The Following is VIA OnlySimchas.com
The Prime Hospitality Group is advertising Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a likely Republican presidential hopeful and a vocal pro-Israel right-winger, as a featured speaker at a string of resort vacation getaways for religious Jews on Pesach.
Several Rabbis join Cruz on the list of speakers at four different vacation spots.
“4 Questions. 4 Cups of Wine. 4 Sons. And 4 Luxurious Prime Passover Programs,” the invitation reads. “All featuring unparalleled service and The Prime Group’s legendary cuisine.”
One of Cruz’s advisers insisted that he is only speaking at one event in Monarch Beach on April 8th, although Prime Hospitality’s ads suggest he will also be speaking in Westlake Village and Monarch Beach in California; Aspen, Colorado; and in Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. The adviser said that Cruz also has a fundraiser scheduled there at that time and that “well-meaning program organizers overstated his participation” at the events.
The Westlake visit, promises to be “intimate and personal and will feature the inspiring Rabbi Eli Mansour, Rabbi Daniel Mechanic, Rabbi Shlomo Einhorn, Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, Malcolm Hoenlein and Senator Ted Cruz, surpassing all expectations.”
The St. Regis Monarch Beach speech offers “some of the greatest rabbis and scholars of our time including Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Rabbi Eli Mansour, Rabbi Marvin Hier, Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Senator Ted Cruz.”
Cruz is listed on the programs for the two others, alongside a number of rabbis.
Prime Hospitality runs a number of upscale kosher restaurants, including The Prime Grill in New York, and is advertising the vacations under the headline “The Prime Experience” on its website.
Cruz has signed on to talk about foreign policy and Israel during his appearance. He has been actively trying to meet and win over prospective donors for a potential presidential run, traveling to different states, including New York and California multiple times.
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5 Responses
Those who go to Pesach hotels tend to be the type of people who can make significant campaign contributions.
Complete inanity and vanity. And this has no place for a heilige yom tov. Anyone going to hear a politician as part of their Pesach festivities should be ashamed of themselves.
#1, those who go to Pesach Hotels care more about the entertainment, gourmet food and the hype of having some politician speak at their venue than the true essence of the Yom tov itself
Number 3 not necessarily so. People go because of big families and no room in one house; parents get older and want the family together and can’t no longer handle the situation at home. I do not go to hotels; but don’t criticize blankly as you do.
Sounds like a delicious combination: first you get catered to, then you get pandered to.