Former President Donald Trump visited the Ohel — the Queens, New York, the burial site of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his predecessor — on Monday afternoon to pay his respects on the anniversary of the October 7 terror attacks in Israel.
The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, was one of the leading Jewish figures of the 20th century. He fled Europe before the Second World War, and worked in a U.S. Navy shipyard before rising to lead the Lubavitch Chabad movement after the death of his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the “Previous Rebbe,” beside whom he is buried at the Ohel. The Rebbe is credited with a worldwide revival of Judaism after the Holocaust.
While the Rebbe was alive, many world leaders sought his counsel. After his death in 1994, many people continued to visit the Ohel, including world leaders — most recently, Argentinian President Javier Milei, who visited last month. It was the second visit of his presidency.
Argentinian president-elect Javier Milei visits the Ohel of the Seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, on November 27, 2023 (Emma-Jo Morris / Breitbart News)
Traditionally, people pray at the Ohel, often writing notes to the Rebbe that they leave on the gravesite. A visit to the Ohel is associated with good fortune. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner visited the Ohel before Election Day in 2016. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy visited the Ohel last year.
People await the arrival of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Trump spent much of the day commemorating the October 7 attacks, during which Hamas terrorists murdered 1200 people in Israel, including dozens of Americans. Roughly 100 hostages are still in Gaza, including four Americans who are still thought to be alive.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.