Newly Discovered: Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Appeal to President Eisenhower After 1956 Massacre

As Jewish communities confront a wave of violent antisemitic attacks, a little-known telegram sent nearly seven decades ago by the Lubavitcher Rebbe has reemerged, drawing fresh attention for its urgent tone and striking relevance.

The document, written by Rav Menachem Mendel Schneerson to US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, dates to April 16, 1956, just days after Arab terrorists attacked a Chabad school in Kfar Chabad during Maariv, murdering five students and their teacher. Though preserved in archives, the message had not previously circulated widely.

In the telegram, the Rebbe sharply condemned the attack, describing it as a “cold-blooded massacre of Jewish children at prayer,” and pressed Eisenhower to act. Rather than offering condolences alone, the Rebbe appealed for American influence to be used to prevent further bloodshed and to safeguard Jewish religious and educational institutions in Israel. Writing in the name of the worldwide Chabad movement, he framed the massacre as a moral test that “must arouse every decent human being,” urging immediate and effective steps.

The resurfacing of the telegram comes at a moment of acute concern for Jewish security after 15 people were killed in an Islamist terror attack targeting a Chanukah gathering at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

{Matzav.com}