--- title: Donald Trump: Rabbis Decline to Hold High Holy Days Call description: Four rabbinical organizations announced they would not hold a High Holiday call with President Trump, citing his Charlottesville rhetoric canonical: https://time.com/4913347/donald-trump-rabbis-high-holidays-call/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-23T22:04:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T04:24:50.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rabbis Drop Out of Jewish Holiday Conference Call With President Trump og:description: "The President’s words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism" og:url: https://time.com/4913347/donald-trump-rabbis-high-holidays-call/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ccf75bbe8cdcf48/6988dadd096a94c2d569f441/trump1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4928 og:image:height: 2772 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP-DEPARTS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rabbis Drop Out of Jewish Holiday Conference Call With President Trump twitter:description: "The President’s words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ccf75bbe8cdcf48/6988dadd096a94c2d569f441/trump1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:32 video:published: 2017-08-15 section: politics topics: Charlottesville violence, blame on both sides, neo-Nazis and white supremacists, counter-protesters, Robert E. Lee statue, renaming of parks, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, slave owners, removal of statues, changing history genre: interview, news clip tones: defensive, combative, argumentative emotions: anger (medium), defiance (medium), pride (low) sentiment: negative audience: general news audiences, political observers, readers interested in race and history people: Donald Trump, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee content_suitability: violence [00:31-00:50]; hate [00:00-00:11]; politics [00:00-01:32] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Rabbis Drop Out of Jewish Holiday Conference Call With President Trump > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1b4031f4-5ee9-469d-b665-51c81986f012&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Again Blames 'Both Sides' for Charlottesville Violence [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Again Blames 'Both Sides' for Charlottesville Violence](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EzwfOun0.m3u8) (1:32)  _Published 2017-08-15. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that anti-racism protesters bear some of the blame for the violent rallies in Charlottesville, returning to his original comments that "both sides" were responsible for the deadly clashes._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video presents a speaker, identified in the transcript as President Trump, defending his statement that blame falls on both sides of the Charlottesville clashes. He says not all demonstrators were neo-Nazis or white supremacists and describes counter-protesters swinging clubs and attacking. He then questions whether statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson should be removed given their roles as slave owners, arguing that such removals amount to changing history and culture. ## Key points - The speaker says he has condemned neo-Nazis and other groups, but not all people at the rallies were neo-Nazis or white supremacists. (00:00) - The speaker says there is blame on both sides and asks whether the group that came charging with clubs has any guilt. (00:20) - The speaker says a group on the left violently attacked the other group, and that people there were protesting the taking down of a very important statue. (00:31) - The speaker refers to the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name as part of the dispute behind the protest. (00:54) - The speaker asks whether George Washington, a slave owner, should lose his status and whether his statue should be taken down. (01:04) - The speaker says he loves Thomas Jefferson and asks whether his statue should be taken down because he was a major slave owner. (01:16) - The speaker concludes that removing statues amounts to changing history and culture, saying 'It's fine.' (01:25) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:20] Condemnation and blame on both sides. The speaker says he condemned neo-Nazis but not everyone at the rallies was a white supremacist, and that blame lies on both sides. - [00:20 to 00:54] Responsibility of counter-protesters. The speaker asks whether the left-leaning group with clubs bears guilt and says they violently attacked the other group while protesting a statue removal. - [00:54 to 01:32] Questions about removing historical statues. The speaker raises George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as slave owners and argues that removing their statues changes history and culture. ## Key quotes - [00:00] President Trump: "not all of those people were neo- Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists." - [00:11] President Trump: "I think there's blame on both sides." - [00:31] President Trump: "They came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs" - [01:04] President Trump: "George Washington was a slave owner." - [01:25] President Trump: "You're changing history. You're changing culture." ## Questions this video answers - Does the speaker believe blame for the rally violence falls on both sides? [00:11] - Does the speaker think the counter-protesters who came charging with clubs bear any guilt? [00:20] - What does the speaker think removing historical statues does? [01:25] ## Content suitability - violence [00:31-00:50]: Discussion of people swinging clubs and violently attacking others at a rally. - hate [00:00-00:11]: References to neo-Nazis and white supremacists in the context of the rally. - politics [00:00-01:32]: Political commentary on the Charlottesville rally and removal of historical statues.