Mashiah and Aliya Message
Rabbi Nachman Kahana:
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As part of the redemption process, Hashem will bring about our isolation from the "enlightened" nations of the world to insure that we will not share in their destinies. The United States will turn its back upon us, by very soon deciding that they have had enough of the Israel-Arab conflict.
Hashem will always look after His people in Eretz Yisrael. Perhaps the recent find of huge natural gas deposits off Haifa is the first sign of what I have written very often: that we will be the wealthiest nation on earth.
The things which I write concerning the present and near future are not figments of my imagination but are based on holy Jewish sources.
The essential bottom line to all of this is to come home and be part of the greatest ongoing miracle ever created.
I previously quoted the Yalkut Re’uveini’s prediction that, in the future, Hashem will bring about the long-awaited in-gathering of His people to Eretz Yisrael. Here, they will be wealthy beyond imagination, with the wealth of the world rising from the sea at the "port of Yafo". It is therefore not surprising to learn that the new-found wealth of our beloved land has its source in the gas finds under the seabed of Jaffa.
This new-found wealth will permit us to develop the Negev, the Galil and the Golan. Electric power will be cheap and the government will have sufficient funds to better the lives of its citizens. There will be sufficient funds to complete the plans for sea water desalinization; so when Hashem punishes our neighbors by turning the Middle East into a brown region for lack of water, Eretz Yisrael will be green and lush.
And with regard to the Jews who at that time will have been permanent residents of Eretz Yisrael, in addition to wealth, Hashem will open for us the earthly Paradise, Gan Eden, to reveal the Torah’s secrets. The Midrash continues to relate that the Jews who are brought from the Diaspora will request to enter the earthly Gan Eden like their Israeli brothers and sisters, but Hashem will deny them entrance on the grounds that this unique spiritual experience is the exclusive right of the Jews who built and fought and were willing to die for this land.
These things are occurring very quickly. There is so little time left for free emigration from the US, so I say for the thousandth time - don’t listen to your rabbis or mentors. Just leave everything - come here today - yesterday - and take part in all the blessings awaiting us in Eretz Yisrael.
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posted by yaak @ 8/22/2014 01:42:00 PM
38 comments
38 Comments:
How does one leaves for Israel when his fami'y is broke and don't qualify for Aliya services? If we had the money to do so we would have left a long time ago...how do you move over 6 million Jews from the US? Or from Europe? The rest of the world? What ever happened to the Torah promise that H"B will gather us from the four corners of the world? Some thing are out of our control and not everyone can pick up his family and move without any means. We pray to find a way.
I certainly sympathize and empathize with your situation.
However, you seem to have misunderstood his message. No one is refuting the fact that there will be an ingathering. There are certain advantages to living in E"Y, though, before the Geula. If there are good reasons for you not to do be one of them, Onnes Rahmana Patreih.
Pretty big statement to say don't listen to your rabbi's and just come to eretz yisroel. Almost...heretical.
Unless you are the biggest talmid in todays generation you have no right to tell anyone which rabbi they can or cannot listen to.(Assuming they are orthodox).
I'm sure you've heard of rabbi mizrachi from divineinformation, he said to live in the place that you will grow the most. If moving to a place where you don't know the language, don't have a job, don't have any money will somehow help you grow then go for it. But to tell people to suffer (especially with israel's current horrible economy) - you are essentially asking people to destroy their lives because you are smarter than hashem.
Hashem did not say go move to israel, he said he will gather us. Well frankly, i will wait for him to gather me rather than me suffering to do something so stupid and move to a place where women wear practically nothing all year round.
Cannot argue with Anonymous 3:03's first paragraph. I agree that a person's rabbi likely knows the person best and where he or she will grow the most.
The last paragraph I quoted was certainly bold, and IMHO wrong to say.
This is Zionistic propaganda, Jews are needed where they are to influence others to do mitzvos and speed up the coming of Moshiach.
Israel today is arguably the darkest golus on the planet.
Fortunately the Rebbe of Lubavitch made it clear that Moshiach is the one who will ingather the exiles (part of his job description, as the Rambam explains) and the Rebbe's shluchim and the communities they live in will be in those places when Moshiach comes.
