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

Still have those people who, no matter how hard you try, can’t get them to finally pull the trigger and move to Israel? Just bring them for a visit on Purim and let them soak in the incredible atmosphere that overtakes the country on the 14th of Adar (in Jerusalem, Purim is celebrated on the fifteenth of Adar, Sunday night and Monday this year).

The site of children in their costumes, everyone listening to the story of Esther, celebrants eating their festive meals and sending prepared food items to each other by messenger and everyone giving money to the poor in order to allow them to celebrate the holiday as well, all to celebrate the story of Purim, in which a sequence of events led to a Jewish woman named Esther (Hadassah) being crowned queen in time to use her position to save her people from a genocidal decree, should be enough to get even the toughest customer heavily thinking about finally making Israel their home.

This is truly one of the most special times of the year to live in Israel and I know that I will be cherishing every second of it.

Ari

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

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 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

There was a great article by Yochanan Visser, a Dutch-language analyst for the Israel Facts Group (www.israelfacts.eu), a European media watchdog organization, published on Arutz Sheva today about the way the Dutch government funded news show NOS Journaal hushed up a Dutch anti-Semitic incident in the old city of Jerusalem on October 31. The article mentions that in the Netherlands the number of anti-Semitic incidents connected to events in Israel rose sharply this year.

Long time readers of this blog know that will I often cite these types of incidents as further reasons of the need for all Jews to move to Israel and this case is no exception. The Netherlands, as most places across the world, continue to express their hatred for us and their desire for to see us no longer living among them.

Ari

A controversial and contentious topic that has gone back and forth between Israel and the U.S. for years has been in regards to Israel’s development throughout Judea and Samaria. It was therefore good news to many when Minister Benny Begin mentioned on Israeli television the other night that construction in Jewish communities throughout Judea and Samaria are not frozen and that even American officials know that Israel has only placed certain limitations on Jewish construction. He noted that apartments are being built and will continue to be built during the period of limitations and stressed that this period is only temporary.

The positive ramifications of this comes in many forms, not the least important of which is in the potential for more Jews to make the move to Israel. More construction means more Jewish communities and more Jewish communities, particularly the beautiful ones that I am sure will come out of the latest round of construction, will hopefully open the eyes of more of our brothers and sisters to make Israel their permanent homes.

Ari