President Biden visited his limousine, his luxurious hotel rooms, the opulent banquet halls, but in his cocoon, he never experienced Israel. No one asked me, but if I were managing his trip, I would prepare a different itinerary
President Biden has come to Israel and has departed. The obligatory rituals were all religiously observed: the airport greetings, the visit to Yad Vashem(though only Trump visited the Kotel), the handshakes, the pledges of eternal friendship. Then the president, having visited Israel, flew home.
But President Biden — like all visiting dignitaries — never saw Israel. He visited his limousine, his luxurious hotel rooms, the opulent banquet halls, but in his cocoon, he never experienced Israel.
No one asked me, but if I were managing his trip, I would prepare a different itinerary.
His first stop: a visit to the vast study hall of Jerusalem’s Mir Yeshivah. There he would see a thousand young men of post-high-school age poring over ancient texts and discussing them enthusiastically, while still others attend classes and lectures. They would be studying not technology or computers or accounting. Instead, they are dissecting the various teachings of the historic Talmud. On this day they would be analyzing the case of a lost object found in a public thoroughfare, and whether the finder must search for the owner or keep it. Asking why this is important, the President will be told that such legal discussions — though they seem esoteric — are the very underpinnings of classical Jewish life. He will be further amazed that there are tens of thousands of such young men throughout Israel who spend many hours each day in such passionate deliberations.
Create a free account to keep reading.
