|
|
ALL ABOUT ALIYAH |
|
What is Aliyah? Aliyah, Hebrew for “ascent,” refers to Jews making the
move from the country of their exile to
Sorry, Israelis: Although it has been more helpful in preserving world Jewry than anything else in a couple thousand years, the current British-style Israeli government, though run by Jews, will not be able to do so forever. There is only so much land for the prime ministers to give away before the law of diminishing returns sets in; we will need something else to keep us going until Mashiach comes. Or, someone else. A whole different way of thinking would be welcome.
Sorry, the rest of the world: This is for Jews only.
You may not like it; too bad! Everyone else has somewhere they can go when
things get tough. Yes, Israel was declared a state; however, it — and even
the notion that Jews are a nation and deserve a country — has been under
attack from all quarters ever since (but, many thanks to our friends and
allies, and mostly haShem (G-d), for their help!).
Regarding the Arab-Jewish conflict in the
In synagogues all over the world, aliyah also means the call to bless the Torah at the appropriate times.
Why Make Aliyah?
It’s difficult to write down all the reasons we will
be leaving (especially the
Because… · · · Jewish civilization is just waiting to be renewed. We are the only ones who can do it—and all of us are needed. · It is a retreat to a place we will never run from. People may think we will run because of international pressure, terrorism, falsehoods that the land belongs to others rather than to us, and many other reasons. But we are through running. We have no choice. Nor do we want one; we just want to be home. · At some point, probably when enough Jews make aliyah and stand together at our proper borders, G-d will help us hold our own, and the Arabs will stop occupying our land for one reason or another. Sometime during this period, the Mashiach will come and lead this world and its people into the perfection haShem has always wanted for it and them. · After more than 2,000 years of persecution among and from the
Gentile nations, Jews need a place to call home. The persecution referred to includes the Middle Eastern-style second class
non-citizenship called dhimmitude among the
Arab/Muslim nations, as well as everything that led to the Holocaust in · If you don’t like Israeli politics, you are after my own heart. Move there and VOTE! It’s the only country where Jews actually do have influence on all the things that matter. Despite all the rumors to the contrary, we do not wish to rule the world, just our piece of it. · Mashiach (or the Messianic kingdom,
whichever you like better) is waiting for us to prepare for him (it); are we
going to prepare for him (it) here? If all the people waiting for him to come
before moving to · Even if you don’t believe the Judaism you were born into, if you haven’t tried living among fellow Jews — and I don’t just mean going to synagogue with them, but being next door to them and having them live everywhere around you — how can you know how it will be? I was raised as far from observant as you can possibly imagine, and I am finding it quite healing to have friends who are secure in their Judaism. While Israel is at war — the most recent chapter of
the ongoing war to eliminate the Jewish state and people began in mid-July
2006 and continues as I write this — it is better to be there than anywhere
else if you want to help. Speaking of which, I can’t help but think that Melech David was contemplating a situation like the one
with
My Own Reasons
· Life has more meaning for me there, among my own. I can be all that I can be, there. · I frankly don’t like either Israeli politics or its political system. I want to help change them. In trying to give the Arabs who live there equal rights, they have ended up giving them more rights than the Jews! This is an absurd situation which cannot be allowed to continue. I might be the person who figures out how to make it change. I won’t know unless I try. · I am learning that as I get older I am experiencing a certain growing detachment from life: I feel less attached to life in general, accompanied by greater attachment to things spiritual. In reality, this means I can have better relationships with people because I am not as needy; on the other hand, I can’t see myself in a nursing home where there will be few Jewish fellow patients and staff – if I even live that long, G-d willing. · I have come to love my people as well as my G-d. Out of this, I have become a more whole person. The more I study and practice it, the more I believe
that Judaism contains, essentially, the mission of the Jewish people while we
are living on this earth. I feel that, since “from
And if you don’t…
Of course, it’s your
