Ivanka Trump’s Rabbi Slams President Over Neo-Nazi Response

Following President Donald Trump’s response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, the rabbi who oversaw Ivanka Trump’s conversion to Judaism criticized the president in a letter to his congregation. The letter, sent Wednesday to the Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, which Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are a part of, was signed by Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, Rabbi Elie Weinstock, and Rabbi Emeritus Haskel Lookstein, who oversaw the first daughter’s transition.

Steinmetz, Weinstock and Lookstein said in the statement that although they typically “avoid politics,” Trump’s response was deeply troubling.

Following the death of a counter-protester who was opposing a white supremacist rally, Trump was widely criticized after it took him two days to come out and condemn the violence, the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacy and neo-Nazis. The president said Tuesday that there was “blame on both sides.”

"Let me ask you this," Trump said in his press conference, referring to the counter-protesters. "What about the fact that they came charging, that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem."

"I will tell you something," he continued. "I watched this very closely, much more closely than you people watched it and you have, you had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now. You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent."

Trump's remarks were denounced by numerous politicians and officials, including top members of his own party. The president and White House officials defended his comments and said he "didn't wait long."

Below is the full letter from Lookstein.

To the KJ/Ramaz Community,

On the day of the funeral of Heather Heyer, the 32 year old woman who was murdered by a vicious, white supremacist, Neo-Nazi, we are all shaken by this human tragedy and all the horrible scenes from last Saturday’s riot in Charlottesville and the frightening message and fallout that have consumed us since then.

We condemn the monstrous act of murder that took the life of Heather Heyer.

We are appalled by this resurgence of bigotry and antisemitism and the renewed vigor of the neo-Nazis, KKK and alt-right.

While we always avoid politics, we are deeply troubled by the moral equivalency and equivocation President Trump has offered in his response to this act of violence.

We pray that our country heeds the voices of tolerance, and stays true to its vision of human rights and civil rights.

Our message to our community and the world, as we turn toward Shabbat Re’eh, is best reflected in a press release issued by the Rabbinical Council of America and a letter sent by the RCA to the Jewish Community of Charlottesville.

We join in these expressions of unequivocal moral clarity, human compassion and hope.

Chaim Steinmetz
Elie Weinstock
Haskel Lookstein