Achashverosh’s White House Chanukah Party?

Managed to get a few moles into the White House Chanukah Party last night, and it was well worth it.

First, the gossip column:
All sorts of Jewish celebrities were present. Aside from the family of Daniel Pearl הי"ד, who were there for a special pre-party lighting and stayed at the White House overnight, there were plenty of big names present. Malcolm Hoenlein and Senator Lieberman were spotted. I’m told there were Vizhnitzers and Satmar present, as well as a few Chabadniks, including the famous Rabbi Levi Shemtov.

Among the OU/RCA community, the IPA’s Nathan Diament was very visible, as were several OU/RCA synagogue rabbis, including the illustrious Rabbi Yaakov and Peshe Neuberger. Nachum Segal, of “JM in the AM” fame, was spotted there as well.

The food is reported to have been excellent – sushi, lamb chops (yes, fish and meat on the same buffet), meat, lots of desserts. All under two hashgachos, Lubavitch and a fellow from Bergen County. All the food was served without knives, I should note, presumably for three reasons:
1. Security;
2. The difficulty of kashering knives when the staff won't let you stab them into the dirt in the Rose Garden to clean them;
3. To give a good laugh to the protocol officers watching people try to eat without cutting implements.

But now down to tachlis:
How does this Chanukah Party differ from Achashverosh’s party, described in Megilah 12a?

In that discussion, the Gemara says that the Jews of the time of Purim were liable for destruction because they attended Achashverosh’s party, even though the commentators note that the food was kosher, and even though the gemara says the Jews only attended out of fear of what would happen if they refused to attend!

(And no, this isn’t just sour grapes over not being personally invited…)

After some thought, I might offer two differences:
1. Rabban Shimon bar Yochai is the author of that condemnatory statement nin Megilah 12a. Rabban Shimon bar Yochai is known for his position that all pursuits outside of Talmud Torah are to be shunned; one should not even work for his living, but rather one should depend on G-d for support. So, perhaps, this comment about the feast of Achashverosh, and about not attending even for political purposes, is consistent with the Rashbi’s view that such parties, and such political activism in general, are worse than worthless. We don't seem to pasken like Rashbi, as the gemara in Berachos notes.

2. Additionally: The Gemara notes that Achashverosh’s meal was a celebration of the fall of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the Jews. Perhaps this is why attending that meal was so heinous. The White House party last night, on the other hand, was a celebration of the resurgence of the Jewish community, its survival and its strength, such that the leader of the free world considers it worth his while to celebrate Chanukah and to invite hundreds of Jewish leaders to shake his hand and smile for a photo with him.

Those are my thoughts, at any rate; feel free to suggest others, as always.