Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited the Ohel, the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, in New York on Tuesday ahead of an address to the Jewish community.
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The private visit was covered by citizen journalists who noticed Kennedy visiting the holy site along with former Democratic State Assemblyman Dov Hikind (who has recently become a Republican), who interviewed him.
STAY TUNED: I had the opportunity to meet and spend some time today with @RobertKennedyJr to discuss a wide range of issues from antisemitism to Israel and the radical Dems.
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) July 25, 2023
The full interview will be released tomorrow though what I can tell you is that this man is no antisemite… pic.twitter.com/uqBF7ITQMk
The Rebbe, the seventh and last leader of the Chabad group of Hasidic Jews, is buried alongside his father and predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, also known to followers as the Previous Rebbe. The Rebbe’s wife, Chaya Mushka (Moussia) Schneerson, also known as the Rebbitzin, is buried nearby. Jews and visitors from all backgrounds visit the site to offer prayers and to write private notes that they leave on the graves.
The site is located on the edge of the city, and is open to the public, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. During his lifetime, the Lubavitcher Rebbe held meetings with ordinary people as well as politicians well into the night.
Kennedy’s father, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy Sr., visited the Rebbe in 1964, prior to his run for Senate. The story of their meeting, which was considered a major political event, is recounted on the Chabad.org website.
What the Rebbe told Sen. Robert F. Kennedy when they spoke teaches an amazing lesson on Jewish responsibility.
— Chabad.org (@Chabad) June 11, 2018
Read more about it: https://t.co/ZpqkhT5lr7 pic.twitter.com/96TPsajFEG
Other political candidates have made similar visits to the Ohel in the past. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump visited the Ohel in November 2016 shortly before the presidential election won by Donald Trump.
Video: Tonight after end of Sabbath, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump visited the Ohel of Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe in Queens pic.twitter.com/eaGNf7bNVL
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) November 6, 2016
Kennedy’s campaign had not issued any press statement on the private visit at the time of this writing.
The candidate is due to speak on the topic of Israel and the Jewish community at an event hosted by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach’s World Values Network.
New venue for my conversation with @robertfkennedyjr after cancellation by the very poorly named Society for Ethical Culture - new venue: The Glass House 660 12th Avenue, Floor 6 New York, NY 10019 pic.twitter.com/sQmmqDFWyY
— Rabbi Shmuley (@RabbiShmuley) July 24, 2023
After the original venue canceled, Boteach announced a new site.
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 recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
