Editor: Batsheva Pomerantz This “from time to time” feature is geared towards encouraging Aliya... AND encouraging veteran & new Olim to become more involved in encouraging and easing the Aliya of others. TAXING ISSUES A rabbinical perspective on financial considerations of Aliya appears in "The Excuse of 'Parnasa' as a Factor for not Coming on Aliya to Eretz Yisrael", a halachic essay in Hebrew by Rabbi Ari Yitzchak Shvat. Published in the latest Techumin (volume 22), Rabbi Shvat discusses the mitzva of living in Eretz Yisrael, the principals of allocating funds for mitzvot and financing the mitzva of living in Eretz Yisrael. The essay deals with lowering the standard of living, changing professions, unemployed olim, and the importance of government assistance for olim. Techumin is a series of books edited and published by the Tzomet Institute of Alon Shvut. The essays in Techumin (Hebrew acronym for Torah, society and state) present Halachic issues that arise in modern society. Eretz Yisrael in Our Sources • Ten measures of wisdom descended upon the world - nine were received by Eretz Yisrael and one by the entire world. Kiddushin 49 Aliya Pen Pals • Potential olim can contact David Magence at magence@netvision.net.il for names and addresses of aliya pen pals. Aliya pen pals, listed according to profession, are veteran or recent olim interested in providing assistance. The word “Aliya” is used both for going up to the Torah and for going up to Eretz Yisrael.Torah and Eretz Yisrael are the two "items” that G-d gave us as a MORASHA, a Heritage. Assisting the Oleh • Tnuat Aliya is a
branch of the Immigration and Absorption Department of the Jewish Agency.
Its goal is to bring Jews closer to Israel, by providing relevant program
options which offer them a taste of "real life" in Israel. The following is
a partial list of programs: • The Magen David Adom Ambulance Volunteer Program is a two-month group experience for young adults, aged 18 and over. Participants undergo a first-aid training course in Israel, and are placed in a Magen David Adom Center, where they work on ambulances with Israeli volunteers, providing emergency care. The program includes housing, trips and seminars, and is run several times a year. • MARVA is a physically challenging two-month experience for tourists, aged 18-28. Marva participants experience life in Israel while learning survival skills, field training, self-defense, topography and navigation, and meet Israeli soldiers while hiking throughout the country. Four sessions are offered each year in June, September, December and March. • SHELI - Service to Israel was created in response to the current situation in Israel, which allows Jews from around the world, of all ages, to help organizations throughout Israel. Volunteer opportunities include: Civil Guard, Maintenance and Supply work, Social Services, and Kibbutz. • Kibbutz Ulpan offers a low-cost way for young adults to learn aspects of Israeli society. Kibbutz Ulpan is a five-month program that combines intensive Hebrew language instruction with work and life in the unique environment of kibbutz. • Pilot Tours are fact-finding tours organized for groups or individuals seriously considering Aliya. These tours provide an overview of various aspects of the Aliya and absorption process. For more details about Tnuat Aliya
contact: Here to Stay • Inspiring stories of olim
from different periods of aliya are welcome. The essay should be up to 450
words long and emphasize one of the following: motives for aliya,
contributions to Israel, how Israel contributed to the oleh, the main
challenge in aliya and overcoming it. Please avoid publicizing businesses.
Send the essay to:
aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il. Israel Loves Kids, a family guidebook to Israel, and the novel The Thirteenth Hour. She is spokesperson for Hadassah Organization in Israel. Imagine a New England covered bridge over the flowing Salmon River of Southeastern Connecticut. I was 17, on a retreat for leaders sponsored by Young Judaea, the Zionist youth movement. We were walking alongside the river. The shaliach, sent from Israel to catalyze our Zionist thinking, caught up to me. What was I planning for my Zionist future, he wanted to know. College acceptances hadn't come in yet, but I assured him I'd be active in Zionist activities on whatever university I attended. He waved his hand downwards. "I thought you were serious," he said. No one ever told you that you were serious or not in America. I was insulted. I considered myself a hyper- serious adolescent. Why else would I be walking around the Salmon River talking about Ahad Ha'am, Theodore Herzl, and Zionist Congresses while most of my friends were at the beach in New London? Later that day, I had a sort of epiphany. Standing in the water-rich countryside, I pictured myself trudging through the Negev. A summons. I've never regretted that moment of revelation. Three decades later, every- thing I am today has been informed by my experience of being part of the Jewish people's dazzling, dizzying experiment in state-building. I have now lived most of my life here, (although I haven't lost my Connect- icut accent) and I've brought up my family here. My husband Gerald Schroeder and I have our first sabra grandson, a 4th-generation moshavnik on the other side, a second-generation Israeli on ours. I have been writing most of my life. As a child, I wrote stories to read to friends during recess. As a teen, I preferred writing youth columns for newspapers to babysitting. But for my early years in Israel, I taught high school English in Migdal Ha'emek, Jerusalem, and at Kibbutz Maagan Michael. In those years, my husband was doing his experiments in nearby fishponds. I wrote a book of children's stories about a mouse in a Jewish kitchen: The Holiday Adventures of Achbar. I returned to writing full-time when the fourth of our five children was born. Because Israel is a land so full of stories, I wrote hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles. In Israel, we're always aware of the thin line between truth and fiction. The falsification of life here by our enemies who manipulate half-truths. Over the last few years, I have been drawn into the country's public relation efforts. As the Israel spokesperson for Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, I have been able to connect foreign news media with leads to true stories which show Israel in a positive light. I have continued my own writing, both non-fiction and fiction, and spend part of my time speaking. Today, even more than the past, I'm aware
of the sacred duty, not just on Chanuka, to publicize the miracles that take
place in our Jewish state. I'm also reminded daily that miracles don't
happen in a vacuum. They require our own constant efforts, our
self-criticism, our need to maintain the values of Judaism and democracy and
our unwavering faith. The synagogue of the Ein Kerem hospital is decorated with the stained glass windows made by Marc Chagall. What is considerably less known is that the Mount Scopus hospital also has a major work of art by one of the great 20th century Jewish artists: the last sculpture created by Jacques Lipshitz. The "Tree of Jewish Life" was described by Lipshitz as "depicting the history of the Jewish People and symbolizing the dynamism of our faith, the source of our dreams and spiritual aspirations". Standing six meters high, the sculpture is straight ahead as one enters the gate of Hadassah Hospital. The roots of the tree depict Noah, through whom all of mankind was saved. Standing on Noah's back is Abraham, with knife in hand ready to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac. Abraham's right hand is held by an angel, preventing Abraham from carrying out the sacrifice. Abraham's left hand rests on the head of the ram which was offered in place of Isaac. Above Abraham is Moses, looking up at the Ten Commandments. Moses' right hand supports the tablets, while his left hand is held as in priestly blessing. Beyond Moses, flames arise, symbolizing the Holocaust. On the right side, the flames begin to form a human figure, the phoenix rising out of the ashes, representing the rejuvenation of the Jewish People after the Holocaust. There are six flames, which together with Moses' hand form a menorah. The themes which Lipshitz has presented are sacrifice and tradition. The tree may appear to be unstable, about to fall over. The ultimate message is that despite the precarious nature of Jewish history, we have survived. [The Parshat
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