An extraordinary procession of Hasidic rebbes and Orthodox leaders descended upon the White House last week, some arriving by private jet, for what was billed as an opportunity to exchange Rosh Hashanah greetings with President Donald Trump.
They came from Satmar, Bobov, Vizhnitz, Skver and Lakewood. They met Vice President JD Vance in the Roosevelt Room. Jared Kushner and Rep. Mike Lawler joined portions of the gathering. Then came the Oval Office, where blessings were bestowed, letters exchanged and photographs taken.
And then, naturally, everybody got down to business. The subjects reportedly included housing, religious education, Jewish prisoners, family tax credits and the needs of growing Orthodox communities. The meeting, according to the White House, was the first gathering of its kind there since 1979.
There is something wonderfully American about the whole thing. Here were some of the most traditional religious leaders in the country, representing communities that consciously separate themselves from much of contemporary American culture, navigating Washington with considerable sophistication. Their clothing may have come from another world. Their agenda certainly did not. They had concerns. They had constituencies. And, most importantly in Washington, they had votes.
That last point shouldn’t be overlooked. Hasidic communities have become important political blocs, particularly in New York. Their leaders can mobilize unusually cohesive communities, and politicians of both parties have long understood their importance. This White House clearly does as well.
So beneath the bekitches and blessings was an exercise as old as American politics: We represent people. They have interests. You have power. Let’s talk.
That does not make the religious dimension insincere. Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe of Kiryas Joel, recited the traditional Jewish prayer for the welfare of the government, which was translated for Trump. The delegation expressed gratitude for administration policies it supports. Vance spoke about the Hasidic emphasis on family and education.
He also reportedly asked why the rebbes’ bekitches were different colors. Political operative Yossi Gestetner explained that the color depended upon the size of the wearer’s bank account. He was joking. One assumes.
There were other precious incongruities. Two Satmar Rebbes — leaders of a movement famous for its theological opposition to Zionism — were sitting in the Oval Office with a president closely identified with support for Israel. Their participation had prompted objections from some pro-Israel Trump supporters. But apparently everyone decided that Rosh Hashanah was not the time to sort that one out.
And then there were the two Satmar Rebbes themselves, Aharon and Zalman Leib Teitelbaum. They are brothers whose bitter succession dispute divided Satmar after their father’s death in 2006 and who reportedly had barely spoken face-to-face in decades.
At the White House, they shook hands, exchanged blessings and conversed. Aharon even wished his brother mazel tov on a grandchild’s engagement. It wasn’t on the official agenda. No one negotiated it. It just happened.
Which may be the perfect coda to an improbable afternoon. The rebbes came to offer Rosh Hashanah blessings. They left having discussed prisons, housing, taxes, education and government regulation with some of the most powerful people in Washington. The White House got its photographs. The rebbes got their audience. And two brothers who had barely spoken in decades managed to say hello.
Everyone, it seems, got something. Not bad for a Rosh Hashanah courtesy call.