In the meantime, we have the command to "make here Eretz Yisrael"--make where you are (your own daled amos, and your home, and your community) a place that has the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael (from the term "ratz", running to do Hashem's will).
Moshiach Now, and long live the King Moshiach!
Ok, ok, order in the court, order in the court. Yes, I have been twice on pilot trips. Yes, all the coordinators said it will be difficult and
"your.kids.are.too old and your husband is older so parnassah will not be easy and the language and schools blah blah blah, so, I have listened to them.
We are not wealthy, we have debt from the usual cost of living etc...parent is much older etc...
I always remember and quote what Rabbi Winston says," If you can't get to Israel, at least long to be there."
So, for now, we will long to be there. In the meantime I CONSTANTLY pray for Moshiach to come and to vindicate klal Yisrael and to usher in a time of redemption for the entire world.
I had multiple schools in. Israel tell us that our children's ages make it very difficult to learn.a new language on the level that is needed to.succeed in school....
I think that it would be very negative for.us to remove.our children.in their high school years and expect them to excel when reality (and the school guidance counselor) says.she councils.teens on these very issues.
When all is said and done, not everyone's family situation is the same or can easily "just pick up and come".
A diatribe? Yes. Truth in it? Yes.
Lastly, my husband and I say when the stuff hits the fan we will have to lear on the "toothbrush and pj's if we're blessed to" flight.
I will still always have faith in Hashem. Always.
Leah, I have had my parents take me to israel when i was 13. I wasted the next 2 years of my life trying to grasp the language and fit it. Suffice to say, it was a nightmare and when my parents realized we moved back to america and i was finally able to continue school.
It is a hard language to learn going from english. It's a huge change. One I wish my parents never made because it set me back in my life bad enough that I was always behind my peers.
Sure israel was fun...but not to live there, not yet. I do wish to live in israel eventually, but I'll wait for hashem to tell me when that eventually is. Not some post on the internet.
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i truly cant believe what i am reading, as a non jew, (i assume the person who wrote the above is a jew) that a jew can say such of their holy inheritance, People are praying and some even die without seeing the holy land, and here, there is a person who says staying in ysr for 2 years was was a waste of time and nightmare. Now i have no doubts that it is not only us gentiles thats delaying the arrival of the mashiach.
i used to feel very guilty, as a non jew, on all the progroms inflicted on the jews. recently my rabbi told me, the non jews, or the wrong leaders or nature, are just rods Hashem uses to correct the jewish people. We are nothing. we are just tools in Hashem's Hands.
If a jew can speak such of the holy land, can you all blame hamas or hiz BDS or others who speak lowly of the G-d given Land, or can you expect the non jews to have any respect for a jew who can run down their holy inheritance? the sages taught that Hashem, the Torah and the Yisrael are one. when one rejects one, all is rejected.
Were you an einstein before you came to ysr, or did you become one after leaving ysr.?
i am a non jew. i studied basic aleph bet and vowels on my own and was just wishing someone would teach me as i cant afford the e courses, i waited patiently for years. By G-d's Grace, one of my rabbis from agudath ysr, usa, offered to teach me and since july this year, i am learning . Its tough. but if a non jew can make the effort, its mind boggling to see jews with this kind of attitude.
i know a person who has been trying for 7 years to visit ysr. and for booking the flight ticket in advance and not using it, paid a fine of almost 16,000 shekels, and the person is not wealthy, just middle class. He worked sometimes 16-18 hours saving the money. when i told him, not to feel bad, as this money was not meant for him, as in Rosh H its decreed what we get and what we dont, he replied, 'the money went to the ysr air lines. thats fine. They give discounts or free trips to the handcapped and elderly, so its a gain and not a loss. someone gained from it". and this statement comes from a non jew, a noahide.
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and till today has not received an approval. And he has not given up. A non jew can value so much this Land that belongs to the jews, and a jew cannot value it?
Can anyone now say that it is only us gentiles thats causing the delay of the mashiach's arrival??
