By COLlive reporter
Rabbi Mendel Goldstein, shliach in Poway, CA, has been sworn in on Tuesday to the US Holocaust Memorial Council, at a ceremony at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
Rabbi Goldstein, the first Lubavitcher member of the Board of Trustees of the United States Holocaust Memorial, was sworn in along with the new Chairman, Ambassador Stuart E Eizenstat, and the new Council members.
His appointment was announced by President Donald Trump on January 29, 2020, along with 2 other new members.
The council was established by Congress in 1980 to lead the nation in commemorating the Holocaust and to raise private funds for and build the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Trump made the decision back in May 2019 when he hosted Goldstein and his wounded father Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein following the anti-Semitic attack on Chabad of Poway on the final day of Pesach, a source told COLlive.com.
Trump hosted them in the Oval Office during the annual National Day of Prayer at the White House. Trump reportedly wanted the senior Goldstein but then commented that he wanted someone “younger” and offered it to Mendel Goldstein, a father of 4 young children.
The Council, which meets twice a year, consists of 55 members appointed by the president, as well as five members each from the Senate and House of Representatives and three ex-officio members from the Departments of Education, Interior, and State. Presidential appointments serve for a five-year term; 11 members’ terms expire each year.
The board of trustees of the museum is an independent establishment of the United States government operating as a public-private partnership that receives some federal funding to support operations of the Museum building.
In addition to Goldstein, Trump appointed Sigal Mandelker, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, and Curtis Darrow Robinson, owner and president of C&R Development Company in Connecticut and a philanthropist.
I recently spent a few days near Poway and had the pleasure to join Rabbi Mendy and his community for services. With his smile and warmth he embraces each individual. You can feel the joy and passion he has to be there for another yid. I wish Rabbi Mendy much success in his shlichus both in Poway and as a member of the Board of Trustees. You make the Rebbe proud!
Moshe N.
Los Angeles
Mendy and shterni kol hakavod!
Much success and nachas
Inspiration for us all for everything you have done for the Poway community. Keep it up! Rebbe is with you!