Moving to Israel

When I and many of my fellow Olim move to Israel one of the tougher things to acclimate to is the loss of so many of the non-Jewish “holidays” that we grow accustomed to celebrating. I often hear how it is so hard to be away and miss the fun loving, carefree days of Thanksgiving, New Years, etc.

However, as this time of year rolls around all you have to do is walk the streets of Israel and be reminded that this is the ultimate place to celebrate and enjoy the true holidays that Hashem has gift wrapped for us. Starting today, as you go about your business in the Holy Land, you will hear many people repeat the phrase “Mi-she’nikhnas Adar marbim be-simcha” – “When Adar arrives, we increase joy.”

In other words the month of Adar has arrived and it is time to be happy and warm our hearts with memories of the some of the incredible miracles that Hashem has blessed us with throughout time. These are the true holidays of the Jewish year and these are truly the times to celebrate. We must always remember what in this world is truly important and, as an Oleh from North America, I can tell you that it is infinitely easier to remember and appreciate all the real blessings that G-d has bestowed upon us here in Israel, where the truly meaningful holidays are felt in the air for the entire “holiday season.”

Looking forward to a wonderful Adar and may everyone raise their level of joy to unprecedented heights as we bask in Hashem’s love for us.

Ari

Always searching for good reasons to convince people to move to Israel, I was unfortunately hit over the head with a fantastic reason this morning when I read Noam Bedein’s chilling article on his 13-day coast-to-coast visit to Canadian college campuses.

It seems that college students, more than ever, are dealing with a completely inaccurate (to put it mildly) view of the situation in Israel. Whether this distorted view they have is due to being misinformed or just plain disdain for the Jewish State, it is a sad fact that Bedein talks about in his description of his tour that he used to try presenting the human side of the Israeli town of Sderot and the western Negev communities.

“Palestinians” and others clearly have no interest in any “peace treaties” with Israel and reading this article is a painful reminder that the battle is not just here in the Middle East but even with many of our “friends” in North America.

Ari

As many of you probably know, US President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address the other day and, as usual, there are major ramifications for those interested in the well being of Israel.

The US is placing special ships off the Iranian coast and antimissile systems in at least four Arab countries, according to administration and military officials, in what appears to be the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, The New York Times reported on Saturday. The President warned that his administration’s diplomatic outreach will now be combined with the “consequences.” Obama’s administration is attempting to garner broad international consensus for imposing sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which apparently controls the military side of the nuclear program. The deployments are an attempt to show Jerusalem that there is no immediate need for military strikes against Iranian nuclear and missile facilities, according to administration officials.

While we hope that the President is working with Israels’ - not to mention the worlds’ -  best interest at heart, it is worth thinking about whether, in the end, anything positive will result from these crucial decisions. Remember, the International community wasn’t exactly thrilled with Israel’s intentions to strike Iraq’s nuclear reactor in the early 1980’s and it turned out to be only through the grace of G-d that Israel acted regardless. It could very well be that Israeli action against Iran would be the best thing that could happen to the world at large and let’s hope President Obama and the US administration realize this before the ultimate mistake is made.

Ari

Being a proud American by birth and spending much of my adult life trying to get people to move to Israel, I find nothing more frustrating than when my native home seems to attempt to thwart my efforts of encouraging Jews to return home.  Unfortunately, this seems to happen all too frequently and this week was another example of this as United States envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell arrived in the region this week in efforts to further press the Jewish state into relinquishing territory to the American-backed Palestinian Authority.

I say this discourages people from moving to Israel due to the fact that this move by Mitchell is clearly not in the best interest of the Jewish State and will therefore make Jews think twice about coming. According to sources Mitchell is unveiling a five-point plan that will force local parties back to the negotiating table and press Israel to retreat back to the Armistice Line that existed between the Jewish state and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the years 1949 and 1967. This would seem to signal an acceptance of the 2002 Arab Initiative, which calls for a complete Israeli surrender from all lands won in the 1967 Six-Day War and the establishment of a new Arab state in these lands.

While this is reason enough that Israel proponents should be weary of this plan (an “agreement” which calls for a complete Israeli surrender from all lands won in a defensive war which almost led to her, G-d forbid, destruction???), one should also be skeptical just by who is calling for this idea. Mitchell has seemingly been hostile and one sided against Israel since he first stepped into the Middle East picture. He clearly does not have Israel’s best interest at heart and, while I truly love America and value its relationship with Israel, I’ve unfortunately learned from the past that when Mitchell is involved it is usually best to root against whatever he is proposing regarding Israel’s “well being.”

Ari

I’ve been writing this moving to Israel blog for some time now and, as my regular readers know, I am always trying to recommend any similar content I find on the Internet. Therefore, I was thrilled when a reader sent in information about their own Aliyah blog.

“Esther’s Aliyah Experience” is written by Esther Cohen, who made Aliyah one and a half years ago and chronicles her experiences as a new immigrant from North America. She recently started her own Wine Tour Company called “My Israel Wine Tours” (www.myisraelwinetours.com) and the blog is a great read for people like me who love reading about the Aliyah experience.

Check it out, let me know what you think and please always contact me when you see something you think might be of interest to our readers.

Ari

As I frequently mention, my move to Israel was made from the United States and, as such, I tend to regularly refer to the opinions of Americans when talking about Israel. Today is one of those times as I want to point out a fantastic blog entry posted by leading American attorney and stalwart defender of Israel Alan Dershowitz.

The post talks about Dershowitz’ dire prediction that, G-d Forbid, Islamic terrorists may well succeed this year in blowing up a civilian airliner. He notes that they have already twice proved that suicide bombers can get through security. And those are only the successful security bypasses that we know about. It is a scary, but necessary to hear, analysis that Dershowitz gives and he suggests some solutions that, while expensive, will greatly reduce the danger that thousands of fliers face every day and are relatively simple to implement.

Give this a read and I highly recommend all of Dershowitz’ works.

Ari

Although I made the move to Israel many years ago, America is my country of birth and I am still a very patriotic American at heart. That’s why it pains me to so often see the very anti-Israel activities that regularly occur on American soil. I was therefore happy to read what took place at an event last week in San Francisco, California marking the first anniversary of Operation Cast Lead.

The rally, led by Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!), International Solidarity Movement (ISM) of Northern California, Code Pink, Women in Black and a number of other organizations hostile to Jewish statehood that normally succeed in broadcasting their message of “Israeli atrocities and racism” was met with an unexpectedly assertive Zionist counter-protest. San Francisco Voice for Israel, a local pro-Israel group affiliated with the StandWithUs organization, has since 2004 been publically confronting what the group terms “anti-Israel hate speech” in the California Bay Area. Taking no position on Israel’s borders or on the fate of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, SFV4I attempts to present Israel as a Western democracy closely allied to the United States. To that end, the group holds regular counter demonstrations – often featuring American flags alongside Israeli ones – across from more belligerent and sometimes violent anti-Israel forces. They were joined by the Zionist Freedom Alliance (ZFA) of Northern California, a new factor in the Bay Area Jewish scene with a much younger membership than other pro-Israel groups. Rather than talk about Israeli democracy, the Alliance assertively pushed a message of Jewish national rights to all territory between the Mediterranean Sea and Jordan River. Caught off balance by the unapologetic and forceful Zionist message, the anti-Israel activists, although employing their familiar tactic of presenting Israeli policies in a negative light, found themselves unable to challenge the assertion of Jewish rights.

While the ZFA and SFV4I do not always see eye to eye on all issues, it was good to see them unite in this instance and stand up to the all too frequent anti-Semitic rantings of these groups. Hopefully this will be another step in educating the American public to let them know that Israel is a valued, trusted friend of the U.S.A. and that it is the crimals and dictators of the world that deserve their attention and condemnation.

Ari

Need another reason to move to Israel? A Nigerian national, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, claims to have been ordered by the Al-Qaida terror organization to blow up an American plane, Northwest Airlines Flight 253, carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members on December 25 on a flight heading to Detroit.

The attempted attack comes the same night that IDF soldiers neutralized the terrorists who murdered Shomron resident Rabbi Meir Chai in a shocking drive-by shooting. Renewed fear had been gripping many of the Diaspora Jews after the vicious murder and the old cries of “dangerous Israel” were being recalled.

Perhaps this recent (attempted) savage attack on a flight full of innocent people, within Americas borders and with no connection to any alleged Israeli occupations, will remind everyone that it is utter world domination that the Arab terrorists are after and Israel, home of the Jewish people and under constant protection from Hashem, is really the safest place to be.

Ari

Ehud Barak’s abrupt ousting of the Samaria located Har Bracha Yeshiva from the Hesder (combined IDF and Torah study) program has been headline news in Israel for a week. He claimed that statements made by the Yeshiva “shake the foundations of Israeli democracy and encourage mutiny…and that there is no place for such behavior in a democratic country” and has, therefore, led the public to believe that Zionist rabbis, those heading Yeshivas that send their students to become officers and combat soldiers,  endanger the future of the army. These are very serious - and some would say libelous - charges brought against some of our leading rabbis and the Hesder community itself.

This is why I want to publicize the response given by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, head of the Yeshiva. His response is thoroughly thought out and well written and is a must read for everyone with an interest in Israel and its well being. With many slanderous accusations being lobbied at the religious community through the years (especially regarding the army) it is good to see someone stand up in their defense and challenge some of the authors of these libels.

May Hashem make the truth come out and keep our country protected.

Ari

As the festive holiday of Chanukah settles upon Jews all over the world this week we take time to remember some of the many miracles wrought for our nation. A nice piece I read this morning reminds us that is also a good time for a financial education.

This holiday, when even the youngest child may receive gelt (the Yiddish word for money; Chanukah gelt given out by parents and guests after lighting the candles is the traditional children’s present rather than gifts), provides parents with a timely opportunity to teach their children about money and good financial habits. The article mentions how, particularly in today’s times, impressionable children are constantly confronted with uneducational messages regarding money. For this reason, it is even more important for us to teach our children financial responsibility from an early age and Chanukah provides the perfect opportunity. We can teach them where this money comes from, the responsibilities it brings, how it can help others and more.

While the festive side of Chanukah will be bringing joy to the Jewish people in Israel and throughout the world this week, let’s all remember to take the valuable lessons it teaches us as well to further strengthen and fortify our people.

Chag Sameach.

Ari