WASHINGTON (JTA) — Chabad emissaries convening in Washington met with Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden met the emissaries, who came from around the world and the United States, during their meetings Thursday with administration officials.
The U.S. leader reviewed Chabad teachings he had acquired over the years, including the necessity of combing "wisdom, knowledge and understanding," and explained how these could be applied to statecraft.
The two-day emissaries’ conference, organized by American Friends of Lubavitch, also featured meetings with 20 members of both houses of the Congress, including the majority and minority leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives, a dinner featuring a speech by Nobel Peace laureate and Holocaust memoirist Elie Wiesel, and a lunch with ambassadors from countries where Chabad emissaries serve.
Jack Lew, a deputy secretary of state, shared stories about having to build a busy schedule around his Shabbat observance.
Top Turkish diplomats attended the lunch and the dinner with Wiesel, part of a bid to reassure American Jews that Turkey’s Jewish community remains safe despite recent Turkey-Israel tensions.
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