Trump: ‘I drew strength from Lubavitcher Rebbe’s legacy’

US President Donald Trump praises the late Lubavitcher Rebbe on the anniversary of his death, calling him one of the most influential religious leaders in modern history, while vowing to stamp out antisemitism.

By World Israel News Staff

US President Donald Trump penned a letter on Sunday in honor of the spiritual leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, marking the 31st anniversary of his passing.

The missive was addressed to The Ohel, which administers the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who headed the Chabad Hasidic dynasty from 1951 until he died in 1994 at the age of 92.

In the letter, Trump hailed Schneerson as “one of the most dynamic and influential faith leaders in modern history.”

The Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Trump continued, helped to “launch a renaissance of Jewish faith in the dark days following the Holocaust.”

Trump credited the rabbi with influencing American criminal justice reform, “as seen in the First Step Act,” a bipartisan measure passed during the president’s first term.

The president also lauded the “tremendous impact on American spiritual life” of the “host of institutions” established by the Chabad movement since 1951.

Recalling his visit to the Ohel on the anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught in Israel and on the eve of the 2024 presidential election, Trump wrote that he was personally inspired by the rebbe’s legacy.

“When I visited the Ohel on the anniversary of the terrible attacks of October 7, I drew strength and inspiration from the Rebbe’s legacy. When Edan Alexander was returned to his loving parents earlier this year, after an unimaginable ordeal in the hands of Hamas, the entire country felt the power of the Ohel and the Rebbe’s enduring example.”

Trump went on to vow to restore “peace throughout the world,” and to “stamp out ” antisemitism not only in the United States but “wherever it rears its head.”