What Was Gained from Joe Biden’s Visit to Israel
Lessons learned, and opportunities missed.
August 5, 2022
Visiting the Arch of Titus on Tisha b’Av
“We won! Am Yisrael ḥai!”
After defeating the insurgents in the tiny province of Judea, and burning down Jerusalem and with it the Second Temple, the emperor Titus held a triumphal procession in Rome. His brother and successor Domitian would then commemorate the victory with the Arch of Titus, which still stands today. In 1926, on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av—the anniversary of both Temples’ destruction—Rabbi Leib Fishman Maimon visited the arch, and had his picture taken with two of his comrades. He then mailed it to his father with the following note: