glatt has chaired the Department of Medicine since 2015 and has been a board-certified physician in infectious diseases for the past 33 years. Previously, Glatt was the executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre and president and CEO at St. Joseph Hospital in Bethpage.