An prominent member of the Orthodox Jewish community in New York tapped by President Donald Trump to head the American body charged with oversight over overseas heritage sites visited the tomb of Rabbi Moses Sofer in Slovakia.
Paul Packer, a long-time hedge fund manager with ties to the president was tapped last year to lead the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.
Established by President Reagan in 1985, the commission was established with the aim of preserving heritage sites in Europe, primarily those located behind the Iron Curtain.
According to the Kikar Hashabbat news site, Packer recently visited the burial place of Rabbi Moses Sofer, better known by the name of his primary work Chatam Sofer, in a 17th century Jewish cemetery in Bratislava, on the western-most edge of Slovakia.
Packer made the trip in honor of the restoration of a memorial marking the resting place of Rabbi Meir Eisenstadt. En route to Rabbi Eisenstadt’s grave, Packer stopped by Rabbi Sofer’s grave, where he prayed for the well-being of the Jewish people and the continued positive relations between Israel and the US.