Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner found a synagogue in Washington: a Chabad synagogue

January 4, 2017   

The searches are over: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have finally found a home in Washington, D.C. - and what is undoubtedly even more important: it seems they have also found a synagogue. The Forward website reported that after weeks of searching, the couple found a house in the Kalorama neighborhood, not far from a Chabad synagogue, headed by Rabbi Levi Shem-Tov, known as 'The Shool.' According to a report in the Washington Post, the house the couple purchased has 6 bedrooms and cost $5.5 million. It is located just a few blocks from the future home of President Obama and his family. The house is 6,700 square feet and also has five bathrooms. As previously reported in Haredim 10, it initially seemed that the couple would join the 'Kesher Israel' synagogue, an Orthodox synagogue in Georgetown, but in the end they preferred 'The Shool.' Rabbi Levi Shem-Tov declined to comment. 'This is our policy. We do not comment on our worshipers,' he said. However, he noted that the couple’s future home is located seven minutes from the synagogue. The distance is important, the website notes, since Orthodox Jews do not worship on Shabbat and holidays. The Chabad synagogue, located near Dupont Circle, is relatively small. Typically, 40-60 people pray during Shabbat services. During the High Holidays, 250 people come to the synagogue. Over the years, many Jewish politicians have prayed at The Shool, including former Senator Joe Lieberman and current Treasury Secretary Jack Lew - both observant, as well as Jewish ambassadors who served in Washington. A Haredim 10 reporter notes that The Shool is located in Washington's diplomatic area, and is therefore small, but considered prestigious. It should also be noted that the couple has long been close to Chabad emissaries - both in Manhattan and in the city of Livingston, New Jersey, where Kushner's parents live. As you may recall, on the eve of the presidential election, Trump's daughter and son-in-law, along with a Chabad emissary in Livingston and his wife, came to the Lubavitcher Rebbe's zt"l zion. Now they will begin a new relationship: with Rabbi Levi and Rebbetzin Nechama Shemtov, Chabad's emissaries to Washington and the White House. The Forward website notes that if Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner pray at the synagogue on a regular basis, the small place is expected to receive a lot of public attention.