What is the next move? Are we heading for a bigger war? What should we do?
Rabbi Alon Anava
"The timeline of the Geula is going as scheduled. We have nobody to count on but our Father in Heaven. Once the majority will understand that - that's it. "
45 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I'm wondering where all these American Jews are going to live if they all leave America as he suggests they do. Israel can't accommodate a mass aliyah that's a reality to consider here.
BH Our daily prayers state, HaShem will gather us from the four corners and bring us back to our land. It doesn’t say anywhere first come first served, and all others will be left behind.
I look forward to his lecture about what’s going on with Jews in America. I live in America and I feel helpless and trapped. My husband and family don’t yet see what I see or feel how I do. I want to make Aliyah, but right now, it would be alone. There is no future here. It’s only becoming more dangerous. I feel like my hands are tied. For some reason, Hashem wants me here in America right now. But I feel so checked out and I want to be in Israel. I’m ready but no one else around me is. Is anyone else in this situation? How / when will others “wake up”?
Israel is supposed to be much larger than it is right now. Perhaps if enough American Jews decide to make aliyah, it will be a push in that direction, towards Mashiach, and Hashem will make more room.
Anon 12..27 Correct because clearly we say in the Amidah Sound the great shofar for our freedom; raise a banner to gather our exiles, and bring us together from the four corners of the earth into our land. Blessed are You L-rd, who gathers the dispersed of His people Israel.
It is Hashem who does the gathering of the exiles. doesn't mean we can't make Aliyah of course we can, but there must be some exiles because we are asking every day for Hashem to bring us together from the four corners of the earth.
I think Hashem will take care of the real estate. It's not something to worry about or even think about. Hashem will bring all his children home, even if takes extreme measures, like the pogrom in LA yesterday. To the commentator who wrote that she is stuck because no one else wants to make aliyah, I suggest obtaining a place here anyway. You can come and stay for as many weeks or months at a time as you can. I once had a friend in this situation. Her husband was not ready to make the move. So, she would come and stay for a few months at a time. She went to ulphan, made friends, went to classes and assimilated into Israeli culture. So, that's an option to consider, if possible for you.
The world situation could provoke a mass aliya from the USA ('Americans') & UK, Australia, Canada etc ('Anglos'), including entire towns and neighborhoods of unmonied Haredim and Hassidim who will be unable to sell their properties. Do the secular Israeli authorities really want droves of Anglo-American olim? Just like there is a quota of 85 a month placed on Ethiopian olim, a similar quota could be slapped on American olim by the Chillonim. Already prospective US olim are required to present police and FBI checks with their applications, obtaining which can take months. American olim have a poor reputation among Sabras, being reputedly spoilt, demanding, loud, ungrateful, uncouth, assertive, not averse to argy-bargy, make problematic renters, and are never able to get their tongues round Hebrew! Anglo-American professionals are not considered as an asset in Israel, but are actually viewed as a THREAT to the Israeli job market! If enough numbers of olim arrived over a short period, the infamous Netanya Beach Ma'abarot (Tent Camps) of the 50s & 60s might literally have to be reinstated! There ultimately is going to be Ezekiel's foretold Ingathering of the Exiles, but maybe not as we think!
I am in the same situation, too. My husband is not ready to move to Israel and does not see what we see. I cannot leave him here for any visits to Israel due to his physical and medical issues; he requires my assistance. My son, daughter and grandson are in Israel. Please pray for all of us. I pray we get to Israel in time, with Hashem's help.
To the commnters asking about whether there will be enough space for all our people. Of course, first we must never forget that this is all Divine; and we totally rely on our Father in Heaven where anything and everything is possible. Secondly, we know that Hashem will be giving us a much larger piece of real estate after Moshiach; the Land of EY consists of all of Yarden, etc., etc. There will be room for millions and millions of Jews. Remember, all the Yehudim of the past that will be back with us @ techiyat hameitim. All this will be taken care of. In the times of our holy Beit Hamikdash, there was enough room for each & every Jew when he had to prostate himself and no one felt uncomfortable or squashed. In this world, we have time and space, but we will eventually see the miraculous becoming natural.
I had to laugh at SB Tova's comment too because most of it is not true. Firstly, Israelis love Americans because they think we all have money. The prefer to rent to Americans or European Anglos much more than to Israelis. I was in nadlan here for a few years, and managed rental properties, so I know this first-hand. Secondly, we are not rude! Do some Anglos prefer to settle in communities where there is already a large English-speaking population? Yes, especially if they have older children. It's very difficult for middle-school and high-school age children to come to a foreign place with no language skills and therefore no immediate friends. Do Americans have a harder time learning Hebrew? Most of us come here with lashon hakodesh, but street Ivrit is something that has to be learned and practiced. The older you are the harder it is. Plus we don't have all the grammar issues. There is no gender and the tenses can drive you crazy! I have never met a secular Israeli who had anything negative to say about American olim, other than astonishment that we would want to leave "wonderful America" to come and live in Israel. They don't get it. They believe America is paved with gold streets. And I completely disagree with what you said about Anglos in the job market. They are absolutely NOT considered a threat. In fact, there are tons of companies, especially in the tech sector, anxious to hire Anglos because they all want to do business outside of Israel. Someone with native or high-level English language skills is much desired. This is also true of marketing agencies, who work with Israeli companies who want to develop a market presence abroad and get new customers. So to sum, I take issue with almost everything you said.