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:24 AM UTCPublished: Aug 23, 2017 10:04 PM UTC President Donald Trump said Tuesday that anti-racism protesters bear some of the blame for the violent rallies in Charlottesville, returning to his original comments that "both sides" were responsible for the deadly clashes.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:24 AM UTCPublished: Aug 23, 2017 10:04 PM UTC Four different rabbinical organizations collectively announced Wednesday that they had decided to break with tradition and forego a High Holiday greeting call with President Trump, citing disapproval of his rhetoric following the attack in Charlottesville, Va. “The President’s words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia. Responsibility for the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, including the death of Heather Heyer, does not lie with many sides but with one side: the Nazis, alt-right and white supremacists who brought their hate to a peaceful community. They must be roundly condemned at all levels,” the [organizations said in a statement.](http://ccarnet.org/about-us/news-and-events/ccar-rabbis-forego-annual-high-holy-days-call-president/) The High Holidays, a 10-day period that include the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, are the holiest days of the year in the Jewish religion. The statement was signed by four organizations representing three different denominations of the Jewish religion: the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Rabbinical Assembly, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. No organization representing the Orthodox denomination appeared to sign the statement. Trump found himself under fire for refusing to condemn white supremacists after violence erupted at a counter protest to a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville earlier this month. Members of the rally chanted anti-Semitic slurs and some carried Nazi flags and paraphernalia. “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides,” Trump said [in the immediate aftermath](http://time.com/4898272/donald-trump-charlottesville-violence-rally/) of the attack. At a press conference several days later, he added that [anti-racism protesters on the left](http://time.com/4902129/president-donald-trump-both-sides-charlottesville/) also shared responsibility for the violence. “We have concluded that President Trump’s statements during and after the tragic events in Charlottesville are so lacking in moral leadership and empathy for the victims of racial and religious hatred that we cannot organize such a call this year,” the statement from the Rabbinical organizations reads. A White House official said in a statement that the call was implemented under the Obama administration and details about “new traditions and engagements” would be made available shortly. “The Trump Administration looks forward to creating its own traditions to observe the High Holidays and other important days in the Jewish faith,” the White House official said. ## Transcript [00:00] I've condemned neo- Nazis, I've condemned many [00:04] different groups, but not all of those people were [00:08] neo- Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were [00:11] white supremacists. I think there's blame on both [00:13] sides. You look at both sides I think there's blame [00:18] on both sides, and I have no doubt about it. What [00:20] about the alt- left? They came charging, as you say, at [00:23] the alt- right. Do they have any semblance of guilt? [00:27] [ CROSSTALK ]. Let me ask you this, what about the [00:31] fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, [00:34] swinging clubs, Do they have any problem? I think they [00:38] do. There was a group on this side, you can call them [00:41] the left, you've just called them the left, that came [00:44] violently attacking the other group. So you can say what [00:47] you want, but that's they way it is. You had people in [00:50] that group that were there to protest the taking down, [00:54] to them, a very, very important statue, And the [00:57] renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another [01:00] name .>> [ UNKNOWN ] George Washington was a [01:04] slave owner. Was George Washington a slave owner? [01:07] So, will George Washington now lose his status? Excuse [01:12] me. Are we going to take down statues to George [01:16] Washington How about Thomas Jefferson? What do you [01:19] think about Thomas Jefferson? You like him? I do love [01:20] Thomas Jefferson. Okay good. Are we gonna take [01:23] down the statue? Cuz he was a major slave owner. [01:25] Now are we gonna take down his statue? So you know [01:28] what? It's fine. You're changing history. 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