Moving to Israel

Always a popular and often controversial subject among people born and raised in Israel, as well as immigrants who choose to move to Israel, is the issue of army service in Israel.

One of the most common arguments/discussions in this area focuses on the requirements of the religious resident vs. their secular neighbors. Another frequently discussed issue is the matter of women serving in the IDF.  Rebbetzin Yehudit Shilat of Takana, a forum which fights sexual harassment, tackles both of those issues in an interview with Arutz Sheva where she states her belief that no woman, religiously observant or not, should be required to enlist in the military.

Shilat responded to a proposed Knesset law that would make it more difficult for young women to escape IDF service by claiming to be religiously observant. She expressed support for the proposed measures to ensure that all women who choose not to serve due to “religious reasons” are actually religious, and are not merely using religion as an excuse to evade national service altogether.

Shilat also stresses that there are many ways in which women can contribute to Israel’s security without joining the military stating that “Security isn’t just about war and related matters, it’s also about social welfare, health, education – that’s also part of creating a secure society.”

Go check it out as the interview is a well done piece with an intelligent interviewee that will surely open you up to an interesting perspective of this long running issue.

Ari

The holiday of Sukkot has always been a sight to see throughout Israel (as well as a huge driving force for encouraging potential Olim to move to Israel) and this year is no exception. Check out this video - courtesy of Arutz Sheva - which provides live coverage of the scene in Hevron where thousands of Jews are streaming in for a full day of fun-filled family-friendly events celebrating the Sukkot holiday, including concerts, arts & crafts workshops and a joyous Simchat Beit HaSho’eva celebration (Simchat Beit HaSho’eva commemorates the water pouring ceremony that was performed in the Holy Temple, when the priests would draw the water from a well and pour it on to the altar).

Take some time watching the events in Hevron and let it be an inspiration for you to make your own move home.

Chag Sameach.

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

As the times continue to be challenging throughout the world people are, thankfully, continuing to move to Israel. Another Aliyah flight arrived Tuesday bringing 238 North American Jews courtesy of Nefesh B’Nefesh.

Yishai Fleisher and Arutz Sheva have put together this fantastic photo essay of the happy event as you can truly feel magic as the large group of people arrived home. Check it out and let yourself be inspired to be on that next flight.

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

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

As the winter moves towards its close for the year it made me take a long look this morning at another of the beauties of our country and what could be another little push towards making the move to Israel for the many people still hesitant to do so.

Getting into my car the rain was poring down as the work week began and all around me I saw the people rushing around….with smiles on their faces. Yes, the cold gloom of another wet winter day, usually met with such scorn and depression where I grew up in America, is being treated here in Israel with great happiness and even celebration. The winter had produced an unseasonably dry few months this year and every sunny day was met with more and more concern. After much anticipation and praying, thank G-d, the recent weeks have brought beautiful, wet weather. Whereas in other places these types of days usually bring gloom, here we are being thankful and knowing this is truly a gift that G-d has bestowed upon us in these hard times.

Looking forward to everyone moving home and let’s hope for more wet days.

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

Scanning through the news today, I came across an article in Reuters Africa that talks about how Jewish settler numbers living in “occupied Palestinia land” grew in 2007 by nearly 4 percent. Normally I would brush this off as just another typical anti-semitic propaganda tool meant to harm Israel and the Jewish people. However, sometimes reading these “articles” particularly gets my goat and just makes me want to scream.

There are, of course, the usual lies and misinformation such as how land that was won in a defensive war that was meant to wipe Israel off the face of the earth can be considered occupied, how the Jews are referred to as “settlers” with all its negative connotations and implications, how this natural growth is the obstacle to peace as opposed to the vicious attacks on innocents by these very Palestinians, etc. The list of inaccuracies goes on and on.

However, sometimes the thing that really gets to me when reading such rubbish is the lack of respect that many of us Jews have for the land of Israel. A common argument for negotiations with the Arabs when talking land for peace is the phrase “we don’t need, or want, those areas anyway” and therefore, let them have it. The problem with this (among other things) is that the Arabs do not suffer the same lack of respect. They DO need and want all those areas and are not willing to compromise. It has often been compared to the story of King Solomon and the two women who came before him to solve the problem of the baby who both women claimed to bore. Solomon suggested cutting the baby in half as a “compromise” to the situation. One woman agreed and the other said she’d rather give up the baby then to follow through with this solution. As is commonly known, this told Solomon that the woman who refused the solution was truly the mother as no true mother would let her child be split in two.

The same applies here. If we, as Jews, are willing to slice up the land because it is not important enough to us and the Arabs are saying we want it all and that is the only possibility, what does that tell the rest of the world? It tells them that the Arabs consider this land their baby and we do not. They consider it more important than we do. These attitudes must be changed if we are to stop seeing vicious articles such as these written in the press. We must state strongly and proudly that this land is ours and we are not willing to part with any of it. We must show the Arabs and the world at large that we consider Israel our baby and cannot fathom living anywhere else. Only when everyone else sees so many Jews moving to Israel to make it our permanent home and the rest standing up without wavering in their support of justice and the Jewish right to the land will articles such as these eventually become a thing of the past and our pride as a nation will shine through.

Let’s continue to make the rest of the nations see that this “occupied land” is a land that will remain Jewish as has been promised to us by the Almighty until the end of time.

Ari