Thank you for your kind words and suggestions. I’m a young working mother and unfortunately, financially and otherwise, that is not a possibility to spend extended periods in Israel. I should work on strengthening my Hebrew language skills. Taking a course is a good idea. I pray that we will be able to get to Israel when the time is right. My desire is definitely there but making aliyah a reality is much more complicated especially when me and my husband are not on the same page and I’m not totally in control. My extended family and most of the people in my community are comfortable in America and not aliyah-minded at the moment. I think R’ Anava hits the nail on the head when he talked about those in the Diaspora not speaking Lashon Hara about the Land of Israel. We should recognize that Israel is our Homeland and the ultimate game plan for us. We can at least work on that and strive to get there soon. -Sarah from NJ
For Sarah, Hashem knows what is in your heart. Be'D Hashem can change your reality for you all. Regardless of our circumstances, our attitude towards Israel and aliya is always a choice that we can make. Even if you can't right this minute, you can use whatever influence you have to encourage someone else. Telling Jews that their mission is to stay put and fight the darkness is so very wrong, for both spiritual and practical reasons. It may have made some people feel better about themselves, but it is just an example of the echo chamber. Jews are supposed to be a nation dwelling alone. Our national light will light up the global darkness.
I mean, let's get real here. Do you all think that after doing what Hashem wants from you, and after yearning for Moshiach all these years He will leave you behind???? Real estate? Passports and tickets? Hashem never gave us these prerequisites ...
I actually got so scared from all of the blogging about Aliya, that I once asked a very universally accepted Rabbi, aside for knowing that all my life from my own Rebbes, and he answered me in short. "Do not worry. You do what Hashem wants of you and He will bring you home. That's irrelevant.''
In addition, I forgot which Tzaddik, wrote in his Sefer that meriting Moshiach's arrival and guaranteeing a place in EY depends on where your heart and 'ratzon' is and not where you are physically. If anybody wants the source I can find out for you.
Well said skbzk. How many of us can just get up and have enough money to get a place to live in Israel? What about our income? How do we survive? Don't say just have faith Hashem will handle it, people have families to think about. Single parents, people with elderly parents to care for, all these kinds of people, lacking funds etc. cannot leave for family reasons. Hashem will not abandon us all. you are right.
I'd like to add just a few words. These words are not meant to offend or deny the realities of all of you facing challenges with making aliyah, such as parents, children, reluctant spouses etc. But, if it's parnosa, where will I live, how will I survive...if these are the blocks then I would only say that in Eretz Yisrael Hashem performs miracles everyday. Many of us come home, myself included, with little idea of what we will do here and with little resources. I arrived with $500 and I have no savings or investment accounts. Hashem provides. As you walk along the path that He creates for you, the journey continues and you find that you have everything you need. At the end of the day, it's still about making choices. You can never say that you have no choice, I have to stay or whatever. That is a choice. Anyway, if you can't come now, at least secure a place now, if possible. Buy a piece of agricultural land if your budget doesn't allow you to buy a home. It's affordable and you'll be doing the mitzvah of settling the land. All things are possible. But if you wait for Hashem to put everything into place for you before you make aliyah, you may never come. BTW, a friend and I do have an aliyah blog. I hope it wasn't the one that annoyed anyone. I can't image that it would. It's filled with inspiration and encouragement.
Aliyah is not a prerequisite. I don't think that Hashem will leave any Jew behind. Hashem will gather us from all four corners of the earth. However, I don't see a positive future for Jews in America. What is the end game here? It's like a hamster on a wheel for our kids, if they are able to stay religious. We work hard to send our kids to universities that are now full of antisemites and BDS and anti-Israel rhetoric?! Things have changed so much in the last few years. I work in NYC. It's become dangerous to show that you are Jewish. There is anti-Israel / anti-Jewish and pro Hamas/ Intifada graffiti everywhere. I believe that as Jews we are safest in Israel. I personally feel very checked out from American politics and I am dreading the upcoming presidential election year and campaigning. We are living in the Diaspora in a country with laws and influences that are not based on Torah values. My heart is in Israel and I miss it. - Sarah
Don’t be surprised that the Zionist cabal created this to put fear in Jews to make Aliyah. They have been doing this since before the Holocaust. Just look it up.
