Obama tells guests at White House Hanukkah celebration, 'I'm Jewish in my soul'

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President Obama raised some eyebrows Wednesday when he was overheard saying that he is Jewish in his soul during a Hanukkah celebration at the White House.

The revelation was made by David Suissa, of the Jewish Journal, who was invited to the reception at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue attended by about 550 Jewish leaders, journalists and dignitaries, including Gwyneth Paltrow.

The president took part in the Menorah-lighting ceremony and delivered a well-received speech about freedom, peppered with light-hearted jokes about Jewish food.

With the formal part of the event over, Obama was mingling with his guests when one of them caught his attention and told him in a booming voice: 'Mr President, when I told my Christian friend I was coming to a Hanukah party at the White House, he told me, “I didn't know the president was Jewish!"'

Suissa, who was standing nearby, wrote that Obama responded to the guest's quip with a ‘serious belly laugh.’

After three or four seconds, as he was walking away from the crowd, Obama responded: '“I am [Jewish], in my soul."'...

The bold statement from the president, who is known to be a practicing Christian, might come as a surprise to some in the Jewish community.

Obama has been roundly criticized over the past six weeks for not being as unconditionally supportive of the State of Israel as his predecessors.

But in 2011, New York magazine proclaimed Obama America's 'first Jewish president.'

Journalist John Heilemann, who wrote the cover story in September 2011, described Obama at the time as 'the best thing Israel has going for it right now.'

Standing in the Grand Foyer of the White House decked in sparkling Christmas decorations Wednesday, Obama said: ‘Obviously, the bonds between our two countries are unbreakable.’

For the second year in a row, the president's annual Hanukkah bash was split into two to accommodate more guests. An afternoon session on the State Floor of the White House was followed by an evening party, where guests mingled with lawmakers.

The tradition of celebrating Hanukkah at the White House was started by George W. Bush in 2001.