Known as the "Rabbi of Capitol Hill," Executive Vice President of American Friends of Lubavitch, and Chabad emissary to Washington, DC, Rabbi Levi Shemtov sat down with Arutz Sheva-Israel National News to speak about his work for the Jewish people on the American political stage.
Rabbi Shemtov stresses his bipartisanship: "I'm not on one side or the other, I'm always in the middle, that's where my shlichus (mission) is and I do as much as I can to not deviate politically.
As someone who is always in Washington and finds himself rubbing shoulders with politicians constantly, Rabbi Shemtov describes the challenge of remaining neutral as "walking a tightrope over a cesspool, wearing a straightjacket, with everyone demanding that I dance. It's not an easy situation but until now, things have worked, so I hope they'll work going forward. We have friends who work on both sides of the aisle, in all of the spheres of government. Our job is not to determine who sits where, it's to determine that whoever it is has the ability to hear us and work with us."
Earlier this year, Rabbi Shemtov accompanied President-elect Donald Trump, who was then a candidate for president, to visit the gravesite of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (the Ohel). He notes that politicians from both sides have visited the site and that it is a non-political place. "President-elect Trump decidedly made that visit non-political; he didn't speak to the press; there was no political statement made. He came there on a personal basis, he said his prayers, he did what people do at the Ohel in terms of reflection, and he left. I think that just like anyone else in the world, he has to be allowed his personal space when it comes to a place of such sanctity."
He adds: "Obviously the fact that he visited generated a lot of interest, but I feel that he was very reflective and respectful. He was in a zone that I had never seen him in before even though I'd been in his presence many times."
Regarding Trump, Rabbi Shemtov notes his long-standing connection to the Jewish people: "We're talking about an incoming president that has a relationship with the Jewish community that goes back way beyond his presidential term." He recounts how the President's father, Fred, would assist new immigrants from Russia and even helped build a synagogue for them.
"We're talking about someone who's supportive of Israel and the Jewish community for many many years. Everyone knows that all the plaques on President Trump's wall are from Jewish organizations and it's important to recognize that he has had positive dealings and interactions with the Jewish community all of his career. This is not coming from his PR department, we have to understand that he's not Jewish but has great respect for the Jewish people."
He also noted his close relationship with outgoing President Joe Biden: "He knows my father and me the best, by name. He used to travel on the Amtrak with my father once a week, sometimes twice a week, from Washington, he would get off in Wilmington, and my father in Philadelphia. Their supporters at that time were very much the same people, the Jewish community leaders in Philadelphia. They got to know each other very well."
He related a moment that expressed the connection: "When he (Biden) came to light the menorah, he, on his own without our involvement, prepared his remarks and said words of the Rebbe. So all those hours that my father spent with him allowed him to learn a lot about Lubavitch and the Rebbe.