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 this is a blog about Aliyah and moving to Israel and I myself am an Oleh from the United States, I tend to focus frequently in my posts about immigration from North America. It is important to remember, however, that Aliyah is happening from all over the world and, in that vain, I refer you to an interesting piece over at Haaretz that takes a look at Aliyah from Russia twenty years after they opened its doors to mass emigration.

The author, Tracy Levy, takes a look at some of the reasons that Russian immigration to Israel has stagnated since 1989 and gives some interesting feedback on where the movement may headed in the future. A great read, especially for we Aliyah addicts.

Ari

I mentioned last week how people have begun thinking about moving to Israel not only in return for the rich spiritual existence it provides but for, recently, for the financial benefits as well. Here’s more to strengthen that argument as Arutz Sheva reports on a recent interview of Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer with Fox News where Fischer says that Israel remains relatively free from severe damage in the worldwide financial crisis and stands to be one of the world’s safest places for investors.

“I feel much, much better that if there’s any [future] crisis, we are in a very strong position, much stronger than a year ago, because of our currency purchases,” Fischer told Fox.

The interview is filled with more optimistic statements about Israel’s financial situation and, while he was probably embellishing for the sake of the public at least a little, it’s clear that Israel has once again, with the help of G-d, shocked the world in remaining strong and vibrant through another world calamity - this time in the face of a world wide recession.

Ari

As the world continues to absorb the latest trauma in Israel’s Gaza offensive it is clear that in the coming weeks and months one of the biggest challenges of the tiny land will be on the public relations front. As usual, there is a good chance that the world’s anti-Israel media will all be rushing to the forefront to condemn Israel’s actions and to sympathize with “the poor, suffering Palestinians.” It is therefore critical that when there is a positive piece of news regarding Israel we publicize it to the max and make sure to spread word that this is a war that Israel has never asked for but is involved in solely for the purpose of protecting its citizens.

On that note, I’d like to get the ball rolling by pointing out a great piece that appears on the normally left leaning haaretz.com written by Bradley Burston. It predicts what are likely to be the worst anti-Israel charges we should expect to be hearing as coverage of the battle continues and, while I personally am skeptical about what part two of this article will have to say when it comes out, there is no doubt about the fact that this piece of writing is fantastic and is worthy of being pointed out.

Give a look at the article and let’s all make sure to help spread the word whenever anything positive is being printed about Israel and her struggles.

May Hashem help the Jewish people overcome yet another challenge against its enemies.

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