Israel Matzav

Netanyahu criticized for skipping Churva re-dedication

MK Dr. Michael Ben Ari (National Union) has criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu for skipping the Churva synagogue re-dedication.

MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari said at a Sefer Torah inauguration at the "Churva" synagogue in the Old City that, "Netanyahu has broken the national backbone and brings about the division of Jerusalem. He should have draw forces of restoration from attending this inauguration, to demonstrate power and not to fold on Jerusalem."

Netanyahu's office responds with a lame excuse.

A spokeswoman from the Prime Minister’s Office, however, denied that Netanyahu had ever planned on going to the re-dedication.

The spokeswoman said that the prime minister “didn’t go to every synagogue dedication, and he hadn’t planned on going to this one.”

Sorry, but the re-dedication of the largest synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City, which was destroyed by the Jordanians in 1948, and which the Muslims consider an insult because it is taller than any building around it (yes, really) is not 'every synagogue.' It's loaded with symbolism. JPost notes in an editorial in Monday's editions:

More than just a house of prayer, the Hurva was a venue for key historical events – Herzl’s visit to Jerusalem, a recruitment ceremony for Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s Jewish Legion, the honoring of pro-Zionist British High Commissioner Sir Herbert Samuel – leading to the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty.

It symbolizes, perhaps more than any other site, the Jewish people’s yearnings to return to its homeland. It is concrete proof that Judaism cannot be reduced solely to an abstract religious faith devoid of national aspirations, as some – most notably German Jews of the the 19th century and contemporary Jewish anti-Zionists – attempted to claim.

While the Western Wall has been the focal point of prayers for redemption, the Hurva has been at the center of Jewish activism to maintain a presence in the Land of Israel.

...

Twice destroyed and twice rebuilt, the Hurva is a symbol of the Jewish people’s tenacious insistence on returning to its rightful land against all odds. To name something that is built a “ruin” reveals a stubborn unwillingness to accept the present reality as unassailable.

This refusal to be deterred by setbacks, this unfailing hope for redemption – whether physical or spiritual – is the secret of the miracle that is the Jewish state.

Israel's Prime Minister should be present at the dedication of a synagogue that symbolizes the 'secret of the miracle that is the Jewish state.' Here's hoping that Bibi will surprise us and show up there sometime on Monday.

The bottom picture is a Torah scroll being brought from the Western Wall to the Churva synagogue.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:34 PM