President Trump Hosts White House Pesach Reception

By COLlive reporter

A Pesach celebration was held at the White House this week, bringing together senior administration officials and prominent Jewish community leaders for a reception and policy discussion ahead of the holiday.

The event included a reception in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building attended by approximately 70 staff members and senior officials, following a private 30-minute meeting in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump and a select group of Jewish leaders.

Among the administration officials present were Secretary Howard Lutnick, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Staff Secretary Will Scharf, Jewish Liaison Martin Marks, and Jacob Reese, Chief of Staff to the Vice President, and Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun.

The Jewish delegation reflected a broad cross-section of rabbinic and communal leadership.

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Executive Vice President of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) in Washington, DC, was joined by Rabbi Chaim David Zwiebel of Agudath Israel, the mayors of Kiryas Joel and New Square, Rabbi David Niederman of Satmar in Williamsburg, Rabbi Moshe Margaretten of the Tzedek Association, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik of New York’s Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue.

Also in attendance were Holocaust survivor Jerry Worski, Council Member of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Jonathan Burkan, investor Paul Packer, Holocaust Memorial Council Chairman Jeff Miller, Matt Brooks of the Republican Jewish Coalition, and Rabbi Harold Loss of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, recently targeted in an antisemitic attack.

Joining them from New Jersey was Edan Alexander, a released hostage from Gaza, who attended together with his parents.

During the Oval Office meeting, several key issues were raised. The President asked about the status of Department of Homeland Security funding for Jewish community security, a topic of ongoing concern amid rising antisemitic threats. He also reiterated his strong support for Israel and addressed the current situation involving Iran.

President Trump additionally reflected on the case of Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, describing his past sentence as unjust and inquiring about his current well-being.

In a personal moment, the President placed a call to his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, both of whom were involved in Jewish communal life during his previous administration. He spoke with pride about Ivanka’s conversion, noting that her teacher had described her as an exceptional student.

Rabbi Shemtov shared a personal anecdote about the couple’s humility while attending TheShul at Chabad Lubavitch Centrr when they resided in Washington DC, recalling how Ivanka once was the first to rise and offer her seat to an elderly woman at a packed Yom Kippur service there.

Rabbi Shemtov also invoked the Pesach theme of “B’chol dor vador,” emphasizing that throughout history, Hashem always saves the Jewish people from those seeking to annihilate them through those like the President in these times.

The gathering concluded with a sense of shared purpose and preparation for the upcoming Yom Tov, combining policy discussion with reflections on faith, leadership, and communal responsibility.