Israel’s chief rabbis as well as the U.S. envoy on Monday prayed for President Donald Trump to recover from COVID-19, using his name during the Sukkot prayers at Jerusalem’s Western Wall.
Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch announced a special mi sheberach — the Jewish prayer for healing — would be recited on behalf of “Donald John, son of Fred.”
“May He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon send a speedy recovery to Donald John, son of Fred,” intoned Rabinovitch.
“May the Holy Blessed One overflow with compassion for him, restore him, cure him, strengthen him, enliven him,” he said.
Those in attendance at the prayer, which included Israel’s chief rabbis David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon, answered amen.
On the second intermediate day of the festivals of Passover and Sukkot, tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims usually make their way to the Western Wall to attend the blessings led by the priests.
However, this year only a handful of worshipers were allowed at the ceremony due to the coronavirus.
Israel has been on a national lockdown throughout the High Holiday period.
During the Passover priestly blessing in April, Rabinovitch added a prayer for Americans suffering from COVID-19.
Hours after Monday’s prayer ceremony at the Western Wall, Trump returned to the White House and told Americans, “Don’t be afraid” of the coronavirus.