When Rabbi Menachem Genack, Chief Executive Officer of OU Kosher, was recently invited to the White House with his family to participate in a Jewish heritage event, they were told to bring proper identification.
However, upon reaching the outside gates to the White House, Rabbi Genack’s son Moshe was informed that his yeshiva ID was not acceptable because he needed a government-issued ID. Having travelled from New York to Washington, D.C. looking forward to listening to President Obama, and participating in the event’s program, the Genack family was not about to lose hope.
Rabbi Genack turned to Jack Lew, White House Chief of Staff, who was at the event, for assistance.
Rabbi Genack explained that his son had met with a problem getting into the White House. Would Mr. Lew be able to help? Jack Lew spoke to the White House Usher, who was in contact with the Secret Service. It was decided Moshe Genack would be permitted entry on the condition that Mr. Lew vouched for him.
With Mr. Lew vouching for Moshe, the entire Genack family was able to enjoy the program. Afterwards, Mr. Lew commented, “It’s nice to be able to give a hechsher to the OU.”
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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7 Responses
Jack Lew takes a lot of flack as a frum yid working as chief of staff to Obama but in reality he is an ehrliche yid who has left a lucrative investment banking job to serve his country. He does not make policy but anyone who knows him will tell you he always has expressed his personal opinion to decisionmakers in private and those opinions always focus on the need for security for EY. He does not threaten to resign every time his advice is not taken but thats not the role of a chief-of staff. The regular Obama haters here will villify him for working for the man they loathe but thats what makes Lew such an incredibly important public servant from the perspective of the American Jewish community and EY.
Did he give his approval to Bill Ayers (Obama’s terrorist buddy) too?
WOW
Another vote for P Obama
Why did Genack turn to Jack Lew and not his cousin Genachowsky?
Nobody who works for 0bama is an erlicher yid. It’s like saying someone who works for the mafia is an erlicher yid.
It was a really beautiful chesed Lew performed. Putting all things aside, one should understand ahead of time that perhaps the White House would require a proper US ID. A Passport perhaps?! Simple enough.
Jewishflorida, why would one understand that ahead of time? After all, this White House doesn’t think one should need any ID to vote, so why would one think they require ID just to visit, and not just any ID but some specific one that not everyone has?