Very entertaining reading, especially the part "Why Dad went to prison".
By Uriel Heilman May 20, 2016
Trump vs. Clinton: Battle of the Jewish sons-in-law...
JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
By Uriel Heilman May 20, 2016
Trump vs. Clinton: Battle of the Jewish sons-in-law...
JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
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(JTA) – Somebody had better put a mezuzah on the Lincoln Bedroom.
Whoever ends up winning the election in November, one thing seems certain: For the first time in history, Jews will be in the president’s inner family circle. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have Jewish sons-in-law, and of course Bernie Sanders — in the unlikely event he makes it to the White House — is Jewish himself (though his daughter-in-law is not). With the head-to-head contest between the two likely nominees heating up, we decided to take a closer look at Jared Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, and Marc Mezvinsky, who is married to Chelsea Clinton. |
Age Kushner: 35
Mezvinsky: 38
Occupation Kushner: CEO of family real estate firm Kushner Properties and owner-publisher of The New
York Observer.
Mezvinsky: Investment banker and co-founder of hedge fund Eaglevale Partners.
Education Kushner: High school at Frisch, a modern Orthodox yeshiva in Paramus, New Jersey;
B.A. from Harvard (sociology); J.D. and MBA from New York University.
Mezvinsky: High school at Friends Central in the Philadelphia suburb of Wynnewood;
B.A. from Stanford (religious studies and philosophy);
M.A. in international relations from the University of Oxford, England.
Family Kushner: Grew up in Livingston, New Jersey. Father: Charles Kushner ran a real estate
empire until his imprisonment and is involved in various Jewish philanthropic
endeavors. Mother: Seryl Kushner is involved in the family’s business and
philanthropy. Has three siblings.
Mezvinsky: Grew up in Philadelphia. Both parents served stints in Congress as Democrats.
Father: Edward Mezvinsky served two terms from Iowa in the 1970s (and decades
later went to prison). Mother: Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, a former TV journalist,
served a single term from Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s. Parents are now divorced. Has one full brother, four half-siblings and five adopted siblings.
Professional track record
Kushner: Often described as a wunderkind, Jared Kushner has doubled the assets of his family’s real estate empire since taking over as CEO in 2008. In 2014,
Kushner Properties did $2 billion in transactions.
Mezvinsky: Worked at Goldman Sachs for eight years before launching Eaglevale in 2011,
which now has $326 million under management. But the hedge fund was down 3.6 percent in 2014, largely due to Mezvinsky’s bad bets on Greek debt.
Campaign involvement
Kushner: Helped draft Donald Trump’s AIPAC speech, advises the presumptive Republican
nominee for president on Israel issues and is involved in assembling his White
House transition team. Kushner’s newspaper endorsed Trump for president.
Mezvinsky: Appears at non-political events with the Clintons, but has no known involvement
with Hillary’s campaign.
Jewish practice
Kushner: Belongs to an Orthodox synagogue, Manhattan’s Kehilath Jeshurun, observes
Shabbat and kosher restrictions, and is raising children as Jews.
Mezvinsky: Grew up in a Conservative synagogue, has been seen in shul on occasion with
wife Chelsea Clinton and is raising daughter with both Jewish and Methodist
traditions.
Wife’s relationship to Judaism
Kushner: Ivanka Trump underwent Orthodox conversion after studying with an Orthodox
rabbi, Haskel Lookstein. She now observes Shabbat and keeps a kosher home.
“We’re pretty observant,” she has said.
Mezvinsky: Chelsea Clinton is still a practicing Methodist. The couple married in an interfaith
ceremony featuring a huppah and co-officiated by Rabbi James Ponet of Yale
University and Methodist Rev. William Shillady.
Why Dad went to prison
Kushner: Hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, secretly recorded the encounter and
sent the tape to his sister as part of a blackmail scheme. He served 16 months
after guilty pleas to 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering and making illegal
campaign donations.
Mezvinsky: Bilked friends, family and strangers out of some $10 million in bogus schemes
disguised as investments in Africa and oil development. He served five years after
pleading guilty to 31 counts of felony fraud, including bank fraud, mail fraud and
wire fraud.
Residence Kushner: Stylish 10-room apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side at – where else? - Trump Park Avenue.
Mezvinsky: A sleek apartment in Manhattan’s Flatiron district, on 26th Street, that the couple bought in 2013 for $10.5 million.
