Here's What You Had To Say...
A sampling of responses to my post on whether worries on the home front will spur an increase in aliyah.
Taking a moment to respond to my posts is welcomed and appreciated.
Dear Readers,
One of the things I like most about this Substack platform is receiving a wide range of interesting responses from you to the pieces I post.
So today I’m sharing a sampling of your notes from my most recent piece, “As Worries Over Democracy At Home Increase, Will Aliyah Become A Serious Option?” (Jan. 11)
I’ve learned over the years that oftentimes people reading the same article will each see it through their own particular lens. In this case, the responses ranged from several people who wrote, simply, “you read my mind,” to an American who said he “fears for the survival of Israel.” Citing the significant increase in Israel of the charedi population and the growing political influence of the right, he worries that Israeli democracy is at risk over the next 15 years. “If people want to leave the U.S. for fear of anti-Semitism,” he wrote, places like “Portugal, Spain, London, Singapore make more sense.”
No doubt a prime motivation for many of the people applying for Israeli citizenship these days is to expedite their ability to visit first-degree relatives, made more urgent during the pandemic. But the issue of aliyah, a life choice founded in the basic tenet of Zionism to settle the land, involves an ongoing and powerful mix of emotions, politics, ideology and faith.
Here’s a selection (excerpted and gently edited); thanks to those of you who wrote.
And to all, an invitation to join the conversation: I love hearing from you.
(If you do choose to write, please indicate how – or whether – you can be identified here by name.)
Shavua tov,
Gary
From a reader in New York:
… One iron-clad rule of Jewish migration patterns since the Second Commonwealth: Jews will leave from one country to another when they see better economic opportunities elsewhere. This has never been the case with modern Israel and shows no sign of changing…
Fears for the future of American democracy are legitimate but only rarely translate into serious consideration of aliyah…Trump does not incite fear among either religious Zionists or charedim, who voted overwhelmingly for him…
I lose a lot of sleep over the future of American democracy and Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state, but I do not see American aliyah as a realistic solution to either of those challenges.”
From an American Jew living in Berlin, Germany:
… “I see this country, ironically, as my safe place. The democracy here seems very strong, despite ever louder voices from the right wing populist camp (Germany is obviously not alone in this).” Visits to the U.S. “nourish my soul,” she said, but she is “deeply worried” about another Trump term. “I think of Germany, particularly Berlin, as my urban fix and my place of security and reason.”
Out of an estimated Jewish population in Germany of 200,000, about 200 make aliyah a year, she wrote. “But virtually every Jew I know here, of any ethnic or national background, has family ties in Israel and flies back-and-forth regularly when pandemics are not an issue.”
From a reader in New York:
“Your article resonated strongly with me. This country is going down the drain … It's the first time I’ve thought about aliyah since I was a student in Israel in the 1990s.”
From a reader in Washington:
… “Your opinion might reach more receptive ears, mine included, without the few words that recite, yet again, an (unnecessary) anti-Trump message. You could have mentioned the negativity and divisiveness we face in the U.S, as a reason to make aliyah, without laying blame on only one side. One could easily blame bespoke journalism and intolerant “liberals” and “progressives” (misnomers here) who are just as much to blame for our political malaise in the U.S. – if for no other reason than triggering the right’s angry response.”
From a reader in New York:
“Growing up in a religious Zionist environment with Bnei Akiva and Camp Moshava, I’ve always felt the pull of aliyah. So it’s painful that my concern about the future of American democracy is motivating my renewed interest in making aliyah now.”
Again, thanks to those of you who wrote, and I welcome responses to future posts from any and all readers.
Gary
P.S. Please encourage your friends to subscribe (for free or paid) by clicking: garyrosenblatt.substack.com
I made aliyah 25 years ago, at the end of the massive aliyah out of the former USSR. Since, it has become clear to me that the motivation and nature of aliyah has significantly changed.
My observation is that MOST aliyah from the US is economically motived, not by lack of opportunity in America but by the cost of religious education. I have met very few olim who are not religious and not a member of one of the many orthodox flavors one finds in America today. They come to insure that their children will get a religious education, one which is increasingly expensive in the US. I have even met some that commute to the US for their employment, coming back to Israel for a monthly or more often shabbat with the family. There is also a significant portion of American aliyah that come for retirement. Israeli is very attractive economically especially when one looks at the cost and quality of medical care.
There is an increasing number of French olim that come for safety reasons but many again maintain their business and livelihood in France, commuting on some regular basis. The cost and logistics between France and Israel is obviously more reasonable than that between the US and Israel.
If one looks at the historic numbers of olim, the numbers from North America were small. US and Canadian Jews expressed their Zionism early by sending guns, but rarely soldiers (there were a few, some very important to the war effort, but the numbers were small). Later the support was economic with donations and bond purchases. Political support developed over the years with funding for lobbying groups, and legislative candidate. But again, total North American aliyah, both in numbers and as a percent of the total Jewish population, remained small compared to the UK, S. Africa, Argentina, the USSR and Europe as a whole.
In the long term, I don't see a significant number of US Jews coming to Israel. The number of Jews that will disappear from the rosters will be far higher due to intermarriage and assimilation. The American Jewish population will continue to be important politically and economically, but not as a source of significant population growth for Israel.