Zionism before Herzl and the Jewish connection to the capital
Any attempt to deny the Jewish connection to Jerusalem is preposterous, says President Reuven Rivlin, a seventh generation Jerusalemite, whose forebears came to the capital of the Jewish people in the first decade of the 19th century at the behest of the Gaon of Vilna.Trump’s Jerusalem Stand
Many Lithuanian Jews who were part of the Vision of Zion movement established by followers of the Gaon in 1771 came to Jerusalem hoping to greet the Messiah, Rivlin said on Thursday in a Jerusalem Day interview with The Jerusalem Post.
There were old Sephardi families who had been living in Jerusalem for centuries, he said, listing among others the family of one of his presidential predecessors, Yitzhak Navon. Since 1809, Rivlin added, there has consistently been a Jewish majority in Jerusalem, because the surrounding Arab villages were not actually part of the city, but sat on its periphery.
Rivlin, even before he became the country’s number one citizen, was a walking symbol of Jerusalem, always responding to greetings by radio or television interviewers: “Shalom from Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.”
Born before the establishment of the state, and having grown up in the city, Rivlin knows about its history with the kind of familiarity of the next door neighbor. He was, in fact, the neighbor to some of Jerusalem’s most illustrious personalities – if not next door, then just two or three doors away.
Right at the beginning of the interview, as an outcome of his intimate knowledge of the history of the city, Rivlin put paid to the popular myth that Mishkenot Sha’ananim was the first neighborhood established outside the walls of the old city.
We may never know why he did it. The number of additional Jews who are likely to vote for President Trump because of the embassy move would probably fit comfortably inside a polling booth. The decision, made in December of 2017, wasn’t even engineered to coincide with — or influence — any election. The move won’t win President Trump any peace prizes. Neither is it likely to change the outcome of any peace talks: the administration has specifically said this and reiterated its commitment to a two-state solution. As many of his detractors have pointed out, in this instance, our negotiator-in-chief seems to have given without a corresponding take. That might be an ill-advised tack with an adversary, but with a friend, we would more typically think of it as common decency.
The Trump economy may soon be a distant memory. In the next administration, the tax bill might easily be reversed or much of it allowed to expire, and so much deregulation undone. Every measure achieved by unilateral executive action — the travel ban, the tariffs, withdrawal from various international accords — dispatched as quickly as it was put into place. But the embassy move, accomplished by coordination of two branches of government, is unlikely to face reversal.
The Jewish people’s memory when it comes to Jerusalem is endless. Thrice daily we pray in the direction of its chalky limestone walls. We declare at every Jewish wedding, quoting Psalms, that our right hand should wither if we forget Jerusalem, and tempting the evil eye is not for the insincere or faint of heart. We mourn Jerusalem’s long-ago destructions with rigorous fast days and celebrate its rebirth with a Festival of Lights.
It isn’t hard to imagine that for hundreds of years, Jews will teach their children what I will tell mine when we travel to Jerusalem to watch history being made: On Israel’s 70th birthday, May 14, 2018, President Trump ensured that America, which has long been great, once again kept its word.
Why these Latin American countries support moving their embassies to Jerusalem
US President Donald Trump’s decision in December to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital drew wide international criticism, with 128 countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada voting in favor of a United Nations resolution condemning it.
But several countries saw Trump’s decision in a different light: as an example to follow.
Shortly after the United States officially moves its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Monday, it will be joined by Guatemala and Paraguay. Both countries are planning to make the move this month, and Honduras may be next: Its Congress recently passed a resolution urging its foreign ministry to move its embassy.
Along with the Czech Republic, whose president said last month it will begin the process of moving its embassy to Jerusalem, these countries belong to a small club (albeit one with a superpower). On a visit to Venezuela on Monday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas urged other Latin American countries not to move their embassies.
So how come? Why do these Latin American countries go where others fear to tread?
Observers suggest a number of reasons, or a combination thereof: The countries are likely motivated by a desire to curry favor with the Trump administration, their leaders’ personal views of the Jewish state and strong historic ties to Israel.