Aliyah
From RonWareWiki
Once I publicized my decision to pursue aliyah (immigration to Israel), my friends and family started asking me, "what on Earth is wrong with you?". This essay is an attempt to answer that question, not only for others' benefit but for my own as well. A note to those of you who are careful not to erase Holy names, even in English - I do not hyphenate the English word for the Deity; you may therefore wish to avoid printing this document. A note to those of you who are not yet fluent in Hebrew: "hashem" is the Hebrew term used to refer to God by name; since we are careful not to use His name unnecessarily, we use an indirect reference. "hashem" just means, "the name". "Torah" refers to the "Pentateuch", or the first five books of the Bible.
Leaving home is hard to do
It's never easy to leave the place one grew up, where everything is familiar. Particularly so when one has a relatively secure job and is not facing persecution. This is why one of the methods of teshuva (repentance) is to exile oneself to a distant land (Laws of Teshuva 2:5). There seem to be good reasons to avoid living in Israel, particularly at this time: the threat of terrorism, poor economic outlook, the Byzantine governmental bureaucracy -- not to mention Israeli's well-known lack of politeness. However, there are many good reasons to live there, and with God's help I will try to lay out for you my reasons and goals.
The obligation of living in the Land
First and foremost, there is an obligation to live in the Land of Israel. The Torah says in (Numbers 33:53) "And you will possess The Land and you will settle in it, for I am giving you this Land to possess it."
The Ramban (Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, or Nachmanides) in his commentary on this pasuq (verse) says, "My opinion is that this is a positive commandment; He commanded them to settle and possess the land because He gave it to them, and they should not despise the inheritance of Hashem". In other words, he takes this pasuq as a source for the obligation of living in the Land.
My teacher, the Rambam (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, or Maimonides), does not enumerate living in the Land as a separate mitsvah (commandment). This has caused many to mistakenly infer he did not view it as a mitsvah. That point of view is difficult to understand, considering he specifically mentions numerous 'mitsvot' which only apply inside the Land. Further, he says in the (Laws of Kings 5:15:) "One should always endeavor to live in the Land, even in a city which is mostly non-Jews, rather than live outside the Land even in a city which is mostly Jews".
It seems the Rambam does indeed believe there is a mitsvah of living in the Land. He further states (Laws of Women 13:25), that in the case where one spouse wishes to live in the Land and the other does not, the one who wants to live in the Land has the upper hand - and the other spouse must either move, or divorce. He further states (Laws of Slaves 8:10) : that a slave who escapes to the Land is not extradited to his master who is living outside the Land. Even further, he says that the only reasons one may leave the Land are to find a wife, to engage in Torah study, or because of extreme financial hardship (Laws of Kings 5:11)! If there are only three valid reasons to leave the Land, does it not imply that all our elaborate justifications for remaining in exile are self-delusion?
Why then doesn't the Rambam list living in the Land as a separate mitsvah? He clearly seems to believe it is required! I think the answer is clearly that he feels it is a prerequisite for other mitsvot, therefore he doesn't feel the need to mention it specifically. Just as we don't have a mitsvah to eat -- but there is a mitsvah to say a blessing over food, so too regarding the Land. There are hundreds of mitsvot which can only be done in the Land -- obviously, one must live there if possible!
One may approach from a different angle: if one were banished from one's home because of bad behaviour, and was later permitted to return -- would one ask if there were an obligation to return, or would one run home, happy to be let back in? We were exiled from our own Land because we didn't behave. Now for the first time in two millennia, every Jew has the opportunity to return to his home; why do we delay?
Is it a sin to avoid living in the Land?
As mentioned above, the Ramban predicates his inclusion of "living in the Land" as a mitsvah on the verse that says "you will possess the Land and settle in it". He also mentions that we should not "despise" Hashem's gift. So according to Ramban, if we don't live in the Land we are not only violating a positive commandment, we are also being ungrateful for the gift He gave us.
The Rambam, however, doesn't specifically enumerate living in the Land as a positive commandment; it seems he would not say there is any transgression involved in not living in the Land. That is a bit simplistic, though. If a person says by analogy, "I have no tefillin (phylacteries), therefore I am not obligated!"... is that person not transgressing by avoiding performance of a mitsvah? How much more so with respect to living in the Land, upon which so many mitsvot depend!