1. Ratzon (will, from the root for the Hebrew to run): What is your heart's true desire, what are you running towards? 2. Make a plan, however implausible and far removed it seems from your current reality. Hayipalei mei Hashem davar! (Re the promise of a child for Sarah imeinu). Write down your action steps, etc. Make an aliya journal. 3. Take action however miniscule: learn a Hebrew word every day (the most important word is toh-fes, a form (to fill out, as you'll be doing a lot of that), get your passports in order, etc, etc, do something that you can do. Speak positively about Eretz Yisrael and aliya. Use whatever influence you do have, and it could just be a chat with a friend, to encourage others to make aliya. 4. Daven every step of the way. Rav Shimshon Pincus zatzal said (in general) that it is good to choose a pasuk related to something you want and to repeat it over and over. There may be a better one, but off the top of my head, שִׁ֥יר הַֽמַּֽעֲל֗וֹת לְדָ֫וִ֥ד שָׂ֖מַחְתִּי בְּאֹֽמְרִ֣ים לִ֑י בֵּ֖ית יְהֹוָ֣ה נֵלֵֽךְ:
No-one is saying to completely ignore your circumstances, but neither should we be completely blinkered by them either. Negativity is not the Jewish way.
A very learned man who I knew well, olev ha'shalom, was scathing about "zionists". The fact that Israel exists and is not a Torah state was the worst thing of all in his eyes and Zionists were all erev Rav, building a Jewish state without Torah.
What exactly is a zionist? I wish someone would tell me. What does it actually mean? Who are the zionists?
Making unsubstantiated accusations against a shadowy Jewish 'cabal' with nefarious motives etc. Where have I heard that before.... the Protocols...Mein something or other
In the meantime, real Jews are facing real all time high levels of vicious antisemitism across the globe. But according to Michal's comment that you allowed and appear to defend, it's all just smoke and mirrors. Surely, that belongs on Qanon, not a geula blog.
Regarding 'zionists', there were some, but if more frum people had taken upon themselves to be more involved in returning to EY, they would have had a much more prominent role in the state. The early tsionim may have had sins of commission, but the frum leadership had many sins of omission. Please read Em Habanim Smeichah. Rav Teichtel HYD said so. It's in English. Fast forward, today there is more Torah learning, on a higher level, in EY than the rest of the world put together. B"D.
My understanding is a Zionist is anyone who believes in the right of Jews to return to Tsion. It's not that hard. Anyway, please don't deflect from the issue raised.
I wasn't deflecting or defending Michal, I was defending the reason why I published it.
In my mind, the word Zionist already has negative connotations which have nothing at all to do with "Mein something or other".
So I guess your understanding of a Zionist is different to mine. Sorry for any offence that seems to have been taken by allowing that comment. I didn't really see a huge problem with it. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't really know, to be honest.
You're mixing up two different things. The clear insinuation of a shadowy Jewish cabal etc, doesn't sound like the Protocols etc? You don't like the word Tsion ists. Hashem obviously loves Tsion. So you don't like the way He orchestrated the return. Frum Jews wouldn't lift the gauntlet in sufficient numbers. By your logic, you shouldn't be interested in the geula process, as it started with incest, gross, prostitution, gross, immodesty, all the opposite of a Torah life. Read the Bat Ayin link. We see what we merit to see. We merit what we want to see.
The word "cabal" may be the real issue. It implies secrecy which I don't think is the case. But the sentiments about Zionism as an ideology are legitimate. So-called religious Zionists try to conflate Zionism with the ages-old desire of Jews to ascend to Zion. Modern Zionism is not based on that, so it's a misnomer. At its core the modern movement termed "Zionism" is anti-Torah, and to this very day it openly persecutes religious Jews, even the so-called national religious, but they don't ever seem to connect the dots.
I am not a Zionist. I never even heard the word until after I was already living in Israel. When I was deciding whether to convert in 1994, I made a pilot trip to Israel to see whether I could live there or not. To my mind, it was part and parcel of being a Jew. The Torah seemed very clear to me that a Jew was expected to live in Israel and I didn't want to go into it already disobeying Hashem ("I brought you out of Egypt in order to bring you to the Land of Israel.") After six weeks, it ripped my heart out to have to leave it. I made aliyah with my entire family, including teen-age boys, within a year of our conversion. And never looked back, never even been back.
Returning to the question about Zionism... When you learn the history you find that, without exception, the ones who seized power by force and by murder were some of the most evil people on earth - from the abandonment of Hungarian Jewry (read Perfidy) to the experiments on Sephardic children and the stealing of the Yemenite babies to the expulsion of Jews from Yamit, Gush Katif, northern Shomron and now the south and the north. The execution and persecution of "settler" youth and on and on.... And as we see right now from the Simchat Torah Massacre and the ongoing unnecessary slaughter of our soldiers in Gaza, their legacy continues unabated.