For one to write that two years was wasted in ysr, ...words fail me. the sages wrote that in this world, boys at the age of 13 and girls at the age of 12, are answerable for their actions though Heaven judges us at 20 years.
i am reminded of this story:
Shlach: Rejecting the Land of Israel
"And [the spies] began to speak badly about the land that they had explored." (Num. 13:32)
Shortly after the end of World War II, at a Shabbat table in Jerusalem, the discussion turned to the deplorable phenomenon of visitors who tour the land of Israel and then return home disparaging the country. 'These tourists complain about the heat, the poverty, the backwardness, the political situation — and discourage other Jews from moving here,' lamented one of those present.
The room became quiet. Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook, son of Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook, the first chief rabbi, responded by relating the following parable.
So too, the Land of Israel does not reveal her beauty to all who visit. Not everyone is worthy enough to merit seeing the unique qualities and special holiness of Eretz Yisrael. It may appear as if the dissatisfied visitors are the ones who reject the Land of Israel. But in fact, it is the Land that rejects them.
Seeing the Goodness of Jerusalem
Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah's response was most appropriate for the son of Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook. When visitors from outside of Israel would come to the chief rabbi for a blessing, Rav Kook (the father) would quote from Psalms 128:5, "May God bless you from Zion." And what exactly is this 'blessing from Zion'? The blessing is described in the continuation of the verse: "And may you see the goodness of Jerusalem."
Rav Kook would then note: it does not say that one should merit seeing Jerusalem, but that one should merit seeing "the goodness of Jerusalem." Many people visit Jerusalem, but not all merit seeing the goodness hidden in the holy city.
(Adapted from "Malachim Kivnei Adam" by R. Simcha Raz, pp. 227-278, 230)
yy, its very disillusioning and disenchanting to hear this kind of views. i thought lessons were already learnt from the story of the spies who did the same.
and the holy land is not something one can reject when one pleases, and accept when one wants to accept at our own whim and fancy.
I know it's easy me me to say this, but you do whatever you can, and then do whatever you can to stay.
I know that most of those who want to come, make such comments, have real life reasons preventing them from coming.
I know that many who come and then leave, don't necessarily leave for the greatest reasons: difficulties with language and culture and changes in standards of living and lifestyle.
Ask yourself these questions:
1) Are you willing to live in a trailer, with lousy insulation?
2) Are you willing to have long commutes to work?
3) Are you willing to work outside of your profession?
4) Are you willing to work for a much less salary to expenses ratio?
5) Are you willing to throw a piece of fabric over a cardboard box and call it coffee table?
If your answers are yes, then what's stopping you?
You know what your challenges are, but what are the "tests" you are really being met with?
It is better to live here poor than to stay in America. There will be much trouble and one might be prevented from fleeing. Better to go now. One does not need Nefesh, you can make Aliya from within Israel, and can live in an absorption center in the beginning.
All the impediments/barriers spoken about are coming from a lack of sufficient Emuna and Bitachon.
I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings, but it must be said.
My dear Friends,
I made aliyah with not only no money but debt, 5 kids, had another 3 kids here, have experienced what most American's would call "very very difficult".. But please
1) This is the test. It's not bad, life isn't about sitting in comforts.
2) Where is your faith. If g-d can provide there he'll certainly provide in Israel. No one starves here
3) Success no matter what position you hold is in your true belief in God. Those who returned was only becuase there belief is not where it needs to be. So it's a symbiotic relationship with God's granting and persons belief. Precisely it is here where you'll grow.
Was Avraham's test comprehendible ? possible ? not difficult ? etc... Then compare it to your petty reasons given.
4) Is 6 major wars and scores of minor wars beyond belief - won - not enough of the a sign ? If god didn't want us here we would have exited world stage in 1948 the same year we entered it.
Put all the BS aside, It's just a lack of faith that's all. That's the test. Get it ? Now pass it. And guess what you don't have to drain swamps, nor carry boulders.
If you cared to move, I ask you, how many hours a day do you spend searching for a job in Israel online ? My guess is for most of you 0. So enough with the BS.
Don't go to shul, to read about Eretz Yisrael, learn Emunah, Review the tests of our forathers, and feed yourself so much BS why your there. It's simply the test of our generation - failed again. God pushing through the agenda nonetheless..
