Moving to Israel

We here at the moving to Israel blog always like to acknowledge the Jewish holidays as they come and this week is one of the most special as the holiday of Shavu’ot arrives. Shavu’ot (over here is a fantastic summary and explanation of the holiday) marks the end of the time of The Counting of the Omer (another great link over here), the period from Passover to Shavu’ot and a time of great anticipation. We count each of the days from the second day of Passover to the day before Shavu’ot, 49 days or 7 full weeks, hence the name of the festival. As is expained in http://www.jewfaq.org/:

“The counting reminds us of the important connection between Passover and Shavu’ot: Passover freed us physically from bondage, but the giving of the Torah on Shavu’ot redeemed us spiritually from our bondage to idolatry and immorality. Shavu’ot is also known as Pentecost, because it falls on the 50th day; however, Shavu’ot has no particular similarity to the Christian holiday of Pentecost, which occurs 50 days after their Spring holiday.

“It is noteworthy that the holiday is called the time of the giving of the Torah, rather than the time of the receiving of the Torah. The sages point out that we are constantly in the process of receiving the Torah, that we receive it every day, but it was first given at this time. Thus it is the giving, not the receiving, that makes this holiday significant.”

While Shavu’ot is perhaps not as “well known” as some of the other Jewish holidays throughout the year, it is imperative that we understand its complete significance and how being given the Torah truly turned us into Hashem’s chosen people.

Let’s try and take this year to especially reflect and appreciate our lot as Jewish people who have been given the privilege to serve Hashem and to be worthy of the magnificent gift he has blessed us with, the gift of the Torah.

Ari

As we approach Yom Kippur, the holy day of the Jewish year when we all hope to be written in for a successful year by Hashem, the talk of the Jewish world has been Binyamin Netanyahu’s (some would say “historic”) speech given in the UN on Thursday. For the most part, it has been accepted with a rare wall-to-wall praise both in Israel and abroad.

With a few exceptions, most noted the persuasiveness of the speech and how it will linger long in the minds of the international community who saw Netanyahu powerfully display the photograph of him with the plans for Auschwitz and took criticism for encouraging Israel to leave Gaza, and then condemning Israel in the Goldstone Report when it responded to the rocket attacks that resulted.

As we move towards the holiest time of the year for Jews, let’s hope the prime minister will keep up his strong and effective defense of Israel and hope that, with G-d’s help, our tiny country will prosper and thrive in the year ahead.

Ari

As the Jewish new year approaches and we prepare for it by doing teshuvah/repenting with prayers, charity, etc. we should be extra careful this year to do all of these activities with Gilad Shalit, the captured soldier, in mind.

As many of you are aware, Gilad Shalit was kidnapped more than three years ago by Gaza terrorists affiliated with Hamas as he served in the army protecting the land of Israel. Aviva Shalit, the mother of the kidnapped soldier, made an emotional speech Thursday in honor of her son’s 23rd birthday. It is truly heart wrenching words she delivers and should remind us to keep him in mind and do whatever necessary to secure his release as soon as possible.

Gilad is one of many who have made the ultimate sacrifice for us to be able to miraculously live and pray in the land of Israel. Not too long ago the very idea of such a possiblility seemed absurd. Let’s ask Hashem this Rosh Hashanah to provide us with yet another miracle and have Gilad return home for the coming year.

Ari

Times were that people moving to Israel were considered to be taking on a financial burden and sacrificing many of the luxuries of the Diaspora. Now it seems to be that people are continuing to make Aliyah, not just for spiritual and idealistic reasons but for financial gain as well - an unheard of concept not long ago.

Arutz Sheva reports how the Israeli economy has become a draw for North American immigrants in the face of the economic downturn abroad. In speaking on the subject Danny Oberman, executive vice president of operations at Nefesh B’Nefesh, describes some of the examples of economic advantages in living in Israel including a wider job market for recent university graduates, families with young children being able to find more affordable Jewish or college education in Israel than back in the U.S. and Canada, cheaper health insurance rates and more.

While the financial challenges of living in Israel still, and always will, exist, it’s good to see some of the financial incentives of making Aliyah catching up to the spiritual ones.

Looking forward to seeing you all here.

Ari

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how US President Barack Obama, along with his family, attended the second night Passover Seder in the White House with staff and friends. This is believed to be the first White House Seder attended by an American president. I also noted how we must look closely before celebrating such an event as being a positive occurrence for Israel and the Jewish people by noting that it was former President Jimmy Carter, hardly a friend of Jews of the world, who had set the closest precedence to this and we all know how his reign of terror played out (and, unfortunately with his world wide influence, continues to play out to this day).

Therefore, I thought it was interesting to point out an article by Carol Schwartz entitled “Seder in the White House, Oy Vey” that takes this point further and brings in examples throughout history telling us to beware of what such an event can mean. It is a truly chilling account as it makes us look at our own past and see how we are potentially putting ourselves in great danger once again when we take our supposed “great relations” with our host (and foreign) government and assume that it bodes well for our long term future there.

As Carol closes her article “Let us not forget our history and let us remember that history has a way of repeating itself. (May G-d protect us.)”

Ari

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will recommend to the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Agency that Nathan Sharansky be appointed to head the agency in place of Zev Bielski, who recently resigned and was elected a Kadima Knesset Member.

This is important news for people considering making the move to Israel as the Jewish Agency, which was established in 1923 and served as a quasi-government of the Jewish population in Israel until independence was declared in 1948, has spent the past sixty plus years has focusing on bringing Olim (Jewish immigrants) to Israel.

Sharansky was a symbol of the struggle of Jews to make Aliyah (immigrate to Israel) from the Soviet Union and spent nine years in jail and in labor camps. Since being freed and coming to Israel in 1986, he has been extremely active in the political landscape of Israel, serving in the Knesset and taking various stands against the the planned withdrawal from Gaza and the uprooting of the Jewish communities there.

For those thinking of making the dramatic move of uprooting their lives and starting anew in Israel, it would be encouraging to see someone of such honor be appointed to this crucial post and help with the process of seeing other Jews making the final trip home.

Ari

As Passover goes on throughout the world many are talking of the Seder that was conducted at the White House on Thursday night to mark the second night of the  holiday in what is believed to be a “first” for the executive mansion.

While this has been lauded by many in the Jewish community and various media have viewed the celebration as a sign that the new president would invest much in a close relationship with his Jewish supporters we must be wary and cautious before reading too much into this. Remember, President Jimmy Carter attended a Seder in 1979 at the Washington home of adviser Stuart Eizenstat and, unfortunately, he turned out to be hardly a friend of the Jewish people (to put it mildly).

Let’s hope that history does not repeat itself and this historic event truly does indicate a confirmation of friendship between Obama and the Jewish nation.

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Passover.

Ari

There was a fantastic blog post on Friday published by well known radio personality Tamar Yonah. The piece is entitled “Allah is a Zionist” and includes an extremely moving interview with Major David Shapira, the hero who ultimately killed the terrorist who brutally murdered the innocent victims of Mercaz Harav Yeshiva ten months ago.

Besides the interview being so powerful and the post so eloquently making its mark, I think one of the most beautiful, inspirational elements of the piece is the strength we should feel to be Jewish and, hopefully, live in Israel as “their god, listens to our prayers.”

Keep up the good work Tamar.

Ari

I read another, what would seem to be, innocuous post on the TACHLIS news group this morning that really put an extra bounce in my step for the week. The post was from someone named “Ayala” and mentioned that they were looking for a community to move into in Israel with all their important prerequisites listed.

While posts like these may seem like “just another one” to many, to me they always make me smile. They make me happy because, despite all the trials and tribulations we go through here people continue to move to Israel, look for new communities in Israel, thrive in Israel and more. People are not letting all the very public struggles the country goes through on a regular basis prevent them from living their dream of living in the Jewish home land. It would be very easy for the Jews at large to let all the negative publicity and news stories coming out of the Holy Land discourage them from making such a dramatic overhaul to their lives. Thank G-d, I hear stories daily that this is not the case. People continue to “come home” and, as we hopefully continue to spread the word, this will only increase in number as the days, weeks and years go by.

Good luck Ayala. We will definitely be in touch over here at the Moving to Israel blog to extend a hand and offer any tools and/or encouragement that may be of service.

Ari

As we move ahead towards another new year, all the big news stories have been reporting and analyzing the looming financial crisis hovering around the world. With predictions forecasting the worst, the usual scapegoats are being mentioned. As Jews we unfortunately know what this means. A common reaction during times of crisis is to look for people to blame and, especially when the source is monetary, the Jewish people are often the designated targets.

We’ve seen this happen many times over the years (9/11 immediately springs to mind) and this is always a wake up call for me to remember how lucky I am to be living in Israel. As we all know, things are never perfect in the Holy Land. That is an understatement. However, one thing we can always be sure of is that the phrase “because of the Jews” will not be uttered. Not that there are not haters in Israel. However, as we remain a Jewish state we can safely assume that our neighbors will not be whispering when our backs are turned that “the Jews love money nothing else, no faith or religion can be so heartless to their victims etc…”

The sad truth is that outside of Israel this is what many of our peers are thinking (or saying) and only by more of us making Aliyah and moving to Israel can we stand united and proudly reply to the haters that Israel and the Jewish people are not only not the source of the worlds’ problems but are a light unto the nations that will always do its utmost to help mankind and the civilized world through tough times with a belief in G-d and a yearning to fulfill his wishes which will carry us through any crisis we face, be it financial or otherwise.

 Ari