I would be ashamed to call myself a "Zionist" because of the crimes that have been perpetrated in the name of modern Zionism! And not against our enemies but against fellow Jews!! Religious Zionism is no different than Judeo-Chr*stian - unholy hybrids.
You can love Zion and live in Zion and defend Zion and believe that all Jews should join you there without being a "Zionist" - a believer in a corrupt ideology that those who hate Hashem chose to call Zionism.
In my view, Zionism was the beginning of the double master plan to eradicate Torah Judaism (and Torah Jews) from the world - kill as many as you can and destroy those you can't kill outright through mass assimilation.
Right up to today's headlines. Forced conscription of yeshiva students fits the bill on both counts!! Hashem yerachem!!
And with that comment I will no longer read Tomer Devorah, bli neder. In time of milchemet mitzva, everyone has to go out to war. Your demonization of religious zionism is abhorrent to me. You can sit in your home in Maale Adumim because of the soldiers, religious or not, who went to defend the country.
Correction, Sari. I don't live in Ma'ale Adumim. And for reference, my eldest son was drafted into the first group of Nahal Chareidi Netzach Yehudah. I credit his experience with it as a contributing factor to his yeridah.
I've not asked for a psak on this issue but I don't think you can declare a war waged by rebels and sinners against Hashem a milchemet mitzvah, especially when it looks very likely that it was complicit in launching said "war". In addition to that, too many friendly fire casualties and headlines like 8 soldiers from the same yeshivah die within a week brings questions to my mind that I won't put into writing.
Honestly, I don't think there is anything they won't stoop to to win the main war - the war against HKB"H. In this dark hour, one has to measure a physical threat against an equally credible spiritual threat. You may not see it that way but many others do and that is why the rabbis are rejecting this as an attempt at a shmad. The army has admitted time and time again that they don't need the yeshivah students and they don't want the yeshivah students, and no one ever addresses the 30% of leftist chiloni men not serving. (Can't confirm that number but it's been published.)
Wherever I live, it is at the pleasure and with the protection of HKB"H. Where I am we don't have army, we have our neighbors. We can't (and don't) depend on the army. If we are attacked, every man, woman and child who lives here will protect their families and homes to the death if need be. Whatever HKB"H requires, but we won't willingly put our mortal souls in danger's path.
Daven to Hashem over and over to allow you to live in Eretz Yisroel. My family had no practical means and lots of things holding us back but lots of desire (not even all of us!) and lots of davening. In all honesty, it's still shocking to me that b'chasdei Hashem (and only that!) somehow we're here.
Anonymous first commenter.....I watched a video of these 2 Xian guys (they're missionaries I think but its important to know what they are up to) scouting Arab towns in Yehuda and Shomron, half the buildings were empty and unoccupied. The Arabs that own them live in other countries. They keep the property to hold onto the myth that there are more of them here then there actually is. Also Yehonaton Pollard said there is tech, I think its like 3d printing that could produce quality structures in a very short amount of time. CSF
That's not a good attitude.... Hashem expects us to wake up and do our hishtadlus. Jews before the Shoah felt the same way. All the signs were there. Jabotinski and many other were begging them to leave but few listened. I know it seems counterintuitive, however E"Y is the safest place on earth for a Jew CSF
I find I am completely agreeing with everything you've written here. We made aliyah with almost no money ....at times it was difficult but Hashem always provided and opened up a path for us. Yes I live in a small apartment versus the huge house and fancy cars I had before....but I feel I traded up for the privilege of being in EY. Its not easy but nothing worth having ever is. EY is earned. So don't be scared about the challenges. If you have a burning desire to make aliyah, start the process and daven and Hashem will open up the necessary doors for you. CSF
please check this video and many others from rabbi Yinon Kalazan. He addresses the Zionist theme and modern day Israel. I understand it's a controversial topic. But he backs up everything he say with solid unequivocal sources and everything he say is text based. I got to a point in life when if I listen to a shiur where the rabbi does not quote from texts means very little to me.
This article was first published in 2008. It seems appropriate to publish it again. I still believe that Obama is Gog . IDENTIFYING...
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"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
45 comments:
I'm wondering where all these American Jews are going to live if they all leave America as he suggests they do. Israel can't accommodate a mass aliyah that's a reality to consider here.
BH
Our daily prayers state, HaShem will gather us from the four corners and bring us back to our land. It doesn’t say anywhere first come first served, and all others will be left behind.
I look forward to his lecture about what’s going on with Jews in America. I live in America and I feel helpless and trapped. My husband and family don’t yet see what I see or feel how I do. I want to make Aliyah, but right now, it would be alone. There is no future here. It’s only becoming more dangerous. I feel like my hands are tied. For some reason, Hashem wants me here in America right now. But I feel so checked out and I want to be in Israel. I’m ready but no one else around me is. Is anyone else in this situation? How / when will others “wake up”?
