That Time Jared Kushner’s Father Gave Bill Clinton a Shofar
Image by Nikki Casey
By Nathan Guttman November 28, 2016
Jared Kushner was 16 years old when President Bill Clinton paid a visit to the New Jersey offices of his father’s corporation. It wasn’t Kushner’s first encounter with high-powered Washington players, even at this young age. His father, Charles, was a major political donor and as such, courtesy visits such as this were not uncommon. Politicians, at seemed, were always eager to show their appreciation of Charles Kushner’s generosity.
This 1997 visit, according to a Washington Post profile of the first son-in-law, had a special Jewish meaning to it. Kushner’s father, after listening to President Clinton “lavishing praise on the Kushners,” according to the Post, rewarded the president with a shofar as a sign of his appreciation.
It is not clear whether Clinton took the shofar with him back to the White House, if it was ever used in a Jewish prayer service or if Clinton, known as a talented saxophonist, ever took up the ram’s horn.
A few years later, Charles Kushner was sent to jail for exceeding federal limits for political donations, although the shofar gifted to Clinton was not part of his illegal political scam.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
