Moshe Kempinski - “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton representing the White House has presented Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with a set of four demands. The first one is the cancellation of the construction of 1,600 housing units in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo. These are the same units that passed a bureaucratic hurdle just as Vice President Joe Biden visited Israel, eliciting a strident and emotional response from the United States. She also demanded that Israel carry out a “meaningful gesture” toward the Palestinian Authority chairman, Mahmoud Abbas, before Friday.
That "meaningful gesture “involves the releasing of more terrorists who had previously been arrested for killing and maiming innocent men women and children. The third demand made by Clinton was that Israel declare that the negotiations with the PA will include all of the 'core issues' that are in dispute between Israel and the PA including Jerusalem and refugees. The fourth Clinton demand was that Israel unilaterally evacuates more land in Judea and Samaria. Not only are those demands being delivered in an arrogant and in an almost infantile manner, they are downright dangerous.
It would be prudent for America’s Secretary of State to sit down for a while, maybe sip a cup of hot tea and have a little “think”. The problem is, that would probably be futile, as she and her President have not developed any clear and cogent historic sense of perspective. They are so engrained in their “here and now” they cannot conceive of wider and deeper vision. The fact that the last unilateral disengagement only produced more bloodshed does not seem to faze her. The simple truth that releasing terrorists just brings about more terror will not get in her way. Even the simple reality that she is the Secretary of State of the United States and not of Israel has not occurred to her. Finally without any sense of perspective the concept of a re-united Jerusalem is simply unfathomable for her and her peers.
I participated with thousands of others at the Torah scroll dedication at the newly rebuilt Hurva Synagogue .The Palestinian Authority called the rebuilding of the synagogue a "provocation". The world media dutifully reported the Palestinian declaration with no mention of the fact that perhaps the real provocation in the matter was the destruction of the synagogue in the first place.
Regardless, the dancing and singing as the torah scrolls were brought up from the Western Wall seemed to know no bounds. There were some who participated at the event as a way of delivering a clear message to President Obama and to Clinton. Yet that determination became dwarfed by the sheer joy and history of the event. Neither American leader was worthy of much concern when one is involved in dancing and singing before G-d , entering a building made for His honor.
The Model of the Interior of the New Hurva
Several hours later when I left, I ran into a seventy five year old “Old City” person who was also trying to find a way to get to his car. As we walked together I noticed that his eyes were brimming with tears. I said that it was an amazing night. He responded that he still remembers how at five years old, his father would bring him every Shabbat into the old city .He remembered how they would come for afternoon prayers at the Hurva synagogue.
“I remember crawling up on to the water fountain where the kohanim/priests would wash their hands .I took the big two handled cup and I would drink the cool water. Because the cup was so large I remember tipping my head all the way back to drink the waters. As I looked up I saw the beautiful dome and I remember seeing doves flying around the dome. I really thought, then that the synagogue would last forever. I was wrong and in 1948 it was destroyed. Yet here we are,“he continued, wiping a tear" it has been rebuilt and it is just as beautiful as I remember it. Who would have believed it was possible”
That is a perspective that would be totally lost on Secretary of state Hillary Clinton and the White house. Yet in the context of history and destiny she and they may be completely unimportant.”
Moshe Kempinski - “The Hurva” and “The White House” – Jerusalem Insights Update 73 – March 18, 2010