Israel is supposed to be much larger than it is right now. Perhaps if enough American Jews decide to make aliyah, it will be a push in that direction, towards Mashiach, and Hashem will make more room.
Anon 12..27
Correct because clearly we say in the Amidah
Sound the great shofar for our freedom; raise a banner to gather our exiles, and bring us together from the four corners of the earth into our land. Blessed are You L-rd, who gathers the dispersed of His people Israel.
It is Hashem who does the gathering of the exiles. doesn't mean we can't make Aliyah of course we can, but there must be some exiles because we are asking every day for Hashem to bring us together from the four corners of the earth.
I think Hashem will take care of the real estate. It's not something to worry about or even think about. Hashem will bring all his children home, even if takes extreme measures, like the pogrom in LA yesterday. To the commentator who wrote that she is stuck because no one else wants to make aliyah, I suggest obtaining a place here anyway. You can come and stay for as many weeks or months at a time as you can. I once had a friend in this situation. Her husband was not ready to make the move. So, she would come and stay for a few months at a time. She went to ulphan, made friends, went to classes and assimilated into Israeli culture. So, that's an option to consider, if possible for you.
What is the pogrom in LA you are speaking about?
I found it, I had to Google Los Angeles Jews.
Go to Twitter and TikTok. There's video there.
The world situation could provoke a mass aliya from the USA ('Americans') & UK, Australia, Canada etc ('Anglos'), including entire towns and neighborhoods of unmonied Haredim and Hassidim who will be unable to sell their properties. Do the secular Israeli authorities really want droves of Anglo-American olim? Just like there is a quota of 85 a month placed on Ethiopian olim, a similar quota could be slapped on American olim by the Chillonim. Already prospective US olim are required to present police and FBI checks with their applications, obtaining which can take months. American olim have a poor reputation among Sabras, being reputedly spoilt, demanding, loud, ungrateful, uncouth, assertive, not averse to argy-bargy, make problematic renters, and are never able to get their tongues round Hebrew! Anglo-American professionals are not considered as an asset in Israel, but are actually viewed as a THREAT to the Israeli job market! If enough numbers of olim arrived over a short period, the infamous Netanya Beach Ma'abarot (Tent Camps) of the 50s & 60s might literally have to be reinstated! There ultimately is going to be Ezekiel's foretold Ingathering of the Exiles, but maybe not as we think!
There is actually plenty of room in Israel, even today. In Judea and Samaria, the Golan, Galil and Negev.
C S
I am in the same situation, too. My husband is not ready to move to Israel and does not see what we see. I cannot leave him here for any visits to Israel due to his physical and medical issues; he requires my assistance. My son, daughter and grandson are in Israel. Please pray for all of us. I pray we get to Israel in time, with Hashem's help.
https://youtu.be/PmzvmFZXyn8?si=HDtnJt6zstcLyyx4
Rabbi Ephraim Palvanov's latest
Reincarnation 3. An amazing class. Very informative.
C S
To the commnters asking about whether there will be enough space for all our people. Of course, first we must never forget that this is all Divine; and we totally rely on our Father in Heaven where anything and everything is possible.
Secondly, we know that Hashem will be giving us a much larger piece of real estate after Moshiach; the Land of EY consists of all of Yarden, etc., etc. There will be room for millions and millions of Jews. Remember, all the Yehudim of the past that will be back with us @ techiyat hameitim. All this will be taken care of.
In the times of our holy Beit Hamikdash, there was enough room for each & every Jew when he had to prostate himself and no one felt uncomfortable or squashed. In this world, we have time and space, but we will eventually see the miraculous becoming natural.
I had to laugh at SB Tova's comment too because most of it is not true. Firstly, Israelis love Americans because they think we all have money. The prefer to rent to Americans or European Anglos much more than to Israelis. I was in nadlan here for a few years, and managed rental properties, so I know this first-hand. Secondly, we are not rude! Do some Anglos prefer to settle in communities where there is already a large English-speaking population? Yes, especially if they have older children. It's very difficult for middle-school and high-school age children to come to a foreign place with no language skills and therefore no immediate friends. Do Americans have a harder time learning Hebrew? Most of us come here with lashon hakodesh, but street Ivrit is something that has to be learned and practiced. The older you are the harder it is. Plus we don't have all the grammar issues. There is no gender and the tenses can drive you crazy! I have never met a secular Israeli who had anything negative to say about American olim, other than astonishment that we would want to leave "wonderful America" to come and live in Israel. They don't get it. They believe America is paved with gold streets. And I completely disagree with what you said about Anglos in the job market. They are absolutely NOT considered a threat. In fact, there are tons of companies, especially in the tech sector, anxious to hire Anglos because they all want to do business outside of Israel. Someone with native or high-level English language skills is much desired. This is also true of marketing agencies, who work with Israeli companies who want to develop a market presence abroad and get new customers. So to sum, I take issue with almost everything you said.
