Politician Who Said Rothschilds Control Weather Deluged With Seder Invitations

D.C. Councilman Trayon White Image by Facebook

By Josh Nathan-Kazis March 26, 2018

The Washington, D.C. Council member who suggested that the Rothschild banking family controls the weather has been inundated with invitations to Passover seders, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Trayon White Sr., who represents a ward in the southeastern part of the district, was heavily criticized by local and national Jewish groups after making his statements in a Facebook video earlier this month. But many sought to reach out to him.

“It’s important to know where an ambitious, dynamic young man came to get these ideas which are so filled with hatred,” Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld of D.C.’s National Synagogue told the Post.

White had to turn down Herzfeld’s invitation to a seder because he had already agreed to attend one hosted by another council member, Elissa Silverman, who is Jewish.

White is also set to attend a Jewish community breakfast organized by another Council member this week, and multiple local rabbis have been in touch with him.

“We make a mistake when we conflate all kinds of anti-Semitism into one bundle. And then push it away and pretend there is nothing we can do but yell and scream,” Rabbi Aaron Alexander of Adas Israel told the Post.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

Josh Nathan-Kazis is a staff writer for the Forward. He covers charities and politics, and writes investigations and longform.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO