But It’s Been A Whole Year!

My wife and I “made aliyah” over a year ago. For my Gentile readers, “aliyah” literally means “go up” and what it really means is to move to Israel. And that actually means I am Jewish. Other people can move here too, but it’s harder. Jews are allowed to move here automatically under what is called the “Law of Return.”

What’s really hard about immigrating to the homeland is packing up everything you own in the “old country,” saying goodbye to your children and grandchildren, and moving to a country where you don’t know the language, the culture, the government, the bus system, etc. I mention the bus system because my wife Miryam and I have gotten lost a few times in Jerusalem. Even if we knew the language, they don’t announce the stops; you just have to recognize where you are or ask someone who might know. But without knowing the language, or at least very little, it is easy to get lost.

One example: we were in Jerusalem and trying to get to the “Central Bus Station” to catch the bus back to where we live. Over and over again we kept getting on a bus, missing the Bus Station, getting off in some neighborhood, crossing the street to get on the same bus route going the other way. Finally, after three or four times we met an Israeli soldier who is from America. He helped us to get to the Bus Station, and we were finally able to relax and catch our bus home.

It’s strange to think that it took us until our fifties to realize that we were in “exile.” All Jews who don’t live in the land of Israel are in exile. The Tanach (Jewish Bible) says so. So, does that fact eventually dawn on all Jews in places like America? No. That’s because there are two types of Jews. Yes, yes, you’ve heard hundreds of comparisons of different types of Jews. There are religious and moral differences, cultural differences, ethnic and even racial differences. On Pesach (Passover) we find the most famous comparison of four types of Jews, illustrated by the four sons. Well, I am here to make one more comparison.

My comparison is simpler. It is about two types of Jews who are different in the way they relate to the concept of aliyah. On one hand there are Jews who spend every last cent, give up all of the comforts of life in the United States or Canada, or wherever, and move to Israel, restarting life as a pioneer. On the other hand, there are Jews who say, “Yes, I know that anti-Semitism is rising all over the earth, I know it will get bad where I live, and I know that Jews should live in Israel, but I have a big house, and I have a well-paying job, and some of my children are afraid to leave their friends and to learn Hebrew, and it is just too inconvenient to interrupt our lives.”

Now, I do realize that the question of why some religious Jews choose to move to Israel and other do not, may be more complex than I can get into here. And certainly some people’s lives are more intricate and contain more dependencies than others, but my concern is with people who could make aliyah but don’t, for reasons of inconvenience.

Most Rabbis consider living in Israel a mitzvah (commandment or good deed). Why? Simply because G–d commanded the children of Israel to go into Canaan, to drive out anyone who happens to live there, divvy up the property to the tribes, and live there in perpetuity as an inheritance. He also warned that if the children of Israel do not drive out all of the inhabitants, those remaining and their descendants will be “as thorns in your eyes, and as pricks in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land wherein you dwell.” Well, as usual, G–d lives up to His end of the bargain. The descendants of the people who were allowed to stay in Canaan (its original name) are some of those who now send their children to blow themselves up to kill innocent Jewish men, women and children.

G–d gave the land of Canaan (soon thereafter called Israel because it belonged to the descendants of Israel (Jacob)) to the Jews as an inheritance. So again, why don’t all Jews, especially “Torah-true” Jews, move to Israel? There are many reasons, but I am mostly troubled by those who know it’s the right thing to do, and yet find many self-serving excuses not to do so. G–d gives us free will. He gives us the ability and the “right” to make all of the right and wrong choices, and then reap the consequences of those choices.

So the question is, “can people choose to reject an inheritance, even if it is given by G–d?” Of course they can. But no completely sane person would! If G–d has given us something, do you think it is a wise idea to reject it?

G-d is our father. He gives only good things to His children. Of course that means punishments as well as gifts, but all should be received with the attitude that G–d, the One who created everything, and keeps everything in the universe working, knows best! Don’t forget that G-d always answers prayer. But the answer is sometimes “No.”

Of course it is probably too late and a fantasy to consider the possibility of throwing the non-Jewish inhabitants of the land out of Israel, but that is what G–d commanded! Unless He does it for us, that would be impossible in this modern, “sophisticated” and politically-correct world of ours. But the entire Biblical Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. Even in the times of Kings David, Solomon and Herod, large parts of what now are Syria and Jordan were Israel!

Any fair research of history will show that in the wake of the holocaust, it was nothing short of a miracle that the modern State of Israel was created and has flourished as it has. So it cannot be doubted that G–d has reestablished the Holyland and given it back to the Jewish people.

Many believe that we are in the “birth-pangs” of the Messianic age, the coming of Messiah to fix what we have messed up. But do we expect to be included, do we expect to be treated like His sons and daughters, when we are sitting back and refusing to complete this mitzvah of aliyah? This is a test, and whether or not we pass depends on our willingness to help our people, our land, our inheritance to gain strength and become what G–d gave it to us to be – His holy land, the place where His Glory resides.

It’s not as hard as people might think to make aliyah. If you are a Jew and you are living anywhere but the Land of Israel, find out. Even if you aren’t ready, get the information. Check some web sites like Tehillah (Union for Religious Aliyah, http://www.tehilla.com) or Nefesh b’Nefesh (Jewish Souls United, http://www.nefeshbnefesh.org) or AACI (Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel, http://www.aaci.org.il) or the Israel Aliyah Center (http://www.aliyah.org). Or listen on the web to Israel National Radio (http://www.israelnationalradio.com). There’s a lot of information out there, and a lot of help. So check it out. Forget the excuses. It’s important to you, it’s important to your family, it’s important to the Jewish people, and it’s important to the holy Land of Israel.

More Later…

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