The famous episode of the "spies" (Numbers 13:2, etc) is recounted in Deuteronomy 1:26 as a sin. Our traditional commentators on Torah mention that the sin of the spies was that they slandered the Land and caused the people to lose faith in God's promise. When we avoid living in our Land for any but a very few reasons, we compound the spies' sin, keep it alive and bring disaster upon ourselves.
You can be a good Jew outside the Land!
This is, unfortunately, not completely true. Those of us who live outside the Land have to make many compromises -- to live bediavad (after-the-fact). I mean by this that we do not have the ability to perform mitsvot in the proper way (let alone the most preferable way!) because of our sins and those of our ancestors.
Just one example: חדש. Hadash is the prohibition of eating "new" grain -- that is, grain which took root after the "omer" offering was brought (or would be brought, were the Temple extant), on the 16th of Nisan until the following year on that day. This is a Biblical prohibition (Leviticus 23:14), and the mishnah (`orlah 3:10[9]) states clearly, "Hadash is Biblically forbidden, everywhere". The mishnah elsewhere (qiddushin 1:9) states in the name of R' Eliezer that Hadash also applies outside the Land.
The major Rishonim (Rif, Rosh, Tur, Ramban) all agree with the Rambam's formulation: (Laws of Forbidden Foods 10:2) "anyone who eats Hadash, prior to the `omer offering, transgresses the Torah - everywhere, and at every time, whether in the Land or outside it, whether the Temple exists or not". Not surprisingly, the Shulchan Aruch also rules this way but adds, "whether it belongs to a Jew or a Gentile". The Rema does not argue with this ruling -- it seems the Jewish world is united on this issue!
If you look at today's practice, however, you will find that almost noone in the US "keeps Hadash". Acquiring yoshon flour is very difficult, and very few grain products are marked yoshon (e.g. the opposite of Hadash). The person who tries to keep this Biblical mitsvah is considered by his fellows as trying to be excessively pious! Why do Jews in America regularly violate a Biblical mitsvah, especially when the majority of the Rishonim agree it applies outside the Land? How can this be a good thing? I have been told that "all the grain in the US is yoshon because it is kept in granaries for a long time before marketing". This is simply not true; the average time to market is less than three months from the time of harvest until processing. I have also heard that "it only applies to Jewish grain, not Gentile grain". This might accord with the Rambam's formulation, but certainly is not what the Shulchan Aruch says explicitly.
We do what we can to keep Hadash -- but it is almost impossible in the US, primarily because very few religious Jews care about it. They seem to think it is ok to transgress a Torah prohibition based only on the flimsiest reasons. This is why I say we are living bediavad. It is possible we are not transgressing, though not likely.
There are many other mitsvot we are unable to properly fulfill because we live where we do. The time to correct this is now!
Aren't you concerned about terrorism?
Of course I am, as any sane person should be. However, I am mirthlessly amused by those who say the threat of terrorism is a reason to stay away from Israel. I find it difficult to understand how one can live in the post "9/11" world, and still think Israel is more dangerous than America or any other place. Those who pray for our destruction and dance with glee when our blood drips from their hands are no less willing to murder us outside of the Land. This should be abundantly clear to anyone who has paid attention to the news in recent years. One could make the argument that Israel is actually safer, because its security forces are on heightened alert much of the time and the general population is also very much aware of security issues.
We should all be concerned about terrorism, wherever we live. The brutal attacks on the US, Spain, Morocco, Bali and so on and on, should wake up even the most somnolent person to the reality that terrorism is not specifically an Israeli problem.
Additionally, those who think there is no anti-Semitism in America in our day and age have not seen the looks I get on occasion -- just walking the hallways at work. They have not heard the calls of "dirty Jew!" from passing cars as I walk to the synagogue on Shabbat. There is no safer place for a Jew than the Land. Ask the millions who perished in the European Holocaust and the hundreds of thousands who experienced the Crusades, the Inquisition and so many other examples of our neighbors' lovingkindness. Witness how the entire Jewish community in America is aflutter over the film The Passion. Are they upset because they truly believe we are "past anti-Semitism"?
