What’s your singular snapshot moment of 5777, the encounter, experience, or epiphany that will always wield a lasting impact?
(Photos: AFP ImageBank)
A
Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt
Sometimes it’s a symbolic act that speaks louder than words — especially when the act is done in Jerusalem.
Our first two children were born in Jerusalem. In their US passports their place of birth is recorded as Jerusalem. Just Jerusalem. The city is disconnected from the Jewish State. For years the US hasn’t recognized Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem.
Therefore when the newly-elected president of the United States came to pray at the Kosel with his family — the first sitting president to do so — it was an important moment for me. The symbolism of the act showed the world that the president recognized the attachment of the Jewish people to Jerusalem — to all of it — and especially to the Kosel and to the place where the Beis Hamikdash once stood. To some extent this act might have made a stronger statement than moving the US embassy to Jerusalem because it was a religious statement as well as a political one.
The context was also of greatest importance. The president was making a tour of the capitals of the three Abrahamic religions: Riyadh Jerusalem and Rome. In Riyadh and in Rome the most important moments were the meetings with the Saudi King and the Pope. In Jerusalem the “meeting” was with Hashem during a prayer at the Kosel.
Create a free account to keep reading.
