The rabbi who oversaw Ivanka Trump’s conversion to Judaism has co-written a scathing letter to his congregation about President Trump’s response to the deadly unrest in Charlottesville, Va.
“We are appalled by this resurgence of bigotry and antisemitism, and the renewed vigor of the neo-Nazis, KKK, and alt-right,” Rabbi Emeritus Haskel Lookstein wrote, along with his successors Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz and Rabbi Elie Weinstock.
The letter was circulated among members of Congregation Kehilath Jeshuru, who meet on New York City’s Upper East Side. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were long-time members of the congregation before they moved to Washington, D.C., according to New York Magazine.
The letter condemns “the monstrous act of murder” that killed Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old woman who died when a car plowed into a group of people counter-protesting the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
“While we avoid politics, we are deeply troubled by the moral equivalency and equivocation President Trump has offered in his response to this act of violence,” the letter continues. “We pray that our country heeds the voices of tolerance, and stays true to its vision of human rights and civil rights.”
Ivanka Trump converted to Orthodox Judaism in 2009 after being raised as a Presbyterian Christian.
Earlier, Lookstein drew ire from the congregation for accepting an invitation to deliver the opening invocation at the 2016 Republican National Convention. He later declined to speak at the event due to the backlash.
