President Trump addressed the graduating class at the United States Military Academy at West Point last Saturday. The event was controversial, as the campus had previously closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic; yet, President Trump decided to address the graduates, requiring them to return to the campus for the event despite the health risk to the cadets. There is a long Jewish history at West Point. The 2019 graduating class included the 1000th Jewish graduate of the Academy since its founding in 1802. And in fact, half of the graduates in the very first class in 1802 were Jewish (though there were only two students in the class). The Jewish student, Simeon Magruder Levy, graduated at the bottom of his two-person class, but went on to distinguish himself at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, marking the end of the Northwest Indian War. For more than 60 years the West Point Jewish Chapel Choir has been a part of student life. The Choir sang at what presidential event?

West Point 16 by Gurney Halleck is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

A. The West Point Jewish Chapel Choir made one of their first public performances at the inaguration of President John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961. The event took place the day after a blizzard hit the Washington, DC area, which almost led to the canceling of the Inauguration parade. But they managed to clear the streets, the parade rolled, and the ceremony took place on the East Front of the Capitol building. Poet Robert Frost recited his poem, The Gift Outright, after which the West Point Jewish Chapel Choir sang a medley of songs including Let My People Go and God Bless America.

B. In January 2002, President George W. Bush hosted a memorial concert at the White House to remember the victims of the September 11 terrorist attack and to honor the first responders. Among the performers were Bruce Springsteen and the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as the West Point Jewish Chapel Choir. The choir sang a choral arrangement of Psalm 23, which is traditionally recited at Jewish funerals, and then sang Amazing Grace with the Howard University Gospel Choir.

C. President Dwight Eisenhower died in March, 1969, two months after Richard Nixon’s inauguration. A memorial service was held in the United States Capitol. Nixon eulogized President Eisenhower, whose grandson David Eisenhower had married Nixon’s daughter Julie only three months earlier. Because President Eisenhower was one of only two U.S. presidents who attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (the other being Ulysses S. Grant), the West Point Jewish Chapel Choir performed at Eisenhower’s memorial service, singing the Star-Spangled Banner.

D. At the White House Chanukkah party in 2011, the West Point Jewish Chapel Choir entertained guests by singing holiday songs including Maoz Tzur, Who Can Retell and Oh Chanukkah. After the official end of the party, the choir met privately with President Barack Obama for a photo op, at which time he asked them to sing another song. At the suggestion of the choir director, the group sang Lo Yisa Goy, the traditional Jewish folk song based on the words of Isaiah, including the line “Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war.”

E. The West Point Jewish Chapel Choir actually sang last week at the 2020 graduation ceremony which President Trump ordered the cadets to attend. Per the request of President Trump, the choir sang If I Were a Rich Man and a rewritten traditional Jewish song, Donald, Melech USA.

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