Moving to Israel

Just wanted to wish all of our readers a healthy and happy Passover/Pesach holiday from the entire staff at the Moving to Israel blog.

This is one of the most special times of the year for the Jewish people and this link will give you a fantastic summary of various Passover Laws and Customs.

Have a healthy and peaceful holiday and, with G-d’s help, may we all celebrate next year together in Jerusalem.

Ari

One of the most common arguments used to delegitimize Israel (and by extension, the Jewish people as a whole) is the claim that they are a racist state. Beyond the irony of who the people are that are doing the accusing is a further irony that not only is Israel not the discriminating monsters they are made out to be but that the country is, in fact, one of the ultimate models of equality and fairness. This point is driven home wonderfully in a fantastic article by Dr. Alex Grobman entitled “Keeping Israel on the Defensive.”

The article reminds us that “Significantly, Arabs living in Israel are guaranteed equality. Israel’s Proclamation of Independence declares that the state ‘will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice and peace taught by the Hebrew prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture… and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.’ Under Apartheid South Africa, Blacks were not citizens of the country and were not permitted to vote.”

In complete contrast to what the many anti-Semites out there would have us believe, the country’s fair and just treatment of all its citizens should be another reason to admire the Jewish state and want to move to Israel, as opposed to another reason to hate and despise it.

Ari

While this blog attempts to encourage moving to Israel and to let go of the places we now call home, it sometimes astonishes me how the leaders of these very places make it so very clear to us that we are not particularly welcome anyway.

The latest example of this comes courtesy of the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who has recommended that non-Muslims take the opportunity of the month of Ramadan to fast, along with their Muslim neighbors, in order to promote “understanding between cultures.”

Johnson told members of a London mosque that with Muslims so much a part of London life, it would be befitting for non-Muslims to get to know their fellow Londoners’ customs and religion better.

The implications of such a statement are extremely dubious. For one thing, as a local English Democrat leader Steve Uncles so wisely put it, “the indigenous culture of this country is based on Christianity and Paganism. Of course, as an open and tolerant society, if people want to practice other religions, then good luck to them. But the state should not be funding them because otherwise we will lose our culture.”

This is a great point but, what should be even more disturbing amongst the Jewish people is, as the author of the article, David Lev, puts it, “there was no word on whether London Mayor Johnson was planning to suggest that Muslims and Christians fast on Yom Kippur in order to better understand their Jewish neighbors.”

As we all know, this should not be expected to be happening anytime soon and the attempted appeasement of the Muslim population will likely, if history is any indication, come back to haunt the U.K. in the future.

Again, we need to come home. There is really no place for us in countries around the world whose leaders call for the further pandering of the Jew’s (and the West’s) most ruthless enemies. Let’s continue to make Aliyah, call Israel home and make it Hashem’s laws that we practice and celebrate.

Ari

As this blog is always trying to promote Aliyah and moving to Israel, we also like to keep tabs on Olim to get their feel for the pulse of immigrants throughout the country. On that note, it was interesting to see the news that a group of immigrant academics has written to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, urging him to take a clear stand in opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state in Israel.

The group, consisting of many of the Russian-speaking community in Israel, said such a state would be ”foreign to and hostile to the Jewish people… inside [Israel’s] historical borders and adjacent to its largest cities.”

While the ceation of a PA state has been the subject of debate for what seems like an eternity here in Israel, it is important to point out the feeling from this group of immigrants who, like many of us who have made Aliyah in the past, make up a large, core group of the citizens of the country and it is therefore always crucial to let our voices and opinions be heard. Vital decisions for the welfare of the country could depend on it.

Ari

With election of Israel’s Knesset falling deeper into the past and the process continuing with a government being formed, you continue to hear stories of the behind the scenes developments of Binyamin Netanyahu and his attempts to put together a coalition. Some stories, such as this one about Netanyahu giving in to all of the demands made by Yisrael Beiteinu chief Avigdor Lieberman regarding various cabinet positions, are typical examples of these pieces.

While the forming of the government and who will be serving what position are certainly important, critical issues I can’t help but read them with a sense of “are you kidding me” attitude. The discussions and political maneuverings just seem to pale in comparison to things like the attack by a deranged Arab tractor driver last Thursday — the third of its kind in Jerusalem in a single year. A big part of me just wants to shout at these politicians about how we have enough to worry about with an unending amount of Arabs surrounding our tiny little country swearing to drive us into the sea. This should be the only issue when forming a government. The security and survival of the Jewish people needs to come first. 

Let’s hope that these are some of the behind the scene stories that we are not hearing about. The ones where the brave politicians forming the government are talking about nothing but how best to defend the nation and to make sure our enemies torment us no more.

Ari

I just received a very important email from Michal Moreno who works for the Israeli government on a very special project for the LIBI fund. The LIBI fund’s  - the fund for strengthening Israel’s defense - current project is about raising support (and funds) for Israeli troops in GAZA.

For this cause, LIBI has produced a video which can be viewed here. I was asked by Michal to post the video and, upon viewing it, agreed immediately. Please give it a watch, forward it to everyone you know and consider giving to this very important cause. The IDF and the Jewish people need all the help we can get.

Thanks for the support and for spreading the word.

 Ari

As the fast of the 9th of Av dawns upon the Jewish people, many will focus on the many terrible events that took place on this date throughout time. The First and Second Temples were destroyed, Spain ordered the expulsion of all Jews by the 9th of Av in 1492, World War 1 began and many other horrible events occurred on this date.

However, here in Israel, one of the horrors that are still being felt from this date is from just 3 short years ago when the 9th of Av was the last legal day for Jews in Gush Katif before they were expelled a few days later in what is referred to as the “disengagement.” As this article and many others like it correctly put it, the expulsion seems to have taken Israel to where many people predicted it would: disaster and despair.

In addition to the messages sent that terror pays and that with some intimidation Jews will give in, the results have included rockets being fired from these very communities where Jews once thrived with regular training for more terror happening daily. This does not even begin to touch on the staggering statistics reported in the article mentioned above of the psychological and physical devastation suffered by the expellees.

As we focus on another passing of the 9th of Av and ponder some of the catastrophes that have befallen the Jewish people over the centuries, let us think about the disaster of the expulsion of 2005 and let us make sure that, while the Almighty has designated this date as a day of calamities to be faced by our people, we will at the very least take it upon ourselves to avoid such horrors that are brought on by us on our own people. Such terrors as the expulsion should never happen again and let us hope that we will shortly all be reunited in the land of Israel without fear of more 9th of Av happenings.

Ari