The beginning of the 2nd paragraph is meant to read as follows:
I believe that reality remains more nuanced, there being several legitimate reasons not to make aliyah right now, such as: If one’s children are liable to be negatively affected by being uprooted; or other familial obligations, such as aging parents. Yet, many are resistant to the notion of aliyah without being able to clearly formulate what lies behind the resistance. A deep dive into the Torah portion of Matot illuminates many of the hurdles to making aliyah, which, at their core, are not new at all.
Rabbi Goldberg, thank you for your insights into the challenges of moving to Israel that you gleaned from the stories of the two and a half tribes and the spies.
If I may, I would like to add to your insights by pointing to the first pasuk (passage) in Parshat Lech Lecha. In it G-d tells Abraham to go sight unseen to the Land of Canaan and in that command address all of the issues and reasons that are often given today for not making Aliyah.
In that sentence G-d tell Abraham to leave his land, his country, his father’s home and to go to the land that G-d will show him. If one parses the sentence G-d is telling Abraham to give up his livelihood and leave his physical possessions (“atrzecha” his lands), his culture (“moladetcha” his country) and his family (“beit avicha”). In return for this leap into the unknown (“el Haaretz Asher arecha”) God promises that he will make Abraham successful beyond his wildest dreams.
If one accepts the dictum of “the actions of the fathers blaze the paths for the sons” (maaseh avot siman l’banim”) G-d is essentially telling us; I know all your excuses for not making Aliyah. It’s financially difficult. It’s a different culture. How can I leave my family? I get it but take the leap and go anyway. It’s where you belong and you will succeed.
And indeed as we have seen through those who have made Aliyah, it’s not easy but G-d has made the state of Israel incredibly successful and on the aggregate those who have moved there are successful and are happy. Israel is the 9th happiest place in the world despite all of our problems. If Israel is not a miracle I don’t know what is.
No more excuses. It’s time for everyone to come home so G-d can truly make us a “goy gadol”, a great nation.
Even when Moses left Israel supposedly more Jews decided to stay then to leave. Its been a on-going problem for thousands of years. Many Jews for whatever historical reasons are residents of many different countries. I see no shame in that or for that matter many of them wanting to leave and settle in Israel. Its both Israel's strength and weakness. Its a positive because these overseas connections to the Jewish diaspora helps Israel in way too many areas to describe here. Its a weakness because Israel to settle the Negev and build a dynamic domestic market for their goods and services also needs the human capital a population of 15-20 million people can generate.
Israel has the talent and tech expertise to build a nation that is self sufficient in most things. What it lacks is the manpower to i.e. have a larger standing army or a sufficient number of people to build large projects that require that manpower. To often they have to import workers for farm labor or construction needs along with personal service jobs. All to often Israeli's leave because they feel constricted by the smallness of the economy and its opportunities.
Yes Israel has a fertility rate that more then replaces those people who leave or pass away. However many of the people born in Israel are from the Super Orthodox who are way underrepresented in the economy and military. This either has to change because of internal pressures or by increasing the population either through more immigration to the country or a higher fertility rate among the more integrated Jewish population of Israel. But more of a population is really needed if just for security needs alone and to protect the economy.
One other thought. Those Jews that have no interest in anything Jewish are probably a greater threat to Jewish continuity and Israel then Arab fanatics because they may think they will always be continuously accepted by their fellow citizens. History if it has taught the Jews anything is that this is certainly not the case.
“It may be easier in Israel to move in the right direction on these matters, but, of course, anyone can make the right choices and move in the right direction anywhere. In fact, it is sometimes easier to maintain one's religious commitment in a context where few people share that commitment.”
You make many excellent points in this piece, and there is certainly truth in the quote above. But a higher truth is, probably inadvertently, left unsaid; the question of the call of God.
Many of us want to serve and honor God in and through our lives, but we want to do so our way; according to what seems ‘right’ in our own eyes, rather than seeking to know and follow the leading of the Spirit.
We often say we want to know the truth of a matter from God’s perspective. But, do we really? To our own hurt, what we often really mean is that we want to know what God’s will is, so we can consider whether or not we will follow it. Because, more often than not, God’s leading for our lives in the questions that truly matter, would seem to take us in a direction opposite to that which we ‘feel’ is preferable. This is the crucible in which the ‘testing’ of our faith, and ‘refining’ of our character, occurs.
