Moving to Israel

Being a proud American by birth who didn’t move to Israel until adulthood, I get no pride in relating negative stories about my country of origin. Unfortunately, today I must do just that in referencing an article by Rabbi Hanoch Hecht of a very disturbing incident that occurred right in Manhattan, one of the centers of the U.S.A. (if not the world).

It seems Rabbi Hecht was walking in the storied borough when he heard the voice of an approximately 11 or 12 year old Caucasian boy chanting the words “dirty Jew” at him. The mother of the boy was right there, apparently not caring and undaunted.

While I try to use this blog to encourage Aliyah and moving to Israel and try not to use fear tactics for this agenda, sometimes there seems to be incidents that just cry out to be heard with messages that are coming in loud and clear. This is one of those times. While this boy and his mother do not speak for the entire country I think Rabbi Hecht puts it best when he says the following:

“The fact that this mother let her son say what he said, and did not reprimand him, makes me wonder what this new generation is being taught.  When an 11-year old boy has no clue about tolerance and respect for another, and thinks that calling someone ‘dirty Jew’ is acceptable or even cool, then I think it is safe to say that we are in big trouble.”

Just another instance of G-d perhaps telling us that there is only one home for the Jews…and it is not America.

Ari

As this is a moving to Israel blog, the vast majority of posts are, obviously, related to coming to Israel, Aliyah, and subjects related to the country. That being said, I’m hoping my readers won’t mind a little shameless plug today. As many of you know, this blog was born out of our shipping to Israel site, www.shippingconsolidators.com, which finds people the best price when shipping to or from Israel. The idea of the site was (and is) to make the Aliyah and moving to Israel process as easy as possible and remove one of the common headaches associated with the move.

Well, we are proud to announce that, due to the success of the site thank G-d and by popular demand, we have now broadened our horizons and have begun working with people on a new site, www.shipping2australia.com. Similar to the concept of our original site and, as you may have guessed by its name, the new site helps people with another move, finding the best price when shipping to Australia. Shipping from Australia, as well as within, are covered as well.

While moving to Australia obviously does not carry the spiritual or halachic (law according to the Torah) significance of moving to Israel, we wanted to let the word out about the site to our readers here in the hope that they will be able to spread the word about the service to anyone who may find it useful and helping our friends out over at www.shipping2australia.com that they may find the same loyal readership that we’ve found over here from our fantastic readers.

Thank you for listening to the plug and may Hashem continue to watch over Jews everywhere they are in the world.

Ari

As we continue through the time of year where our Nation collectively “remembers” some of the most dire times in our history, begining from Erev Pesach / before Passover when we remember our bondage and our redemption from Egypt and continuing through our Holocaust Memorial Day when we remember the persecution of our people while the world watched indifferently, we now gear up for the Memorial Day for our fallen, those of our loved ones who fell in battle during the establishment of our State, or in battles since then and also our loved ones who were murdered by terrorists simply because they were Jews.

This time period and the circumstances surrounding them makes this article by Yehudit Tayar particularly excellent. She talks of how every day is Memorial Day for her when she grieves our beautiful brothers and sisters who have perished through the years simply for being Jewish and how remembering itself is not enough. She talks about how we must also fight while we remember. Fight for our survival, fight for our independence as a Nation, fight by insisting that the world accept our inalienable right to live in Israel and live as Jews and fight in the IDF and send our sons and daughters to fight proudly and with the human values that they inherit as Jews that are so  integral a part of our heritage.

This is but a small list of the some of things we must continue to fight for, but the message from Tayar is clear. Read this stirring article and let it help you feel the power of this week’s Memorial Day, when we mourn our fallen and prepare to fight for our future.

Ari

I talked the other day about my disappointment of the United States’ reaction after Israel announced plans to build 1,600 new houses for Jews in east Jerusalem. However,  this disappointment pales in comparison to the latest “words of encouragement” provided by UN chief Ban Ki-moon. On Saturday Ban spoke about how Israeli settlement building anywhere on occupied land is illegal and must be stopped. He also rejected Israel’s distinction between east Jerusalem and the West Bank, noting that both are occupied lands.

While one sided, Israel bashing statements are nothing new from the UN, it still never fails to boil my blood when I hear such garbage. There’s a whole world out there full of murder, slaughter, hunger and other calamities and, yet, the United Nations always seems to find time to condemn, make a resolution against or just generally criticize Israel…this time for building plans!