Thank you for your kind words and suggestions. I’m a young working mother and unfortunately, financially and otherwise, that is not a possibility to spend extended periods in Israel. I should work on strengthening my Hebrew language skills. Taking a course is a good idea. I pray that we will be able to get to Israel when the time is right. My desire is definitely there but making aliyah a reality is much more complicated especially when me and my husband are not on the same page and I’m not totally in control. My extended family and most of the people in my community are comfortable in America and not aliyah-minded at the moment. I think R’ Anava hits the nail on the head when he talked about those in the Diaspora not speaking Lashon Hara about the Land of Israel. We should recognize that Israel is our Homeland and the ultimate game plan for us. We can at least work on that and strive to get there soon. -Sarah from NJ
For Sarah, Hashem knows what is in your heart. Be'D Hashem can change your reality for you all. Regardless of our circumstances, our attitude towards Israel and aliya is always a choice that we can make. Even if you can't right this minute, you can use whatever influence you have to encourage someone else. Telling Jews that their mission is to stay put and fight the darkness is so very wrong, for both spiritual and practical reasons. It may have made some people feel better about themselves, but it is just an example of the echo chamber. Jews are supposed to be a nation dwelling alone. Our national light will light up the global darkness.
Thank you so much. This is beautiful. I know Hashem can change our reality and will make Aliyah possible at the right moment.
I mean, let's get real here. Do you all think that after doing what Hashem wants from you, and after yearning for Moshiach all these years He will leave you behind???? Real estate? Passports and tickets? Hashem never gave us these prerequisites ...
I actually got so scared from all of the blogging about Aliya, that I once asked a very universally accepted Rabbi, aside for knowing that all my life from my own Rebbes, and he answered me in short. "Do not worry. You do what Hashem wants of you and He will bring you home. That's irrelevant.''
In addition, I forgot which Tzaddik, wrote in his Sefer that meriting Moshiach's arrival and guaranteeing a place in EY depends on where your heart and 'ratzon' is and not where you are physically. If anybody wants the source I can find out for you.
SGK
Well said skbzk. How many of us can just get up and have enough money to get a place to live in Israel? What about our income? How do we survive? Don't say just have faith Hashem will handle it, people have families to think about. Single parents, people with elderly parents to care for, all these kinds of people, lacking funds etc. cannot leave for family reasons. Hashem will not abandon us all. you are right.
Mel
So, what you're saying is Hashem won''t abandon you in America, but He will abandon you in Israel?????????????
I'd like to add just a few words. These words are not meant to offend or deny the realities of all of you facing challenges with making aliyah, such as parents, children, reluctant spouses etc. But, if it's parnosa, where will I live, how will I survive...if these are the blocks then I would only say that in Eretz Yisrael Hashem performs miracles everyday. Many of us come home, myself included, with little idea of what we will do here and with little resources. I arrived with $500 and I have no savings or investment accounts. Hashem provides. As you walk along the path that He creates for you, the journey continues and you find that you have everything you need. At the end of the day, it's still about making choices. You can never say that you have no choice, I have to stay or whatever. That is a choice. Anyway, if you can't come now, at least secure a place now, if possible. Buy a piece of agricultural land if your budget doesn't allow you to buy a home. It's affordable and you'll be doing the mitzvah of settling the land. All things are possible. But if you wait for Hashem to put everything into place for you before you make aliyah, you may never come. BTW, a friend and I do have an aliyah blog. I hope it wasn't the one that annoyed anyone. I can't image that it would. It's filled with inspiration and encouragement.
Aliyah is not a prerequisite. I don't think that Hashem will leave any Jew behind. Hashem will gather us from all four corners of the earth. However, I don't see a positive future for Jews in America. What is the end game here? It's like a hamster on a wheel for our kids, if they are able to stay religious. We work hard to send our kids to universities that are now full of antisemites and BDS and anti-Israel rhetoric?! Things have changed so much in the last few years. I work in NYC. It's become dangerous to show that you are Jewish. There is anti-Israel / anti-Jewish and pro Hamas/ Intifada graffiti everywhere. I believe that as Jews we are safest in Israel. I personally feel very checked out from American politics and I am dreading the upcoming presidential election year and campaigning. We are living in the Diaspora in a country with laws and influences that are not based on Torah values. My heart is in Israel and I miss it. - Sarah
How was it a pogrom? Was anyone killed?
Don’t be surprised that the Zionist cabal created this to put fear in Jews to make Aliyah. They have been doing this since before the Holocaust. Just look it up.