Children Kushner: Theodore James, 2 months; Joseph Frederick, 2; Arabella Rose, 4.
Mezvinsky: Daughter Charlotte, 1, and one on the way.
Look Kushner: “Baby-faced,” “sandy haired” and “handsome.”
Mezvinsky: Bespectacled with a perennial 5 o’clock shadow.
Mezvinsky: 38
Occupation Kushner: CEO of family real estate firm Kushner Properties and owner-publisher of The New
York Observer.
Mezvinsky: Investment banker and co-founder of hedge fund Eaglevale Partners.
Education Kushner: High school at Frisch, a modern Orthodox yeshiva in Paramus, New Jersey;
B.A. from Harvard (sociology); J.D. and MBA from New York University.
Mezvinsky: High school at Friends Central in the Philadelphia suburb of Wynnewood;
B.A. from Stanford (religious studies and philosophy);
M.A. in international relations from the University of Oxford, England.
Family Kushner: Grew up in Livingston, New Jersey. Father: Charles Kushner ran a real estate
empire until his imprisonment and is involved in various Jewish philanthropic
endeavors. Mother: Seryl Kushner is involved in the family’s business and
philanthropy. Has three siblings.
Mezvinsky: Grew up in Philadelphia. Both parents served stints in Congress as Democrats.
Father: Edward Mezvinsky served two terms from Iowa in the 1970s (and decades
later went to prison). Mother: Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, a former TV journalist,
served a single term from Pennsylvania in the mid-1990s. Parents are now divorced. Has one full brother, four half-siblings and five adopted siblings.
Professional track record
Kushner: Often described as a wunderkind, Jared Kushner has doubled the assets of his family’s real estate empire since taking over as CEO in 2008. In 2014,
Kushner Properties did $2 billion in transactions.
Mezvinsky: Worked at Goldman Sachs for eight years before launching Eaglevale in 2011,
which now has $326 million under management. But the hedge fund was down 3.6 percent in 2014, largely due to Mezvinsky’s bad bets on Greek debt.
Campaign involvement
Kushner: Helped draft Donald Trump’s AIPAC speech, advises the presumptive Republican
nominee for president on Israel issues and is involved in assembling his White
House transition team. Kushner’s newspaper endorsed Trump for president.
Mezvinsky: Appears at non-political events with the Clintons, but has no known involvement
with Hillary’s campaign.
Jewish practice
Kushner: Belongs to an Orthodox synagogue, Manhattan’s Kehilath Jeshurun, observes
Shabbat and kosher restrictions, and is raising children as Jews.
Mezvinsky: Grew up in a Conservative synagogue, has been seen in shul on occasion with
wife Chelsea Clinton and is raising daughter with both Jewish and Methodist
traditions.
Wife’s relationship to Judaism
Kushner: Ivanka Trump underwent Orthodox conversion after studying with an Orthodox
rabbi, Haskel Lookstein. She now observes Shabbat and keeps a kosher home.
“We’re pretty observant,” she has said.
Mezvinsky: Chelsea Clinton is still a practicing Methodist. The couple married in an interfaith
ceremony featuring a huppah and co-officiated by Rabbi James Ponet of Yale
University and Methodist Rev. William Shillady.
Why Dad went to prison
Kushner: Hired a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, secretly recorded the encounter and
sent the tape to his sister as part of a blackmail scheme. He served 16 months
after guilty pleas to 18 counts of tax evasion, witness tampering and making illegal
campaign donations.
Mezvinsky: Bilked friends, family and strangers out of some $10 million in bogus schemes
disguised as investments in Africa and oil development. He served five years after
pleading guilty to 31 counts of felony fraud, including bank fraud, mail fraud and
wire fraud.
Residence Kushner: Stylish 10-room apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side at – where else? - Trump Park Avenue.
Mezvinsky: A sleek apartment in Manhattan’s Flatiron district, on 26th Street, that the couple bought in 2013 for $10.5 million.
Children Kushner: Theodore James, 2 months; Joseph Frederick, 2; Arabella Rose, 4.
Mezvinsky: Daughter Charlotte, 1, and one on the way.
Look Kushner: “Baby-faced,” “sandy haired” and “handsome.”
Mezvinsky: Bespectacled with a perennial 5 o’clock shadow.