To make a practical point: according to the CIA's World Book and the US Census Bureau, the average life expectancy in Israel is higher than in the US, both for men and women! This includes the last several years of homicide-bombings. Apart from that, the rate of murder is much lower in Israel than in the US. Israelis -- men, women and children -- generally feel safe walking outside at night. Is there a single large city in the US where this is true? While one is more likely to die from a politically motivated murder in Israel than in the US, is it better to die from a street-thug's bullet in America than from a so-called shahid's bomb in Israel? If so, why exactly?
But it's so hard to live there!
I'll concede this point... the Israeli economy has taken a very big hit in recent years. Not only because it is dependent to a large degree on the flagging US economy, but because of the war of annihilation that is continually being waged against it. My particular field of "high-tech" has been especially hard-hit, and I know people who have been looking for work for a long time.
Nevertheless, there are jobs available and the economy is improving slowly and the mid to long-term forecast is good. It will probably never be as comfortable a place to live as the US or Europe, but as long as one has enough to live on, what else is necessary? I should also note that I know many people here in the US who have been looking for work for a long time without success.
While it is true the economy is difficult in Israel, it is also true that being an observant Jew in the US is both difficult and very expensive. Kosher meat is three or four times more expensive than non-kosher. Our children attend private Jewish schools. The combined tuition costs us the equivalent of a new car every year. I have to use my personal vacation time for Jewish holidays rather than for actual vacation. All these expenses would be significantly lower in Israel, and one doesn't have to justify taking off for Jewish holidays to the Gentile boss.
For example, if we were to sell our house here we would probably be able to buy a house in Israel (not in Jerusalem but somewhere less in-demand) and it is certain we could live on a much lower income. Even private religious schools in Israel are much less expensive than in the US, and there are government funded religious schools which don't cost more than the other public schools. There is no difference in price between kosher and non-kosher food (meat is very expensive there in any case; most Israelis eat less meat than Americans, which is overall a good thing).
One last point on this topic: medical care. Whatever the pros and cons of socialized medicine, it is a fact that no Israeli need go without medical care, no matter how poor. The medical care in Israel is world-class, and researchers there break new ground in treatment of all sorts of ailments every day. Whereas in the US there are hundreds of thousands of people who cannot get basic medical care because of their circumstances, this is unheard of in Israel.
Updates:
- The economy of Israel has proven to be much stronger and more resilient than the US. Of course, when this was originally written I had no idea that things would work out this way...
- Our experiences with the Israeli health-care system have been extremely good.
You can't move before mashiach comes!
This is simply ridiculous, there is no source for such a stance. The composer of the Shulchan Aruch -- the compendium of Jewish law -- moved there, as did many other sages as well as ordinary people over the centuries.
A more serious claim is that we as a people cannot take possession of the Land before God has demonstrated His willingness -- primarily by bringing us our Mashiach for whose arrival we pray every day. First, whether or not this is true has no bearing on whether individual Jews can or should live in the Land. Second, one might say that the fact that the UN permitted the establishment of a State of Israel in 1948 is in itself proof that God views the venture favorably. Considering how consistently anti-Israel the UN itself has been ever since, it is doubly miraculous! How long will we close our eyes to God's miracles and deny His goodness?
But what will your community do without you?
What did they do before I joined them? I am gratified that people think I have an impact on my community, though I fail to see it in practical terms. Regardless, to the extent it is true I should do my very best to convince the entire congregation to move, since that is what I think they should do! It seems to me that if I am indeed a leader of my community, I should attempt to inspire its members to do what I think is right, rather than encourage them to stay in exile by my bad example.
Kafka would have cringed
The Israeli government seems to have been designed with Franz Kafka in mind. Getting anything done requires waiting in long lines, dealing with surly civil-servants and often returning several times to get matters resolved. One offical says one thing, another says something else. Quite similar, in fact, to dealing with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service. The Israeli government seems to have taken the British love of beaurocracy and coupled it with Ottoman indolence.
While this is true and exceedingly frustrating, the obligation of living in the Land is not conditional on there being a reasonable government there. Even in the dark days when the Muslim world held control over all our Land, the obligation to live there existed. In fact, many of our sages moved to the Land when it was quite a bit more dangerous to live there (the Mechaber and the entire Tsefat kabbalistic community, among others).
