Ivanka Trump, the Jewish daughter of the American Republican presidential nominee and an active campaign participant, visited the tomb of the late ‘Lubavitcher Rebbe’ in the Queens suburb of New York City on Saturday night, apparently seeking his blessing ahead of the national election this week.
Ivanka was accompanied on the visit by her husband, Jared Kushner, a chief Donald Trump adviser.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the last Lubavitcher Rebbe – head of the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch hasidic movement, aimed at bringing Jews closer to their roots – was one of the greatest spiritual leaders of the 20th century.
In 1978, the U.S. Congress asked President Jimmy Carter to designate Schneerson’s birthday as national Education Day. In 1994, shortly after his passing, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his “outstanding and lasting contributions toward improvements in world education, morality, and acts of charity.”
The Rebbe’s resting place attracts Jews and non-Jews alike for prayer.