I just got back from America, you're all too comfortably lulled in the Goyish world. Plain & Simple. More than the Jew is in Galut, the Galut is in the Jew. Ask, yourself, If there was no State of Israel, who today would spearhead it ? No one, you can't even come when the red carpet is rolled out, the planes are free, the schools are free, the land is producing food and fruit beyond belief, and even economically it's growing year after year. But the excuses are alive and well.
Neshama you are right. 15 years ago we decided to come to Eretz Yisrael on minimal cash and a flimsy hope of a job. Moving here seemed impossible. The aliyah counselor said we should wait until our teenage boys turned 20. We didn't sell our houses and cars; we didn't have money to bring our furniture and appliances so we left everything there for anyone to take. People thought we were crazy; none of us spoke Hebrew.
Today after all the good HaShem did for us the "at risk" teenagers are married and successful. We have a wonderful life, our own home, success in our work, grandchildren, all miracles.
I remember years ago, before I was married, I asked rav Israel Belsky Shlita from Torah Vaddat in Brooklyn NY. Itold him like this: "I have a sick mother and I am only son, am I allowed to make aliya", he said: "Yes". I did not make Aliyah at that time because I felt eventhough it is mitsva but I have to take my mother. I got married BH , my mother passwed away and then , recently I made aliya. I also asked other great rabbis and NO ONE told me do not go!!
--Moshe
Yaakov, please move here already. There are threats in the news against Chicago. chv's they carry out their threats. These are dangerous days and it will only increase.
yes Yaak, you have a good profession, you will have Hatslaha here with your family
--Moshe
Dear me, some people commenting here need to calm down a little.
1. First of all I honestly believe that anyone who makes a successful aliyah should feel, "there but for the grace of Gd go I", and not gloat over others less fortunate. (For the record I was lucky in that I made aliya years ago, B"D).
2. I am sure that Hashem knows who truly yearns to make aliya, and is prevented from doing so.
3. Anon 3.03: Israel has one of the best economies in the world. That is a fact, not propaganda. As for the comment about immodesty, are you claiming that women in chul dress modestly? Really? Do you not know that there are many, many religious women in Israel, and religious communities? You can spend your whole life in Israel in religious communities and use mehadrin buses. The biggest talmidei chachamim today live in Israel. How is it that Israel is good enough for them but not for you? And regarding listening to rabbis, generally, rabbis in chul say don't make aliya, so there is some kind of bias.
4. J Vinisky: be very careful about saying Lashon Hara about Israel. There is more Torah learning and shmirat mitzvot in Israel than in all of the rest of the world.
5. 10rainbow: who are you to judge someone for expressing the difficulties they faced? And to be so rude to him. And what you say is incorrect. Hashem may use the non-Jews as a "rod", but some of them such as the Egyptians, the Germans etc embraced their role rather too enthusiastically and were punished. Today it is the Arabs. And yes we can blame them. They're not getting off that easily.
6. I don't know why these aliya discussions bring out the worst in people. If you've made aliya help others, don't gloat, if you're in chul, make aliya if you can, and if you can't don't speak lashon hara about Eretz Yisrael, it will only distance you. Good luck to everyone.
If anyone would like to make aliyah I will help in any way...I live in Mitzpe Ramon- rents are relatively cheap, we have good school options and anyone who wants to work can find work here, despite reports to the contrary. You may have to work harder and for less money but life here is good. contact me at arganhanegev@gmail.com
PS I made aliyah with nothing but a child, poor health and one change of clothes. No funds, no savings. I thank G-d for bringing me here and pray that you also will come.
machiach ben yosef according to gra and ramchal the 2 greatest students of the greates kabbalist ever say will gather in the exiles with messiah of david . There resume the 12 tribe beit hamikdash techiat hamaytime the sodot of torah by which we will live hundres of years with its cochots of power . Hashem can pull the trigger at will , please now creator ~~~ im sick of hearing of jews picked on for wearing a strimile in europe or am-reikah . enough enough enough !! we are far from perfect as you know Hashem help us before we further sink
And when you FINALLY receive the "Secrets of the Torah" (Razin d'chol Rozin, Ustimah dchol Stimin), what will they tell you? That the YID is more important than everything in creation, including the Torah, Eretz Yisrael and even the Malachim.