They're so rude!
Israelis aren't just rude, they seem to revel in their rudeness. But the truth is that one's experience of this side of the typical Israeli personality depends greatly on how well one knows the person, what community the person belongs to, and so forth. It is also sadly true that there is a great deal of animosity between "secular" and "religious" Jews in Israel. I don't know what the solution for that is beyond every person treating every other person with "a good countenance". Again, living in the Land isn't dependent upon the civility of its inhabitants.
Rudeness, however, is subjective. American's polite behavior comes in place of actually caring about the "other". People routinely exchange pro-forma greetings of "how are you?" without ever truly wanting to know the answer. When an Israeli asks you how you are, it is because he or she actually wants to know.
When I was a young man serving in the IDF, I chose to live in the town called "Kiryat Shmonah", in the north of Israel. I had no family and few friends outside of my army unit. I remember clearly that as soon as I moved into my apartment, neighbors came by to ask if I needed anything -- a blanket, clothes, food etc. In all my years in the US, this has not happened even once. So much for rudeness.
You'll never see your family again!
Though I appreciate the sentiment underlying this statement, it ranks as one of the more ludicrous ones. Air travel to and from Israel is neither difficult to obtain nor outrageously expensive. Telephones and voice-over-IP, IM and email make keeping in touch with loved-ones both trivial and inexpensive.
Of course family visits would take place less frequently when half the planet intervenes; but that is neither a reason to stay in exile nor an insurmountable problem. To anyone wishing to visit us wherever we end up, we pledge B"N to make available as comfortable a guest room as we can accommodate.
Those for whom the flight would be too lengthy if taken as one or two flights, could split it into three or more legs; stopping en-route and visiting or resting as needed. Flight time should be the least of one's concerns if the desire to visit is great enough.
Of course, the preferable solution to this problem is for all Jews to return to the Land, to their inheritance. Were we to live in the same Land, even in different cities, this issue would be altogether moot.
Updates:
- The hosting offer stands. We have a very nice guest-room, and an excellent view of the holy city of Jerusalem from our front porch.
- Esther and I are both in regular contact with our families in the Exile, via Skype, on a several-times per week basis. You can be, too.
But what about your children?!?
You're absolutely right, the best reason to move is for my children's sake!
I have seen many young, observant single Jews here in the northwest USA look for a "shidduch" (marriage partner). They look and look, and cannot find anyone suitable. Obviously, the fact that there are few observant Jews here is a major obstacle. But even in a place with lots of Jews, like New York or Los Angeles, finding someone with similar outlook and inclinations is not easy. Moving to where the concentration of Jews is very high maximises the probability of finding someone appropriate.
Besides marriage prospects, there is the influence of the general society to consider. My children are surrounded by gentiles. The society in which we live is a gentile society. The television, radio, billboards -- everything around us declares that we live in a non-Jewish society. The vast majority of Jews in our area have only a minimal idea of what Judaism is about, and act as if they were gentiles. Even though my children have a very strong Jewish identity, it cannot be helpful that they are constantly bombarded by influences which are antithetical to the values we hold dear.
Furthermore, the predominant culture's stereotypical view of Jews is derived from such role models as Woody Allen and Monica Lewinsky. I cannot think of a more destructive self-image to bequeath my offspring than that of the self-hating and immoral Jew embodied by such as these.
Living as a proud Jew in the Land God bequeathed us, where the very stones hold our people's history -- that is a gift of incredible value to give my children.
The bottom line:
There is only one place a Jew should live: the Land God gave us. Living anywhere else in the world -- no matter how nice a place or how many other Jews live there -- is the equivalent of spurning His gift and preferring the status of punishment to reward.
Despite the inherent difficulties, and the many obstacles in our path, we have committed to making the move in the shortest practical timeframe. We urge you to do the same.
Updates:
- We finally made aliyah, landing in Israel on the 31st of July 2007 (ט"ו באב תשמ"ז). We currently live in the town of Maaleh Adummim, just east ofJerusalem. You can read about our adventure in my aliyah blog.
Send Ron feedback on this essay.