While we would be naive to believe that the UN will change their opinions about Israel and the Jewish people any time soon, the whole sad situation should really make us remember and be realistic about the world we’re living in and should raise the level of concern even more when the U.S., Israel’s supposed “best friend,” takes the liberty of joining the nonsense.

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

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

As a common topic among concerned Jews around the world has always been whether or not the President of the United States is “pro Israel” or not, Danny Gottlieb provided a great piece of insight the other day in an article over at Arutz Sheva entitled “Obama is Not the Problem.”

It is a great read regardless of one’s opinion of President Barack Obama as Gottlieb makes the case that we should be more concerned about our political situation here in Israel and stop spending so much time worrying about the pros and cons of the leaders of other nations (yes, even America) via their affinity - or lack thereof - of our people.

He hits the nail on the head when he says “The Knesset is our national and natural home for decisive political debate, not Washington. When we take our fate back into our hands by taking back the Knesset from those who currently sit within it, only then will we get the kind of government we need. And not by expecting miracles from the tall skinny fellow with the different name who sits in that big white house, so detached from us in every respect.”

Here’s hoping we all heed Gottlieb’s message.

Ari

While you tend to get used to the anti Semitic and anti Israeli sentiment around the world, there is occassionaly still a piece of news that comes along that will make me gasp in bewilderment.

This morning was one of those cases as I was reading the news and saw in haaretz.com how a group of British Lawmakers are urging the U.K. government to talk to Hamas. The British parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee said in a report that it stood by a recommendation it first made two years ago that the government should engage politically with moderate elements within Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

In explaining their position the Legistlators stated that “We conclude that there continue to be few signs that the current policy of non-engagement is achieving the Quartet’s stated objectives.” They went on to say that “We further conclude that the credible peace process for which the Quartet hopes, as part of its strategy for undercutting Hamas, is likely to be difficult to achieve without greater cooperation from Hamas itself.”

Needless to say, such assertions are both despicable and offensive. There should not be any discussion as to the potential to “communicate” with the murderous thugs of Hamas. This is a group of killers who (along with many other Arab “political groups”) dream of the day that all Israelis, Jews, Christians and other “infidels” are wiped off the face of the earth, never to be heard from again. The only connection we should have with these criminals is in discussing the best way to stop their vicious assault on the world once and for all.

Let’s hope with the help of Hashem that the  postion of these lawmakers is ignored and that the West’s policy of shunning the Palestinian Islamist group continues as they make preparations to uproot the Hamas terror network for good.

Ari

As a major proponent of Aliyah and moving to Israel my views often get skewed and “one track minded.” I guess that’s why when I read the news this morning my thoughts were not “this is a major story” but “and yet another reason to move to Israel.”

It seems that madness continues to ensue in Iran after the “election” results were anounced last week. For those of you who haven’t heard, the dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner in the elections despite widespread belief that the results were, shall we say, less than fair.

The incredible thing is how Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top Muslim leader, has accused “dirty Zionists” and “Zionist media” for being behind charges that the results of the election were rigged. If it weren’t so dangerous it would be almost comic how everything seems to be the fault of the Jews and Israel. At this point, when I hear an accusation so absurd and rediculous  being thrown at us I can think of nothing but how it’s got to be a sign to come home. Such a comment by anyone against any other people would be considered utter rubbish and over the top. The fact that he is able to say such a thing just makes me want to do the opposite and be in Israel.

Ari

Although this is a blog that attempts to encourage people to move to Israel, we usually attempt to do it in a positive way. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and today this is one of those situations. Today I would like to bring a disturbing article to your attention that will probably make one think about moving to Israel but through negative events coming out of the United States.

The article, printed in the World Tribune and brought to my attention by Tamar Yonah, talks about the cool reception received by  Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi upon his visit to Washington. It talks of how the new administration in the United States has viewed Israel of more of a problem in the Middle East than a friend and solution and notes how America has not been very encouraging towards Israel in regards towards Iran.

These are disturbing events and, again, although we prefer to not use fear as a tactic to try and bring Jews home to Israel, sometimes the facts speak for themselves. Please read the article and after viewing it and others like it, it would not surprise me to see many Americans making the move towards Aliyah without much else being said.

Ari