KUSHNERS HOST SHABBAT DINNER FOR TRUMP CABINET MEMBERS

JARED AND IVANKA* KUSHNER HOST SHABBAT DINNER FOR TRUMP CABINET MEMBERS

The gathering is the first indication of how the Kushner-Trump power couple will combine their White House roles with the demands of Shabbat. Will more Jews in the Government come to learn about Shabbat and even begin keeping some of the laws (Halachos) of Sinai? What a Kiddush HaShem this could be.

The London-based Daily Mail published photos of food and caterers, flowers and a makeup artists arriving at the Kushner’s new home in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington DC. Local Chabad rabbi Levi Shemtov also was photographed outside of their house on Friday afternoon.

Photos showed Secret Service agents inspecting boxes of food as well as floral arrangements, and the delivery men who brought them, that arrived to the couples’ home.

Photos taken clandestinely by the Daily Mail also showed guests arriving including: Department of Commerce nominee Wilbur Ross and his wife Hilary Geary Ross; Trump Strategic Communications Director Hope Hicks; Ivanka Trump’s unofficial adviser Dina Habib Powell also joined the celebration; former president of Goldman Sachs and top economic policy adviser Gary Cohn; and Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin and his partner Louise Linton.   Source: JPost

*Yoel and Yael

Secret Service stand outside Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's house in northwest Washington, D.C

Daily Mail Article: 
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner celebrated Shabbat with a flurry of cabinet picks on Friday Department of Commerce pick Wilbur Ross and his wife Hilary Geary Ross attended the festivities Strategic Communications Director Hope Hicks, former president of Goldman Sachs and top economic policy adviser Gary Cohn, and Department of the Treasury pick Steve Mnuchin also visited the Kushners' new home.  Workers at Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner's home were seen preparing for the Jewish Sabbath in Washington, D.C.  Secret Service inspected people bringing flowers and boxes as they came into the house.

AND JUST FOR THE RECORD:

THE INAUGURAL SHABBAT:  The evening before, clumps of middle-aged out-of-towners, red Make America Great Again hats covering their kippahs, clustered around tables at the Char Bar kosher steakhouse. The most common topic of conversation: Would Trump’s Orthodox Jewish daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, set to assume a role as a top adviser, make it out of their parade limos the next day in time for Shabbat? (They did: The limos pulled up to the White House at 4:35 p.m. Shabbat came in a few minutes after 5.)

Earlier Thursday, a select group of Jewish Trump supporters attended the exclusive Republican Jewish Coalition reception, which featured Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the House majority leader, and Tom Rose, the conservative Jewish talk show radio maven who is close to Vice President Mike Pence.

On Friday night, they gathered on the lower floors of the Marriott Marquis at “The Inaugural Shabbat,” sponsored by the Israel Forever Foundation. The hotel is connected to the Washington Convention Center where, as the Shabbat dinner got underway, Trump took his first dance with his wife, Melania, mouthing the words to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”

Or they were at the American Friends of Lubavitch headquarters near Dupont Circle, where Friday night services were packed with visitors. Rabbi Levi Shemtov’s sons squeezed between worshippers with trays bulging with tiny plastic cups of sweet kiddush wine.

The sense of a homecoming, of relaxed and happy banter, was natural, said Matt Brooks, director of the Republican Jewish Coalition. “At the end of the day, I think there’s a huge sense of relief,” he said. “This last eight years we have seen a significant weakening of the US-Israel alliance. Things are going to be very different from the Obama administration. We’re looking forward to a different tone and a relationship.”

And Trump’s quotation of Psalm 133?
Read more at TimesofIsrael

Tehillim 133

A song of ascents of David. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers also to dwell together!

As the good oil on the head runs down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, which runs down on the mouth of his garments.

As the dew of Hermon which runs down on the mountains of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, life forever.