(JTA) — Jewish groups of various denominations are preparing Shabbat activities in Washington, D.C., for participants of the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.
Chabad rabbis are organizing a Shabbat event at The Shul Lubavitch Center near Dupont Circle, with tickets selling at $25 to $50 per person, according to the Forward. (The event has been sold out.) The center is located within a short walking distance of the home of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, the president’s Jewish son-in-law and his eldest daughter, who underwent an Orthodox conversion to Judaism before marrying Kushner.
Their weekend plans were not immediately known, according to the Forward.
The Chabad event will include Friday night services and a traditional dinner.
A separate Shabbat program at the Marriott Marquis hotel will include prayer services with a Torah scroll brought in especially, the Forward reported. Attendance at the event, where participants will include major Jewish Republican donors, is by invitation only.
David Peyman, who served as Trump campaign’s director of outreach to the Jewish community, is among the expected participants. For Peyman, the event will also serve as an opportunity to reconnect with the small group of Jewish Republicans who supported Trump throughout the campaign.
Separately, Jewish groups and institutions participating Saturday in the Women’s March on Washington — a protest in response to the Trump inauguration – are also planning Shabbat activities.
Sixth and I, a nondenominational synagogue hosting the bulk of Jewish Women’s March activities, will begin its programming Saturday night. The synagogue is hosting services with a range of activists groups, including the National Council for Jewish Women, Jews United for Justice, the rabbinical human rights group T’ruah and others. The synagogue will also be holding a dinner, which has been sold out.
Before the march, at least two large groups of Jews will be coming together to pray and prepare. Sixth and I will be hosting a gathering of song, reflection and Torah reading at 8:45, and will be heading to the march at 9:30. (The pre-march event is also sold out.)
In addition, the Religious Action Center, the Reform movement’s legislative advocacy arm, will hold a Sabbath service at the Hyatt Regency Washington led by local Reform rabbis.
Back in the pro-Trump camp, students and young supporters can attend a Shabbat dinner for inauguration participants hosted by Young Jewish Conservatives, according to the Forward. The event, organizers promised, will be “a celebration of democracy and Judaism” and a chance to “network with like-minded Jewish activists.”
Those who contributed six- and seven-figure gifts to the Inauguration Committee will attend private receptions with Trump and his close advisers, and will watch the swearing-in ceremony from front row seats on Capitol Hill. Among the big givers are casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, who pledged $1 million.
