President Trump continues to amaze me. He promised to move the American Israeli embassy to Yerushalayim, and then followed through with action to see that process to completion. He visited the Kosel, backed Prime Minister Netanyahu, filled important administration positions with Orthodox Jews (Friedman, Greenblatt and Kushner), found a new set of Jewish Askonim to invite to the White House Chanukah party, and has stood up to the world at the UN with his star Nikki Haley. Not only did he veto the recent anti-Israel resolution, but promises now to stop funding countries that support anti-Israel bias.
And just when the liberals were reeling from his anti UN stand, he commuted the sentence of Rabbi Shalom Rubashkin! A long overdue presidential move that was ignored by his predecessor (Kudos to Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz of the Yated for fighting this fight). Not only that, but recently unearthed documents show Obama's flawed deal with Iran. At the rate things are going, I would expect Trump to undo that deal.
The entire Trump presidency and the fast pace in which world events are exploding portends the arrival of Moshiach, במהרה בימנו אמן
Rav Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman ZT"L (1913-2017) was widely viewed as the leader of the Lithuanian branch of Orthodox Jewry.
His humbleness and sage advice was appreciated by hundreds of thousands of people. His Levaya was attended by over 1/2 million souls.
Rav Shteinman was known as a "moderate", yet fiercely defended the beauty of our religion.
Following the recent announcement by President Trump regarding Jerusalem, the Wakf has kept the Al-Aqsa Mosque darkened, which is a pleasure for picture takers who want a pure view of the Kosel. Additionally, I heard that during the Levaya of Rav Shteinman, there was difficulty in putting together a Minyan by the Kosel. It seems that the entire country turned out to mourn the simple man, who wanted no eulogies, no fanfare, and a simple burial aside his wife.
We do live in amazing times. I applaud President Trump for fulfilling the campaign promise of recognizing and relocating the American Embassy to Yerushalayim. This is bound to upset many people, yet the president is apparently a man of his word.
While the world organizations, particularly the UN tries to strip Yerushalayim from Jewish hands, it is amazing that a Christian has stood up to them and approved this volatile move.
OU:
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America Applauds President Trump’s Historic Change of U.S. Policy toward the Status of Jerusalem
POSTED ON DECEMBER 6, 2017 IN PRESS RELEASES
Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization – applauded President Donald Trump for his historic change of U.S. government policy toward the status of Jerusalem – the ancient and current capital of Israel and the Jewish People.
Over 3000 years ago, King David constructed the holy city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. For millennia, Jews around the world directed their prayers toward Jerusalem and prayed to return to Jerusalem. Indeed, the prayer to return to Jerusalem is invoked at the conclusions of the sacred Yom Kippur service and the Passover Seder. In 1948, when the modern State of Israel was miraculously founded, its leaders – of course – chose Jerusalem as the capital even though Arab armies occupied Judaism’s holiest sites. With G-d’s help, the city was reunited in 1967 and it has flourished ever since. Under Israeli rule, Jerusalem is an open city where people of all faiths may freely visit and worship at their holy sites.
Sadly, and from our perspective wrongly, the international community has ignored the history of Jerusalem and its centrality in the lives and faith of the Jewish people. Moreover, the responsible stewardship for the holy city provided by the State of Israel is largely ignored. In 1995, the United States Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act – legislation advocated for by the Orthodox Union. The 1995 Act established as a matter of U.S. policy the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and required the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. While Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama each pledged to implement this commitment, none of them did. Today, President Trump began to fulfill this promise.