Michal
Israel doesn't need the Jews to make aliyah. The Jews need Israel so that they can make aliyah.
How to make aliya:
1. Ratzon (will, from the root for the Hebrew to run): What is your heart's true desire, what are you running towards?
2. Make a plan, however implausible and far removed it seems from your current reality. Hayipalei mei Hashem davar! (Re the promise of a child for Sarah imeinu). Write down your action steps, etc. Make an aliya journal.
3. Take action however miniscule: learn a Hebrew word every day (the most important word is toh-fes, a form (to fill out, as you'll be doing a lot of that), get your passports in order, etc, etc, do something that you can do. Speak positively about Eretz Yisrael and aliya. Use whatever influence you do have, and it could just be a chat with a friend, to encourage others to make aliya.
4. Daven every step of the way. Rav Shimshon Pincus zatzal said (in general) that it is good to choose a pasuk related to something you want and to repeat it over and over. There may be a better one, but off the top of my head,
שִׁ֥יר הַֽמַּֽעֲל֗וֹת לְדָ֫וִ֥ד שָׂ֖מַחְתִּי בְּאֹֽמְרִ֣ים לִ֑י בֵּ֖ית יְהֹוָ֣ה נֵלֵֽךְ:
No-one is saying to completely ignore your circumstances, but neither should we be completely blinkered by them either. Negativity is not the Jewish way.
I can't believe that you allowed Michal's comment.
'the Zionist cabal'.etc!!!!!
Classic antisemitism.
I guess it depends how you define a Zionist.
A very learned man who I knew well, olev ha'shalom, was scathing about "zionists". The fact that Israel exists and is not a Torah state was the worst thing of all in his eyes and Zionists were all erev Rav, building a Jewish state without Torah.
What exactly is a zionist? I wish someone would tell me. What does it actually mean? Who are the zionists?
Making unsubstantiated accusations against a shadowy Jewish 'cabal' with nefarious motives etc. Where have I heard that before.... the Protocols...Mein something or other
In the meantime, real Jews are facing real all time high levels of vicious antisemitism across the globe. But according to Michal's comment that you allowed and appear to defend, it's all just smoke and mirrors. Surely, that belongs on Qanon, not a geula blog.
Regarding 'zionists', there were some, but if more frum people had taken upon themselves to be more involved in returning to EY, they would have had a much more prominent role in the state. The early tsionim may have had sins of commission, but the frum leadership had many sins of omission. Please read Em Habanim Smeichah. Rav Teichtel HYD said so. It's in English. Fast forward, today there is more Torah learning, on a higher level, in EY than the rest of the world put together. B"D.
My understanding is a Zionist is anyone who believes in the right of Jews to return to Tsion. It's not that hard. Anyway, please don't deflect from the issue raised.
I wasn't deflecting or defending Michal, I was defending the reason why I published it.
In my mind, the word Zionist already has negative connotations which have nothing at all to do with "Mein something or other".
So I guess your understanding of a Zionist is different to mine. Sorry for any offence that seems to have been taken by allowing that comment. I didn't really see a huge problem with it. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't really know, to be honest.
Please read about the Bat Ayin, very pertinent
https://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/2218865/jewish/How-to-See-Israel.htm
You're mixing up two different things. The clear insinuation of a shadowy Jewish cabal etc, doesn't sound like the Protocols etc? You don't like the word Tsion ists. Hashem obviously loves Tsion. So you don't like the way He orchestrated the return. Frum Jews wouldn't lift the gauntlet in sufficient numbers. By your logic, you shouldn't be interested in the geula process, as it started with incest, gross, prostitution, gross, immodesty, all the opposite of a Torah life. Read the Bat Ayin link. We see what we merit to see. We merit what we want to see.
Michal: what is your definition of a Zionist?
The word "cabal" may be the real issue. It implies secrecy which I don't think is the case. But the sentiments about Zionism as an ideology are legitimate. So-called religious Zionists try to conflate Zionism with the ages-old desire of Jews to ascend to Zion. Modern Zionism is not based on that, so it's a misnomer. At its core the modern movement termed "Zionism" is anti-Torah, and to this very day it openly persecutes religious Jews, even the so-called national religious, but they don't ever seem to connect the dots.
I am not a Zionist. I never even heard the word until after I was already living in Israel. When I was deciding whether to convert in 1994, I made a pilot trip to Israel to see whether I could live there or not. To my mind, it was part and parcel of being a Jew. The Torah seemed very clear to me that a Jew was expected to live in Israel and I didn't want to go into it already disobeying Hashem ("I brought you out of Egypt in order to bring you to the Land of Israel.") After six weeks, it ripped my heart out to have to leave it. I made aliyah with my entire family, including teen-age boys, within a year of our conversion. And never looked back, never even been back.
