A Loss, But Not A Defeat

In June 2015, 12-year-old Menachem Zivotofsky lost his longstanding battle. In a tensely awaited ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed the executive branch’s exclusive right to grant formal recognition to a foreign sovereign. For Menachem, this means his American passport will still list his place of birth as “Jerusalem” — but not “Israel.” For millions of Jews, it means a troubling refusal on the part of the American executive to recognize the eternal link between Jerusalem, the Holy Land, and its people. And for his father Ari, it also means the deeply disappointing end of a personal struggle. But along the way, he gained fascinating insights into the legal system and heartening support from Jews of all stripes.

In this exclusive first-person account, he retraces the long journey.

Four years ago, our efforts to have the word “Israel” appear instead of “Jerusalem” on our son’s US passport reached the United States Supreme Court. The case has been part of our family now for 12 years, sometimes more on the front burner, more often than not on the back one. For the last several months, while awaiting this final decision of the court, it has been front and center, however, as everyone we met inquired how the case was progressing.

The decision was quite “overdue” as cases argued even months after ours had already been decided. So together with the court watchers, we have been anxiously monitoring the media every Monday, when the court issues its decisions. And now the Justices have issued their opinions.