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
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
