(JTA) — Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, visited the grave of the last Lubavitcher rebbe, Menaḥem Mendel Schneerson.
The couple visited the Queens, New York, gravesite, known as the Ohel, on Saturday night in the run-up to Tuesday’s election. They may have been praying for victory for Ivanka’s father, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Thousands of visitors come to the gravesite every year seeking the blessings the rebbe gave to visitors. Schneerson died in 1994.
A video of the couple’s visit, reportedly taken by other visitors at the site, began circulating on social media shortly after the power couple visited the site. Ivanka Trump, who converted to Orthodox Judaism eight years ago before her marriage to her Jewish husband, and maintains a modern Orthodox lifestyle, covered her hair with a black beret and her husband wore a black kippa.
The couple reportedly were accompanied by Donald Trump’s Israel adviser, Jared Greenblatt.
One Orthodox news service, Yeshiva World News, linked the visit to an alleged assassination attempt against the candidate on Saturday in Reno, Nevada, at about the same time that the visit was taking place. Trump, who was rushed off the stage during his appearance there, tweeted that he was the victim of an assassination attempt; the Secret Service later said there was no threat to his life.
“Ivanka Prays – The Donald Saved! As Ivanka Was At Ohel Of Rebbe, Secret Service Rushed Him Off Stage,” read the Yeshiva World News headline.
Meanwhile, three New York-based Jewish newspapers have endorsed Trump for president, joining six mainstream newspapers across the country who have done so. The Jewish papers are The New York Jewish Voice, The Jewish Press and the Long Island Jewish World.
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