We already have these "secrets" and we are acting upon them by reaching out to every single JEW throughout the world, especially the ones who don't even know anything about Hashem and Judaism, or even that they're Jewish.
We have the Torah of the Baal Shem Tov and Chasidus Chabad that includes Chochmah Ila'ah that was written only on the 1st Luchos.
Go to Eretz Yisrael, serve Hashem, and await the coming of Dovid Malka Meshicha, but please don't belittle the precious Jews still lost here in Golus. There is still work to do.
Go chabad in keiruv yes !!!! in secrets of Torah hogwash ! The gra of vilna says torahs secrets will yichud with mathamatics and science to undersatand dna rna electrons protons neutrons the solar system meiosis of the cell how makife and pnime work with torah and its soul roote the aris zl system of 10 sefirot and 4 worlds and 5 soul levels . This is the Torah man will live hundreds of years with the torah of noah and his son shem that was lost . You have an infiriorty complex if you think chasisdus contains such wisdom. Im a student more personally on the gras peirush on sefer yetzirah , chasidus is for the MASSES who have low intellects and are not able to undrstand the secrets of the arizl .
Shalom 10Rainbow. I must be frank and write that I am disappointed.in your response to the writer who said
when she was 13 that it was too difficult for her in Eretz Yisrael. People come to this forum to be open and honest and to be.honest without such harsh criticisms. She is.writing that at age 13 it was too much. I do not believe for.one.moment she was speaking so unholy of Israel and should be condemned as being.l a reason why Moshiach has not come.
It amazes me that.you.chose criticism over empathy. Perhaps an apology would be in order.
Is this guy nuts telling all Jews to move to Eretz Yisrael? Even Rav Kanievsky has repeated many times that if you don't have a livelihood waiting for you in Eretz Yisrael, please don't move to Eretz Yisrael. I think it is much wiser to wait for the Moshiach especially with a government that has allowed its citizens to get shelled for almost two months now.
Rav Kanievsky Shlita urges us enough not to live EY because Mashiah can come any minute from now. He did not tell to come because he knows how difficult it is. But those who realy awaiting Mashiah, try his/her best to come to EY to receive all bleasings from Hakadosh Baruhu
--Moshe
Not to leave EY
Sorry for the typo
10rainbow is merely proving the truth of our Prophet's words - "...they profaned My Holy Name, inasmuch as it was said of them, 'These are the people of the Lord, and they have come out of His land.'" (Ezekiel 36:20-24) Every Jew would do well to read it and take it to heart.
However, 10rainbow, you have to understand that you risk much by presuming to speak to Hashem's children in this manner. It's a very dangerous undertaking. We are judged as we judge our fellows, but you can't fairly judge Am Yisrael because you will never face the intense spiritual battle that they do. It is easy for you to see the value in Eretz Yisrael because it is not a test for you. The Yetzer Hara does not stand against you and throw everything in his arsenal at you in order to prevent you from seeing this truth.
The matter of aliyah to Eretz Yisrael in this time period, and the choice to do so and the choice to remain every single day is absolutely the hardest battle any Jew will ever wage within his soul and this is indicative of its great value and its contribution to advancing the geulah shleimah.
Please keep that in mind when you sit in judgment of Am Yisrael.
That said, anyone who tells a fellow Jew that he need not make aliyah is also risking much and puts his own soul in danger. If you choose to take such a risk at least know that you will have to answer for it some day.
Furthermore, those who misapply the words of tzadikim to excuse any Jew from his obligation to make aliyah has ventured onto very shakey ground. Beware.
Jabotinsky warned everyone to leave europe. doesn't anyone think WWI was enough of a warning, especially after the warnings of the Chofetz Chaim. there was time to go if you had presence of mind and common sense, and did not listen to those who said otherwise!
Look what happened to those who stayed!!!!
a weakening dollar, a confused and inept govt., Islamic State (IS) running wild chopping off heads, IS recruiting in Canada and America, world-wide insane Jew hatred. 'Brooklyn et al' is living in a bubble.
does one need more warnings???
Where do I begin?....
