The recent groundbreaking ceremony for the new building of the National Library of Israel (NLI), a major event in the history of Jerusalem, was a deeply personal moment for many of the most prominent participants.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin presented the library with a handwritten book that had belonged to his father, which included poems and prose by 17th-century scholar Rabbi Israel Najara. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reminisced about the amount of time spent by his father, Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, an eminent historian and editor of the "Encyclopedia Hebraica," in the library's reading room.
After the 2012 election, when Americans re-elected Barack Obama, Republican Party leadership rightly did some soul searching.
Republicans were in shock that Americans could re-elect a man they saw as clearly bad for the country, weakening us at home and fueling instability abroad.
