Opinion

The Western Wall, which according to some, was left standing by Titus to be a constant painful reminder of his triumph over the Jews and Jerusalem in 70 CE, has once again made headlines. Jews have prayed at the Western Wall for 2,000 years. It has been one of our greatest dreams and goals for two millennia. The generation of today has to realize how hard it was to pray at the Kotel. The recapturing of the Kotel in the 1967 War was one of the greatest miracles I have ever witnessed in my life. It should never be taken for granted.

Jews have always been at the forefront of progressive ideas. This has made for a creative and dynamic people. Unfortunately, it has also led to increasing rates of assimilation and intermarriage.

The divorce rate in the United States is close to 50%. Interestingly, during the 2020 COVID pandemic year, rates actually declined to the lowest levels in 50 years.

On November 17, Rabbi Aviv Tzobari, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Ateret Cohanim Seminary in the so-called Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem - also known as “the citizen who neutralized the terrorist” - was praised for saving the day after two 20-year-old policemen were stabbed. Once again, Ateret Cohanim’s presence brought security and calm to all who live in Jerusalem. It highlights the fact that Jews living anywhere in the land of Israel especially in Judea and Samaria bring peace and tranquility to all inhabitants of the land. The Arabs won’t tell a reporter that publicly but privately they will tell anyone who asks that they are much better off today than pre-1967.  They feel one hundred percent more secure. This is not a narrative the media or radical politicians want to talk about. This lack of reality testing has hurt chances for peace more than anything else.

Last week, I addressed the cataclysmic problem of assimilation and intermarriage in the Jewish community. Not enough can be said about the devastating and insidious scourge that has decimated American Jewry.

This past week, the Biden administration ratcheted up its pressure on Israel by abstaining from a vote on a United Nations General Assembly Resolution entitled, “Assistance to Palestinian Refugees,” which raised the canard of the “Right of Return.”