NY Governor Candidate Visits the Ohel Ahead of Rosh Hashanah

Nassau County Executive and Republican candidate for New York governor Bruce Blakeman visited the Rebbe’s Ohel on Tuesday, just days before Rosh Hashanah.

Blakeman was accompanied by his son Avi, Five Towns shliach Rabbi Zalman Wolowik, and a large group of visitors. At the Ohel, Blakeman wrote a pan and davened at the Rebbe’s ohel, preparing for the upcoming new year.

“Last night, I had the honor of visiting the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe with my son Avi, where I wrote a kvitel and we prayed at the Rebbe’s tziyon in preparation for Rosh Hashanah,” Blakeman wrote on X. “Every visit to the Ohel is a profoundly spiritual and deeply moving experience.”

Bruce Blakeman is running against incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul as the Republican candidate for New York governor. He has increasingly focused his campaign on issues important to the Jewish community, including Israel, Jewish security, and combating antisemitism, while building strong support among Orthodox Jewish voters.

The Nassau County Executive has a special admiration for the Rebbe and the Lubavitch community. On countless occasions, he has visited the Ohel and credited the Rebbe for being the model of “how one should conduct oneself as a citizen and as a person.”

“The morals and the ethics that the Rebbe gave over to us was something that was beneficial to everyone,” Blakeman said. “The Rebbe was truly an amazing and remarkable man.”

He also shares a very close relationship with Rabbi Zalman Wolowik and other shluchim in Nassau County and frequently puts on tefillin with them. He has been described by many as a “varmer Yid.”

“I want to wish everyone a Shana Tova, and you should have a healthy, happy, and fruitful new year,” Blakeman said to the cameras upon exiting the Ohel. “And remember that everything we get, all the blessings we get, are from above, Hashem, but He gives us the strength to make decisions and to take action. We need to use that strength in a positive way, to take action and make this world a better place.”

Rabbi Wolowik, in turn, blessed him with a good year and success in all his endeavors, both personal and collective.