There are many relevant examples of this tragic aspect of fallen human nature, but the one that stands out in my mind is that set forth in Jeremiah, Chapters 41 thru 44, with the salient portion being as follows:
Jeremiah 42:19-22 (Tanakh)
“The LORD has spoken against you, O remnant of Judah! Do not go to Egypt! Know well, then—for I warn you this day that you were deceitful at heart when you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God; and whatever the LORD our God may say, just tell us and we will do it.' I told you today, and you have not obeyed the LORD your God in respect to all that He sent me to tell you— know well, then, that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you want to go and sojourn.”
Elsewhere you write:
“Numerous times the people implored Moses to allow them to return to Egypt, seemingly with no regard for the destiny that awaited them in the Land of Israel.”
It is heartbreaking to see these failures of the people, and to know the outcome that attended such failures in so many cases. Nevertheless, they have been instructive in my own life with God as, amongst other things, He has pointed to these instances and warned me that, apart from His grace and the empowering of His Spirit, I was no better than the weakest of men.
I could go on in many different directions, but the burden of my heart is to exhort the people in the Diaspora to be very careful not to let fears and desires of the flesh dominate in their deliberations regarding the issue of making Aliyah.
My own firm belief is that all who can do so, should seriously seek to make Aliyah as soon as possible. But I understand this is a very serious matter, and therefore urge that each person should seek carefully, and prayerfully, to discern the will of God, asking the Lord, ‘Should I stay, or should I go?’
In that regard, it would be wise to follow the example of David:“Examine me, O God, and know my mind; probe me and know my thoughts. See if I have vexatious ways,and guide me in ways everlasting.”
Psalms 139:23-24 (Tanakh)
For:
“Most devious is the heart; it is perverse—who can fathom it? I the LORD probe the heart, search the mind—to repay every man according to his ways, with the proper fruit of his deeds.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10 (Tanakh)
I pray that, in so doing, the Lord may guide you, strengthen you, encourage and protect you, and give you a love so strong, that you may truly say, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him…”
Job 13:15a (Tanakh)
I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and the true welfare of the people of Israel, in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach. Amen!
The beginning of the 2nd paragraph is meant to read as follows:
I believe that reality remains more nuanced, there being several legitimate reasons not to make aliyah right now, such as: If one’s children are liable to be negatively affected by being uprooted; or other familial obligations, such as aging parents. Yet, many are resistant to the notion of aliyah without being able to clearly formulate what lies behind the resistance. A deep dive into the Torah portion of Matot illuminates many of the hurdles to making aliyah, which, at their core, are not new at all.
Rabbi Goldberg, thank you for your insights into the challenges of moving to Israel that you gleaned from the stories of the two and a half tribes and the spies.
If I may, I would like to add to your insights by pointing to the first pasuk (passage) in Parshat Lech Lecha. In it G-d tells Abraham to go sight unseen to the Land of Canaan and in that command address all of the issues and reasons that are often given today for not making Aliyah.
In that sentence G-d tell Abraham to leave his land, his country, his father’s home and to go to the land that G-d will show him. If one parses the sentence G-d is telling Abraham to give up his livelihood and leave his physical possessions (“atrzecha” his lands), his culture (“moladetcha” his country) and his family (“beit avicha”). In return for this leap into the unknown (“el Haaretz Asher arecha”) God promises that he will make Abraham successful beyond his wildest dreams.
If one accepts the dictum of “the actions of the fathers blaze the paths for the sons” (maaseh avot siman l’banim”) G-d is essentially telling us; I know all your excuses for not making Aliyah. It’s financially difficult. It’s a different culture. How can I leave my family? I get it but take the leap and go anyway. It’s where you belong and you will succeed.
And indeed as we have seen through those who have made Aliyah, it’s not easy but G-d has made the state of Israel incredibly successful and on the aggregate those who have moved there are successful and are happy. Israel is the 9th happiest place in the world despite all of our problems. If Israel is not a miracle I don’t know what is.
No more excuses. It’s time for everyone to come home so G-d can truly make us a “goy gadol”, a great nation.
"There are those who were/are afraid to confront the challenges of living in Israel.
Based on the sad history of the Jewish people in the diaspora, is it safer to live outside our historical indigenous homeland?
