During their meeting on Tuesday at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented President Donald Trump with two gifts: a dollar bill from the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, and a mezuzah. The mezuzah case was made out of Iranian missile shrapnel and formed in the shape of a B-2 bomber plane.
The two leaders met in the aftermath of Operation Rising Lion, when Israel boldly attacked and degraded Iran’s nuclear capabilities. The U.S. stepped in to help a week into the military operation, when Trump dispatched seven B-2 stealth bombers drop what are known as “bunker busters” on three heavily fortified Iranian nuclear sites. The mezuzah case was a nod to American assistance.
Accompanying the mezuzah case was a dollar bill from the Rebbe. Beginning in 1986, the Rebbe would distribute dollar bills every Sunday to thousands of men, women and children—Jews and non-Jews—seeking his blessing. The dollar bill was intended for charity, embodying the Chassidic teaching that when two people meet something positive must emerge for a third, and each individual was empowered to make their contribution to whatever cause they wished. Recipients would often donate another dollar and keep the one from the Rebbe as a treasured keepsake. The dollar gifted to the President was presented in a custom leather case engraved with gratitude to “a true friend and partner of Israel and the Jewish people.”
The Rebbe’s dollar reached Netanyahu through Meir Bar Lev, deputy mayor of Beitar Illit, Israel, who initially gifted the Prime Minister with a bill in the merit of his diplomatic success. The mayor had received it from Rabbi Chaim Greenberg, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Beitar Illit. When Netanyahu requested a second dollar for Trump, Bar Lev returned to Greenberg, who provided a second dollar from his private collection—originally received from the Rebbe on 9 Shevat 5747 (Feb 8, 1987).
Netanyahu has often spoken about the inspiration he draws from his numerous encounters with the Rebbe, both publicly and privately, and maintains a photo of himself with the Rebbe in his office. On the eve of Operation Rising Lion President Javier Milei of Argentina gifted a visibly moved Netanyahu a drawing of one of the Prime Minister’s visits with the Rebbe.
Trump himself is likewise familiar with the Rebbe’s legacy. The President visited the Ohel, the Rebbe’s resting place in Queens, on Oct. 7, 2024, and more recently wrote a letter highlighting the Rebbe’s continuing impact on the world to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Rebbe’s passing.
The timing of Netanyahu’s state visit held special significance, taking place on July 8, which this year coincided with the 12th of the Jewish month of Tammuz. The day marks the liberation in 1927 of the Sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory, from Soviet imprisonment. Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak had been arrested by the Communist regime for upholding Jewish life behind the Iron Curtain, and his release a miraculous event that unfolded in what appeared to have been the natural order of things.
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