T he smoke has long cleared and President Donald J. Trump has concluded his first official visit to Jerusalem. As the first US president to visit the Western Wall during his term in office he certainly created a historical moment. The leader of the strongest nation in the Christian world as a guest of the Jewish People in their own country offering a silent prayer at the remnant of our ancient Temple.
True there was some unpleasant pettiness on the part of some staffers who planned the president’s itinerary and made a point of rejecting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s offer to escort him personally to the Kosel — on the grounds that the entire Old City is “occupied territory.” But nevertheless the visit itself was an acknowledgment by the leader of the free world that behind that Wall the Jewish Temple stood the spiritual focal point of the world where all nations will one day ascend.
Indeed from a declarative point of view the president’s visit made a dramatic statement. After thousands of years of exile (which has not yet ended) it brought us a whiff of great things to come G-d willing.
Yet one thing cast a shadow over all the hopes the visit engendered. It was the president’s preceding visit to Saudi Arabia a hard act to follow.