Neshama, Agreed. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but IMO better to hurt a few feelings than have any of us be left behind. If you think it's hard now...
Anon,
With all due respect to Rav Kanievsky...
1. He has a point regarding that one certainly should not put himself in danger because of the goyim, especially when the gov't controlling the Land is not doing everything in its power to protect us. However,...
2. This hashqafah of waiting around for Mashi'ah has actually not been around for more than 500 years. I believe it has developed out of desperation, and perhaps even wavering emunah. The Ashkenazim in Galuth thus resorted to more tangible means of achieving what they would believe would lead to geulah, humroth and filling up their misswah piggy banks.
3. We can do this, BE"H, and we can achieve a Torah government now, but we need everyone's help.
4. I would tell you how bad it's getting, and continue to get in the U. S. and elsewhere, but I don't think you will listen.
Just a few thoughts.
Many of us in Israel did not make aliyah for the sake of the government, but rather in spite of it. There is a lot to put up with here as well as enjoy, but it's best to focus on what to enjoy. I remember Americans complaining quite a lot about America, too...and that was before the Obama administration. What was the rejoinder? Love it or leave it.
I am doing my best to learn Torah and how to live it where it is meant to be lived. I don't claim any special wisdom except that which comes with a few years on the planet. I feel sorry for all of you who oppose making aliyah now because later, when the rewards go out, you will be complaining that you're not getting the best ones.
I am not quite old enough to remember the Holocaust, but grew up in its aftermath. Jews often said, "We don't have a pope; rabbis are not infallible." Now, in hindsight, I realize that they were referring to the rabbis in Europe who discouraged their followers from escaping Europe before their communities were all taken down by the Nazis, may their renown - I do not mean this positively; merely that people have heard of them - and reminders of them be erased.
We shouldn't have remained in Europe to be targets for them. We could have been in Israel and prevented the government from doing what seems like much the same thing - just by being here and speaking up. Just as a more recent example: Where were we when the Jews of Gush Katif needed us?
And where are these rabbis now?
I agree with the Anonymous who noted a bias, saying that the rabbis outside Israel usually favor the nation they live in [the land of their exile] over Israel.
Rabbi Kahane is being biased FOR Israel. Is this any worse than being biased against her?
I hope you will consider, should it really come to this (G-d forbid), that when you feel trapped by the situation where you are and help is unable to reach you, what you have said today (and what you say every day, it seems). Remember that we are accountable by witnesses and warning. Everyone who stops by and reads this post with its commentary is a witness, and you have been duly warned.
I wish everyone all the best as they prayerfully consider their options.
CDG, Yerushalayim
I heard by a rabbi that it is best not to make Aliyah in poverty and have to depend on the government. We have no savings. When I say that it is the truth I'm telling you. We, my husband and I live paycheck to paycheck from his job. We converted for the sake of heaven almost ten years ago. We moved into a Jewish neighborhood paying $350,000 for a house 1,080 sq. We put $80,000 down and now we are upside down. Our barely making ends meet is a miracle from Hashem. We are supported by our Heavenly Father. Why do we have to go to Israel with hat in hand? We are older. We were told jobs are scarce for our generation. We applied to NBN and after applying a nice boy called and said, "Call us when things get better for you." We do yearn for Israel. Should we be humiliated and ask the govt.for parnassah??
Just a thought..... I'm not judging anyone as I am in no position to do so..... but every year hundreds of rabbis come to the diaspora to collect money to survive. Every year it is the Jews in the diaspora sending their money to Israel.... to help struggling families feed themselves.
A neshama is born where it belongs, and where it has a job to accomplish. you don't make a drastic move unless you don't belong where you are located.
All Jews belong in Eretz Yisrael leKhathillah!
Esser, kol haKavod. I agree and the time is now. Some people just don't see the timeline of our history, and the inherent messages therein. If only just seeing our wanderings from country to country, and that one Lubavitcher Rebbe stated that America would be the last migration in the diaspora.
Anon8:58, the Torah of Bavli is for the diaspora. The Torah must be returned and nurtured out of Eretz Yisrael. I cannot listen anymore to the myopic slant to the Torah coming from Bklyn et al. (sorry yaak) I very much look forward to hear what Mashiach will tell us.