Returning to the question about Zionism... When you learn the history you find that, without exception, the ones who seized power by force and by murder were some of the most evil people on earth - from the abandonment of Hungarian Jewry (read Perfidy) to the experiments on Sephardic children and the stealing of the Yemenite babies to the expulsion of Jews from Yamit, Gush Katif, northern Shomron and now the south and the north. The execution and persecution of "settler" youth and on and on.... And as we see right now from the Simchat Torah Massacre and the ongoing unnecessary slaughter of our soldiers in Gaza, their legacy continues unabated.
I would be ashamed to call myself a "Zionist" because of the crimes that have been perpetrated in the name of modern Zionism! And not against our enemies but against fellow Jews!! Religious Zionism is no different than Judeo-Chr*stian - unholy hybrids.
You can love Zion and live in Zion and defend Zion and believe that all Jews should join you there without being a "Zionist" - a believer in a corrupt ideology that those who hate Hashem chose to call Zionism.
In my view, Zionism was the beginning of the double master plan to eradicate Torah Judaism (and Torah Jews) from the world - kill as many as you can and destroy those you can't kill outright through mass assimilation.
Right up to today's headlines. Forced conscription of yeshiva students fits the bill on both counts!! Hashem yerachem!!
And with that comment I will no longer read Tomer Devorah, bli neder. In time of milchemet mitzva, everyone has to go out to war. Your demonization of religious zionism is abhorrent to me. You can sit in your home in Maale Adumim because of the soldiers, religious or not, who went to defend the country.
Correction, Sari. I don't live in Ma'ale Adumim. And for reference, my eldest son was drafted into the first group of Nahal Chareidi Netzach Yehudah. I credit his experience with it as a contributing factor to his yeridah.
I've not asked for a psak on this issue but I don't think you can declare a war waged by rebels and sinners against Hashem a milchemet mitzvah, especially when it looks very likely that it was complicit in launching said "war". In addition to that, too many friendly fire casualties and headlines like 8 soldiers from the same yeshivah die within a week brings questions to my mind that I won't put into writing.
Honestly, I don't think there is anything they won't stoop to to win the main war - the war against HKB"H. In this dark hour, one has to measure a physical threat against an equally credible spiritual threat. You may not see it that way but many others do and that is why the rabbis are rejecting this as an attempt at a shmad. The army has admitted time and time again that they don't need the yeshivah students and they don't want the yeshivah students, and no one ever addresses the 30% of leftist chiloni men not serving. (Can't confirm that number but it's been published.)
Wherever I live, it is at the pleasure and with the protection of HKB"H. Where I am we don't have army, we have our neighbors. We can't (and don't) depend on the army. If we are attacked, every man, woman and child who lives here will protect their families and homes to the death if need be. Whatever HKB"H requires, but we won't willingly put our mortal souls in danger's path.
Another good Video from Rabbi Simon Jacobson.
The unknown yet CATASTROPHIC spiritual damage caused by gossiping.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SjfFwD1bA8
sc
Thank you sc I'm listening to that one now.
Daven to Hashem over and over to allow you to live in Eretz Yisroel. My family had no practical means and lots of things holding us back but lots of desire (not even all of us!) and lots of davening. In all honesty, it's still shocking to me that b'chasdei Hashem (and only that!) somehow we're here.
Anonymous first commenter.....I watched a video of these 2 Xian guys (they're missionaries I think but its important to know what they are up to) scouting Arab towns in Yehuda and Shomron, half the buildings were empty and unoccupied. The Arabs that own them live in other countries. They keep the property to hold onto the myth that there are more of them here then there actually is.
Also Yehonaton Pollard said there is tech, I think its like 3d printing that could produce quality structures in a very short amount of time.
CSF
That's not a good attitude....
Hashem expects us to wake up and do our hishtadlus. Jews before the Shoah felt the same way. All the signs were there. Jabotinski and many other were begging them to leave but few listened.
I know it seems counterintuitive, however E"Y is the safest place on earth for a Jew
CSF
I couldn't have said it better- exactly the same for me....and I've been here 15 years.
I find I am completely agreeing with everything you've written here. We made aliyah with almost no money ....at times it was difficult but Hashem always provided and opened up a path for us. Yes I live in a small apartment versus the huge house and fancy cars I had before....but I feel I traded up for the privilege of being in EY. Its not easy but nothing worth having ever is. EY is earned. So don't be scared about the challenges. If you have a burning desire to make aliyah, start the process and daven and Hashem will open up the necessary doors for you.
CSF
please check this video and many others from rabbi Yinon Kalazan. He addresses the Zionist theme and modern day Israel. I understand it's a controversial topic. But he backs up everything he say with solid unequivocal sources and everything he say is text based. I got to a point in life when if I listen to a shiur where the rabbi does not quote from texts means very little to me.
https://youtu.be/c6o1KTOAJhA
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