choice. But there are always consequences to the choices we make, and we are
all responsible for those. I cannot even imagine compiling a comprehensive
list of the consequences that would arise from the only Jewish country being
obliterated by a fanatical religion that considers itself our replacement – a
second time. It was bad enough the first time; and as the saying goes,
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Here are some
of the consequences of “no more · You will be too busy trying to survive to participate in the furthering and completion of the Jewish mission on Earth. (Yes, we do have a purpose here. Stop scratching your head, look for the nearest Orthodox rabbi (Chabad ones are usually friendly and are more accepting than some Orthodox sects), and LEARN about it, before it’s too late!) · The USA is, as noted above, the ONLY COUNTRY LEFT “chutz la’aretz” with an appreciable number of Jews. Don’t let the comfort of your Jewish neighborhood (or your non-Jewish one, as is more often the case here) fool you. It’s not so nice elsewhere. I hope that the recent shoot-‘em-up of a Jewish Federation building resulting in the murder of a Jewish woman in Seattle and the injuring of five more, isn’t a sign that the anti-Semitism happening elsewhere is beginning to occur here too. But, I’m too much of a realist to believe it was an isolated incident. What would you think if
Just in case you aren’t too familiar with real anti-Semitism (we haven’t experienced it for several generations here in the States), here are some pointers. · Gangs will come around and beat people up; some even kill people. ·
Incidents like the ones in · Actions like this are accompanied by verbal cues: “Jews not wanted here,” “You F-----g Jew, I’m gonna kill you!” etc. ad nauseam. · The name-calling you’ve experienced will pale by comparison.
HOWEVER – we are stronger than all of that, if we all stick together, call out to our G-D for help, and act, knowing that with this same faith our parents and ancestors carried us to this point; now, we have to carry our people and advance the mission to the next point. That means we need to be seeking to do the things Jews were called to do. That’s what the above learning about our mission here is all about.
Ways Jews are Achieving Unity – Here and Now On our visit to Worship · Both Ashkenazim and Sefaradim say more of the same prayers. During the Amidah, both say “morid ha-tal” during the summer as well as “mashiv ha-ruach u’morid ha geshem” during the winter. · For a
look at the beginnings of an emerging phenomenon, you might want to check out
a Everyday Life · More and more, Middle Eastern foods can be found in all homes and restaurants. In addition, every country has its contribution to a lovely cuisine. (By the way, Jews don’t have a “cuisine” as such; we have a methodology called Kashrut that can be applied anywhere in the world. Only a few foods, mostly religious in significance, can be said to be uniquely Jewish or invented by Jews: the Passover food charoset and its Sefardic equivalent, hala’iq, challah, matzah, Shabbat eggs and cholent are the only ones I can think of.) · The same can be said of our music. We are still the sweet singers of the world, in more than 100 different languages and all kinds of musical forms and notations. ·
The trend to intermarry among the various larger Jewish groups continues.
Many Israelis are the children of Sefaradic-Ashkenazic
couples of many nationalities; they are being joined by Ethiopian Jews as
well (yes! Black Jews!). Next will be the B’nei Menashe from
If you need help imagining Jewish unity, perhaps you should take a look at a succah during the week of Succoth (which happens to be when I wrote this small section in 5767/2006-2007). Better yet, spend some time building and doing things in your own succah, including inviting others to join you. In my neighborhood we Jews have a tradition of Succah-hopping every year. My family and another joined together and made vegetable and fruit salads – and I made my own salad dressing. Others made appetizers, soup, main course and desserts. We had a lot of fun and others are looking to join in this neighborhood event next year.
This year (2006-7/5767) it seems we are seeing
Succoth as the great unifier of our people. Our entire bodies are involved
(we build, we live in the succah by praying,
eating, reading, entertaining guests, sleeping in the succah
– whatever we can do as much as we can); any and every Jew is eligible to
perform this all-encompassing mitzvah. I can tell you, it’s a great way to
get a different perspective on life. Paradoxically,
Shalom,
We are very thankful for the home you allowed us to
have here. But now it’s time to say goodbye. And we want to do so properly.
The
“Ki miTzion tetzeh Torah, u’dvar haShem m’Y’rushalayim!” |
|
