From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Jewish Republican leads prayer for hostages at first day of RNC
MILWAUKEE (JTA) —Leora Levy, a Jewish Republican from Connecticut, leads a prayer at the first day of this year’s Republican Party convention.
Her comments include one of the rare mentions of Israel on the convention’s first day, as she leads a hushed and somber crowd in praying for the release of hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7.
“O Lord our God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, your eternal city, and for all the children of Abraham, we remember and pray for freedom for the hostages kidnapped and held so cruelly against their will,” Levy says. “Lord, please keep them in your sight and hasten the day of their freedom.”
In prayer at RNC a former US Senate candidate Leora Levy prays for Israel, fails to mention Jesus once.
“Bless Jerusalem, children of Abraham, and the hostages [of Israel].”
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Levy, who is on the national leadership of the Republican Jewish Coalition and is a former candidate for Senate, also uses a traditional Jewish phrase to mourn a retired fireman who was killed during an assassination attempt against Trump on Saturday.
“We pray for Corey Comperatore and his family,” she says. “May his memory always be a blessing.”
Apart from Trump campaign signs in Hebrew distributed by the RJC, Israel and Jews didn’t make many appearances at the conference yesterday. The day was instead dedicated to the economy, the revelation of Trump’s vice presidential pick JD Vance and the triumphant arrival of Trump, who appeared to thunderous applause with a bandage on the ear grazed by a bullet during the assassination attempt.
