Ivanka Trump has referenced the Hebrew term “lashon hara” – meaning slanderous speech or gossip – in a series of posts on X commemorating her 43rd birthday and outlining the “truths I’ve learned along the way”.

Among such truisms as “Family and friends are everything” and “Get sunshine daily”, the former US president’s daughter and Jewish convert wrote “Avoid lashon hara/gossip” as the fourth in her list of 17 life lessons shared on social media on Monday, referring to a concept within Judaism that literally translates to “evil speech.”

Trump, who converted to Judaism in 2009 prior to marrying her Modern Orthodox husband, Jared Kushner, spoke more extensively about lashon hara in July during an interview with podcaster and computer scientist Lex Fridman. She cited the Jewish concept as having helped her cope with the extensive criticism that has been levelled at her over the last decade.

“There’s a concept in Judaism called lashon hara, which is translated into – I think quite literally – ‘evil speech’, and the idea that speaking poorly of another is almost the moral equivalent to murder because you can’t really repair it. You can apologise, but you can’t repair it,” Trump said. “Another component of that is that it does as much damage to the person saying the words as it does to the person receiving them, and I think about that a lot.”

She added that it is a lesson she has passed along to her three children.

Raised as a Presbyterian Christian, Trump began studying with Manhattan-based Rabbi Emeritus Haskel Lookstein of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun at the age of 28 in a conversion process which she described as an “amazing and beautiful journey.” She has said her father, former US President Donald Trump, was supportive of her conversion “from day one.”

Ivanka Trump with her husband Jared Kushner and sons Theo and Joseph Kushner at the funeral of Ivana Trump in 2022 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Kushner and Ms. Trump reportedly keep kosher and observe the Sabbath.