President Donald Trump is set to meet with prominent Hasidic rabbinic leaders and heads of yeshivas on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in the Oval Office. Expected to be in attendance are the grand rabbis (also known as rebbes) of Satmar, Bobov, Bobov-45, Vizhnitz-Monsey, and Skver, as well as Rabbi Malkiel Kotler, the head of Beth Medrash Govoha, a yeshiva in Lakewood, N.J., among others.

No official agenda has been set, but Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, head of the fiercely anti-Zionist Satmar sect, said he might raise the issue of the Haredi draft with the president. Other issues that might be raised are the rabbis’ opposition to government oversight of education requirements, preserving the independence of Haredi education, and more general questions of religious freedom.

However, the official purpose of the meeting is for the rabbis to tender Rosh Hashana greetings to President Trump.

The Satmar rebbe told his students about the upcoming meeting Friday night and was quoted at length in Yeshiva World News.

“Last Sunday, I received an invitation from the White House to meet with the president this coming Thursday, together with other rabbonim [rabbis] and askanim [community leaders],” the rebbe said, adding that at first he planned to decline the meeting, as his yeshiva was involved in studying and preparing for the upcoming High Holidays.

But he recalled a previous time decades ago when such a meeting helped “a Jew who was in distress,” and ultimately, that was what decided him.

“I remembered that about 30 years ago, I had a similar situation, when there was a meeting with the president at the time. During that period, there was a Jew who was in distress, and through that meeting we were able to help him. Since there is now another Jew who is in distress, I thought perhaps we could help him through this meeting, and therefore I ultimately agreed.”

The rebbe said he hoped to discuss the Haredi draft at the meeting.

“Even now, tens of thousands of Jews in Eretz Yisroel are in distress because of the decree to draft yeshiva students. We hope that we will be able to appeal to the president to help with this situation.”

He also stressed to his students that studying Torah is more important than any meeting with the president.

“I ask all the bochurim: Events like these can distract a person. Every one of you should continue diligently learning … Do not neglect Torah and do not become immersed in all this ‘Trumpism.’ I am telling you: One shiur [lesson] in … yeshiva is worth more to me than this entire matter!”