Why Make Aliyah?

7th Candle of Hanukkah 5770

For a Jew there is no better place than the State of Israel.

Yoel Meltzer

30 Kisleiw/December 17, 2009

Roughly 15 years ago I made a personal decision to leave the comfortable lifestyle and familiar surroundings of America in order to settle down and build my life in Israel.

As important as this decision was, it had nothing to do with any negative feelings that I had towards the US. In fact, just the opposite is true and most of my memories of life in America are very positive. From childhood vacations in the Lake George region of upstate New York, to a couple of cross-country ventures in my mid-20s, to a few years of life in the middle of New York City, I can honestly say that the United States is really one incredible, beautiful country. Furthermore, the variety of quality choices and lifestyles that are available in an enormous country of nearly 300 million residents truly makes settling down in America such an attractive option.

Nonetheless, despite all the wonderful things that can be said about America, I would not trade for a second the life that I have built in Israel. Moreover, I am 100% convinced that there is no place in the world that is potentially more suitable for a Jew to live than in the Land of Israel. To someone living outside of Israel this may sound like quite a bombastic declaration, but nonetheless this does not detract from the veracity of the statement.

The problem is the chicken and the egg factor. Only by living here and experiencing the reality of life in Israel can one honestly come to such an internal realization. Thus, to a Jew who still lives outside of Israel, it is only natural that such a statement will be somewhat incomprehensible or perhaps even irritating.

Nonetheless, I would like to present a short list of positive reasons for a Jew to consider building a life in Israel:

1. Percentage-wise the best chance to find a Jewish spouse is in Israel.

2. Statistically the lowest rate of intermarriage is in Israel.

3. Within a few short hours one can hike in the desert, swim in the Mediterranean, ski on the Hermon or float in the Dead Sea.

4. Jewish holidays are a natural part of the lifecycle here.

5. There is no Christmas shopping season in Israel.

6. The cost of Jewish education in Israel is a fraction of the cost in the US.

7. In Israel there is a feeling of "home" for the Jewish people.

8. Israel is the only Jewish country in the world. There are no others.

9. In Israel a Jew does not have to integrate into a non-Jewish society.

10. Although like any country there are many problems and issues, at least they are our problems and issues.

11. Mitzvah observance and their significance take on a whole different meaning in the Land of Israel.

12. There is only one Jerusalem in the whole world and it is here, in the Land of Israel.

13. After a few thousand years, Hebrew, the language of the Prophets, is once again heard throughout the Land of Israel.

14. Israel boasts the fastest growing Jewish population in the world.

15. After a long respite of nearly 2,000 years, Israel is once again the physical and spiritual center of the Jewish people.

16. History is literally unfolding here in front of our eyes. All that has transpired here during such a relatively short time period is nothing short of mind-boggling. As such, there is an incredible and unique opportunity available to any Jew throughout the world to come to Israel and to actually have an impact on the shaping of history.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth and YNET.

The Pope's Visit And The Final Solution

Mossa'ei Shabbath Qodesh Parshath Emor 5769

With regard to the impending visit by the head of the Catholic Church (and former Hilter Youth member), former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau should be commended and encouraged for having been publicly critical of the Pope, pointing out that...

1. The pope agreed to reinstate Bishop Richard Williamson, who denied the Holocaust, and who said there was no systematic murder of Jews, and...

2. that the pope announced that his representatives would attend [the Durban II Conference] and that he blesses the participants.

Rabbi Lau also made the following statement...

Despite the above, Rabbi Lau says, “We must not rebuff the visit. We need not bend over backwards or flatter him, but it should not be rejected. This is a visit initiated by the pope himself so that he can follow in the footsteps of his predecessors. We must welcome him, if only for the fact that millions of Jews still live in the Diaspora, and many of them in places where the Catholic Church is strong, such as Latin America, Poland, Ukraine and elsewhere. We must not give our enemies ammunition or pour fuel on the fire; we must not endanger even one Jew.”

