Ahead of UN speech, Herzog visits gravesite of Chabad rebbe in New York

Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.

President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal at the gravesite of the Chabad Rebbe, in Queens, New York City, January 26, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal at the gravesite of the Chabad Rebbe, in Queens, New York City, January 26, 2025. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

President Isaac Herzog visits the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, in New York City.

Herzog is in New York for Holocaust Remembrance Day events at the United Nations tomorrow.

Schneerson’s resting place in Queens is a common pilgrimage site for members of the Chabad community, other Jewish and non-Jewish admirers, and political leaders.

Herzog visits with his wife, Michal Herzog, soon after arriving in New York, and leaves a customary prayer note at the gravesite.

Their prayer asks for the “swift return of all the hostages,” the victory and safety of IDF soldiers, the recovery of the wounded, and the return of evacuees to their homes, according to the president’s office.

Chabad Headquarters in New York says the visit is the couple’s first since Herzog took office.

During the visit, Herzog recalls joining his father, former president Chaim Herzog, at Schneerson’s synagogue in Brooklyn more than 50 years ago for the Simchat Torah holiday, Chabad says.

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