An answer by the Rebbe to someone who wanted to make aliyah:
Now, with regard to aliyah in general and excepting special cases such as reunification of families, it is clear that in view of the limited resources available, there must be a set of priorities as to what kind of aliyah should be concentrated on. Several basic factors must be taken into account:
1) That the new immigrant arriving in Eretz Yisrael should be able to contribute towards the development and wellbeing of Eretz Yisrael, and certainly not be detrimental to it.
2) The new immigrant should be able to integrate into the economy of the land, and not add to the excessive burden already placed on it.
3) Even where the said conditions (1) and (2) are met, the gain of a new immigrant, or group of immigrants, should be weighed against the loss that their emigration from their present country will cause to the local Jewish community. If the person happens to be a leader in his community, and his departure would seriously affect the wellbeing of the community—spiritually, economically or politically-thereby weakening that community’s support for Eretz Yisrael, then the gain would clearly be more than offset by the loss. We have seen this happen time and again, when the leaders of a community have been persuaded to make aliyah, with the inevitable result that the community dwindled rapidly, physically and spiritually. In a small community, the departure of a single influential member, whether a rabbi or layman, can make all the difference.
If there was a time, decades ago, when the above considerations (to which I have consistently called attention) were considered conjectural, the long-term effects of ill-conceived aliyah no longer leave room for any doubts as to what kind of aliyah is constructive. Far too long have those who are concerned with aliyah, with all good intentions, considered only the immediate gain and ignored the loss in the longer run. Others, in their zeal to produce quick “achievements,” have, unwittingly or otherwise, resorted to propaganda methods, etc., which were even more inimical to all concerned—Eretz Yisrael, the Diaspora and the immigrants themselves—and this has contributed in no small measure to the inordinate levels of yeridah.
Part II
A classic example is the emigration from Morocco. The aliyah campaign was concentrated on the group of least resistance—the spiritual leaders—despite my warnings, behind the scenes, of the disastrous consequences of despoiling the local communities of their leadership. The basic argument was that “the leaders must show the way; the flock will follow.” What happened was that the leaders did, by and large, make aliyah, but the local communities became largely demoralized. In the end, hundreds of thousands of Moroccan Jews emigrated, not to the Land of Israel, but to France, to be exposed to forces of assimilation they had not met before. This went on despite the fact that Morocco was the most benign of Arab countries (as it still is, which is something of a miracle).
Needless to say, it is not enough to get someone to be an oleh; it is necessary to make sure, to the extent that this is possible, that the oleh will not, sooner or later, become a yored. Surely there is no point—and it is not merely an exercise in futility, but the squandering of limited resources—to persuade someone to make aliyah when he is 51% a potential yored, not to mention one who is 90% so. Yet it is a matter of record that all too often aliyah activists have ignored this basic principle, either through wishful thinking or, more deplorably, through setting up for themselves “quotas,” to be fulfilled by all means, in order to justify and maintain their positions as successful recruiting agents.
Part III
In summary, it may be said that the underlying problem of aliyah has been the mistaken premise and inclination to “write off” the Diaspora Jews, and to use all possible means to encourage indiscriminate aliyah, regardless of the inevitable “fallout.” This has reached a point where even non-Jews are encouraged to settle in Eretz Yisrael (especially where there is a Jewish spouse), without their being required to undergo geirut (conversion) according to the halachah—the only kind of conversion that is valid. Under this ill-conceived policy of “aliyah at all costs,” many a healthy and thriving Jewish community in the Diaspora has been seriously weakened, and in some cases destroyed, by being despoiled it of its leaders, religious and lay, and men of means and influence, who are not only the mainstay of their communities but pillars of support for Eretz Yisrael, and whose usefulness as such diminished or ceased when their role became that of olim. Clearly, a great deal of the effort and resources spent on futile, or even harmful, aliyah would have been better spent on strengthening communities in the Diaspora, through Torah education, fighting assimilation, and so on. A healthy Jewish community in the Diaspora—Jewish not just in name—is the best asset for Eretz Yisrael, as well as a source of truly good and permanent olim.
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