With all due respect to Rabbi Lau, the only and final solution for the problems he states is to help the Jews in question, as well as all Jews, to settle in Israel,..but legitimately so, not through the pussy-footing around of the un-Jewish Agency which cares more about the goyim in the Ukraine than the Jews.

This, of course, begs the question, what happens, when many of those Jews simply do not want to leave galuth (the diaspora)? We have already seen this with Jews in South Africa, Lebanon, and Syria, to name a few.

Unfortunately, they need some kind of kick in the pants. May HaShem not have to kick them too hard, and may it not be too late.

Furthermore, following Rabbi Lau's own logic, didn't he himself just endanger Jews with his "provocative" statements?

Go figure....

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.

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(Source: Rabbi Lau: No Need to Flatter the Pope -- or to Rebuff Him by Hillel Fendel)

$50,000? ...To Stay In Babylonia

Motza'ei Shabbath Hayei Sarah 5769

OK, so you already heard about this from Rafi, Batya, and Yisrael,... AGES ago.

I thought they covered all that needed to be covered. The story came and went, but it still irks me. So I cannot help, but give my 10ag.

When I first saw the following report, my jaw dropped:

Family Relocation Project

Jewish Family Service's bold objective is to relocate at least twenty families to Dothan, Alabama during the time period January 2008 to December 2012.

Achieving this objective will truly advance the Jewish religion in Dothan by significantly increasing Temple Emanu-El's membership and will be a cause to celebrate as we recognize the Jewish community's 120th anniversary as a vibrant and respected part of greater Dothan.

We welcome your application for financial assistance from the JCS Family Relocation Project....

(Tip-off credit to relatively new blogger JeffGator)

$50,000? Why not ditch the community, and pay $50,000, or even $20,000 to some of the families still living there to help them move to Israel?

I'll bet the thought never even occurred to them.

Even leaders this particular community's umbrella organization are saying that you should consider "aliyah."

This community is the quintessential example of the mentality in which many American Jewish communities are still stuck. Religious or secular, right-wing or left-wing, so-called "Zionist" or so-called anti-"Zionist," it doesn't matter.

Am I being too harsh?

There is a story of Resh Laqish,.... Well, see for yourselves....

תלמוד בבלי יומא ט,ב
ריש לקיש הוי סחי בירדנא אתא רבה בר בר חנה יהב ליה ידא א"ל אלהא סנינא לכו דכתיב (שיר השירים ח:ט) "אם חומה היא נבנה עליה טירת כסף ואם דלת היא נצור עליה לוח ארז" אם עשיתם עצמכם כחומה ועליתם כולכם בימי עזרא נמשלתם ככסף שאין רקב שולט בו עכשיו שעליתם כדלתות נמשלתם כארז שהרקב שולט בו

Babylonian Talmud Yoma 9b
Resh Laqish was bathing in the Jordan [River] Rabba bar bar Hana came, and shook his hand. He [Resh Laqish] said to him God detests you Babylonians, as it is written (Song of Songs 8:9) "If she be a wall, we will build upon her a turret of silver; and if she be a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar." If you had made yourselves [as strong] as a wall, and all went up in the days of Ezra, you would have been likened to silver, which cannot rot; but as you did not, you were likened to cedar [wood] doors, in which rot can take hold.

There's a saying here in Israel which has become almost cliche.

"If only wealthy Jews from North and South America, Western Europe, Australia, Morocco, Turkey, etc. would stop sending money, and instead would bring it with them when they make aliyah, we could transform the Negev Desert, transform the economy, transform the region....

If only....

I try to remember that it's not their faults. It seems that two thousand years of galuth (diasporan living) can really cement a people's disconnection from its homeland.

Still, it is one of the jobs of those of us, Yehudei Eretz Yisra'el, to warn them, the Babylonians.

Do you want to be part of the 20 percent making it out of Egypt, or the 80 percent who didn't?

It's your decision.

Cross-posted on Esser Agaroth.