A personal thought on this historic day:

As a rabbi, I have given many sermons on the importance of Jerusalem to our people and our faith and how shameful it is that the US does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. After all, a nation should be able to decide on its own capital.

But, watching today’s ceremony, I found myself terribly troubled and could not feel any of the euphoria or satisfaction that so many in Israel and in the Jewish world seem to be feeling.

Hearing the speakers praise President Trump as standing for moral values, hearing Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel praised as following the highest traditions of human rights and justice and hearing Israel praised as a place where all religions are respected (as long as you’re not a non-Orthodox Jew) and hearing a Minister who said recently that Jews were going to hell and that Islam was by its nature an obscenely  immoral tradition offer a prayer (in the name of Jesus, by the way) just were impossible for me to tolerate.

And all of this while dozens of Palestinians were being killed and hundreds wounded on the Gaza border.

Yes, Jerusalem absolutely should be the capital of Israel (I believe of both states) and yes, the embassy should be there  but not now and not this way.