By COLlive reporter
Former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump may visit the holiest Jewish site in North America this week.
Trump might visit the Ohel, the gravesite of the Rebbe at the Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York, to commemorate the first anniversary of October 7, 2023.
Over 1,200 Israelis were murdered by Hamas terrorists on Simchas Torah, with many more injured and 251 hostages abducted to Gaza. This attack sparked the Gaza War, which has now expanded into a regional conflict.
If Trump visits, it would mark the third visit by a head of state to the Ohel within a month. Recent visitors included Argentinian President Javier Milei and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, neither of whom are Jewish, like Trump.
Before the 2016 election, Trump’s daughter and son-in-law Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner visited the Ohel in a private visit to pray on his behalf. The couple aren’t known to have a senior role in Trump’s 2024 campaign, but are likely to wield influence over him.
During Rosh Hashana and the following Shabbos, eyewitnesses reported seeing the U.S. Secret Service scouting the area around the Ohel. They were accompanied by Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin and Motty Seligson of Chabad.org / Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center.
Signs in the vicinity of the Ohel announce no parking on Francis Lewis Blvd on Monday. A source within the NYPD confirmed to COLlive.com that a visit is planned for Monday.
Another source mentioned that a visit by Trump to the main shul of Lubavitch World Headquarters—770 Eastern Parkway—was also considered but ultimately ruled out due to the large number of guests present for Tishrei and the tent which takes up the area in front of 770 which made it difficult to arrange the necessary security procedures.
I believe that visiting 770 could potentially be seen as associating Trump with the Chabad movement, which might not sit well with some Lubavitch supporters or donors. On the other hand, a visit to the Ohel is more of a symbolic gesture, as it’s a place where many come to pray and reflect.
What?!? Politicians from both sides have been to 770 many times.
Coming is not an endorsement! The nosi hador is the nosi of every person in the generation, even non-jews. That’s the reason to come.
many (especially in the gentile world) willl/might not see it that way
Anyone else who wants to come can do so if they wish to compete.
This is historic. first USA president to visit the Ohel!!!
…. Or to come to the Rebbe in general !!
I don’t think there was ever a President of the USA to come personally to the Rebbe !!
He’s an EX PRESIDENT, and he Does NOT Care about ANYONE or ANYTHING
You clearly are trolling
Be quiet!!! Think before you speak! He cares about Am Yisroel!
People are referred to by the title of the last office they held. So yes, Trump has the right to still be called president.
As for the rest – don’t confuse your (unfounded) opinions with facts.
May it be similarly successful for him as it was for Milei.
I couldn’t imagine anything funnier than trump walking out of 770 with a degel next to his USA flag on his jacket
I go to 770 every day but not sure what President Trump would do that’s a good use of time. Learn a sicho? Daven mincha?!?
Better use of time for the bochurim to concentrate on their learning.
Nonetheless, of course President Trump (and politicians from both sides) are welcome!
Now the mishichistim won’t vote for him 😂
President Trump is more then welcome to visit Ohel, and 770.
If it happens we as Yiden (Lubavitchers), young or old should give him the best respect.
Shloime Hamelech , in his prayer to Hashem about the Beis Hamikdash, talks about non -jews coming to pray at the Beis Hamikdash.
Someone should get President Trump a pastrami sandwich from Gottlieb’s in Williamsburg. Trump was scheduled to go to the deli last month, but the visit was canceled because the father of the family passed away on the morning of the visit.
Shloime Hamelech also asks of Hashem to grant the non-jew his request, whether he is worthy of it or not
I’m assuming that it’s if the requests are revealed good requests? Or no matter what. Please explain.
B”H The air outside the Ohel was thick with anticipation, the kind that held even the dust in suspense, hanging still in the evening light. Secret Service agents swarmed the grounds, their presence palpable but ghostly—quiet shadows threading through the thinning crowd, all eyes sharp, every motion a controlled ripple in the fabric of the space. But it wasn’t the tension of security that pressed hardest on the air. It was the weight of something much older, much deeper—the Awtsmoos, the core of all existence, thrumming beneath the surface of reality like an underground river too vast to fully comprehend,… Read more »
what a thoughtful and dramatic poem i am awestruck by your heilige insights oh please, share more…share more…please
You should write a Novel.
Is the ohel still open?
Important correction – Jared and Ivanka visted the Motzaei Shabbos before the 2016 election, not 2020. There was a security incident with Trump at a rally in the Western US (Arizona or Nevada I believe) at exactly the same time. It’s an important correction and can be looked up. The next day Hillary Clinton’s case was dropped by the FBI, a reminder right before the election. Of course, that led to the needed freeing of Rubashkin. Am not saying in any way whether Torah supports voting for him this time or for a 3rd party or not at all. That’s… Read more »
Checked some more just to be sure. The visit with immediate consequences was the visit to the Ohel of both Jared and Ivanka in 2016. However, in 2020, Ivanka did again visit quietly. That’s even more reason not to infer anything re support of a candidate.
Any one of the organizers who speaks with Trump, please bring up the issue of the large financial burden our community members carry to pay tuition for private school as we refuse to send our children to be indoctrinated in public schools.
Remind him of his promise to push school choice, or at the very least from the federal level, to exempt the income used for tuition from federal tax.
בזכות זה ינצח !!!