Even when Moses left Israel supposedly more Jews decided to stay then to leave. Its been a on-going problem for thousands of years. Many Jews for whatever historical reasons are residents of many different countries. I see no shame in that or for that matter many of them wanting to leave and settle in Israel. Its both Israel's strength and weakness. Its a positive because these overseas connections to the Jewish diaspora helps Israel in way too many areas to describe here. Its a weakness because Israel to settle the Negev and build a dynamic domestic market for their goods and services also needs the human capital a population of 15-20 million people can generate.
Israel has the talent and tech expertise to build a nation that is self sufficient in most things. What it lacks is the manpower to i.e. have a larger standing army or a sufficient number of people to build large projects that require that manpower. To often they have to import workers for farm labor or construction needs along with personal service jobs. All to often Israeli's leave because they feel constricted by the smallness of the economy and its opportunities.
Yes Israel has a fertility rate that more then replaces those people who leave or pass away. However many of the people born in Israel are from the Super Orthodox who are way underrepresented in the economy and military. This either has to change because of internal pressures or by increasing the population either through more immigration to the country or a higher fertility rate among the more integrated Jewish population of Israel. But more of a population is really needed if just for security needs alone and to protect the economy.
One other thought. Those Jews that have no interest in anything Jewish are probably a greater threat to Jewish continuity and Israel then Arab fanatics because they may think they will always be continuously accepted by their fellow citizens. History if it has taught the Jews anything is that this is certainly not the case.
“It may be easier in Israel to move in the right direction on these matters, but, of course, anyone can make the right choices and move in the right direction anywhere. In fact, it is sometimes easier to maintain one's religious commitment in a context where few people share that commitment.”
You make many excellent points in this piece, and there is certainly truth in the quote above. But a higher truth is, probably inadvertently, left unsaid; the question of the call of God.
Many of us want to serve and honor God in and through our lives, but we want to do so our way; according to what seems ‘right’ in our own eyes, rather than seeking to know and follow the leading of the Spirit.
We often say we want to know the truth of a matter from God’s perspective. But, do we really? To our own hurt, what we often really mean is that we want to know what God’s will is, so we can consider whether or not we will follow it. Because, more often than not, God’s leading for our lives in the questions that truly matter, would seem to take us in a direction opposite to that which we ‘feel’ is preferable. This is the crucible in which the ‘testing’ of our faith, and ‘refining’ of our character, occurs.
There are many relevant examples of this tragic aspect of fallen human nature, but the one that stands out in my mind is that set forth in Jeremiah, Chapters 41 thru 44, with the salient portion being as follows:
Jeremiah 42:19-22 (Tanakh)
“The LORD has spoken against you, O remnant of Judah! Do not go to Egypt! Know well, then—for I warn you this day that you were deceitful at heart when you sent me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the LORD our God; and whatever the LORD our God may say, just tell us and we will do it.' I told you today, and you have not obeyed the LORD your God in respect to all that He sent me to tell you— know well, then, that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you want to go and sojourn.”
Elsewhere you write:
“Numerous times the people implored Moses to allow them to return to Egypt, seemingly with no regard for the destiny that awaited them in the Land of Israel.”
It is heartbreaking to see these failures of the people, and to know the outcome that attended such failures in so many cases. Nevertheless, they have been instructive in my own life with God as, amongst other things, He has pointed to these instances and warned me that, apart from His grace and the empowering of His Spirit, I was no better than the weakest of men.
I could go on in many different directions, but the burden of my heart is to exhort the people in the Diaspora to be very careful not to let fears and desires of the flesh dominate in their deliberations regarding the issue of making Aliyah.
My own firm belief is that all who can do so, should seriously seek to make Aliyah as soon as possible. But I understand this is a very serious matter, and therefore urge that each person should seek carefully, and prayerfully, to discern the will of God, asking the Lord, ‘Should I stay, or should I go?’
In that regard, it would be wise to follow the example of David:“Examine me, O God, and know my mind; probe me and know my thoughts. See if I have vexatious ways,and guide me in ways everlasting.”
Psalms 139:23-24 (Tanakh)
For:
“Most devious is the heart; it is perverse—who can fathom it? I the LORD probe the heart, search the mind—to repay every man according to his ways, with the proper fruit of his deeds.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10 (Tanakh)
I pray that, in so doing, the Lord may guide you, strengthen you, encourage and protect you, and give you a love so strong, that you may truly say, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him…”
Job 13:15a (Tanakh)
I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and the true welfare of the people of Israel, in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach. Amen!
Am Israel Chai!