Chosen People to the Chosen Land
Aloh Na'aleh in conjunction with the OU Israel Center
Editor: Batsheva Pomerantz
CPCL #18 • Shabbat B'reishit 5764 • contact: aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il
This monthly feature is geared towards encouraging Aliya... AND encouraging
veteran and new Olim to become more involved in encouraging and easing the
Aliya of others.
Learn how to motivate your friends and relatives to consider Aliyah Attend
this important conference • Third Annual Aliyah Conference: How to Educate
Towards Aliyah; Keynote Speaker: Rabbi Dr. Chaim Brovender • Focus Group
with Olim: What motivated us to come? What obstacles did we overcome? •
Simultaneous workshops on how to motivate…Rabbis and their communities,
Youth and young couples, Retirees, Educators - students • Workshop on using
marketing and public relations techniques • Closing Speaker: Rabbi Dr. Aaron
Adler • Comments from participants are welcome; The conference will be
moderated by Elana Rozenman and chaired by Chaya Passow • Thursday, November
27th, 1:00-5:30pm, Renaissance Hotel, Jerusalem; Admission: 25NIS •
Membership includes free admission, For more information and advance
registration: Rabbi Y. Roness, (02) 566-1181 ext. 320 • aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il
• In cooperation with AACI, OU Israel Center, Council of Y.I. Rabbis, Yavneh
Olami
Eretz Yisrael in Our Sources: R' Yitzchak said: "It was not necessary to
begin the Torah, but from 'This month will be for you' (Shmot 12:2) since
this is the first mitzvah that Israel was commanded. And what is the reason
that it opens with Breishit?"
Because "the power of His works He has
declared to His people in giving them the heritage of the nations." (Psalms
111). For if the nations of the world say to Israel: "You are robbers,
because you have seized by force the lands of the seven nations" they
(Israel) can say to them "The entire world belongs to the Holy One,Blessed
Be He, He created it and gave it to whomever it was right in His eyes. Of
His own will He gave it to them and of His own will He took it from them and
gave it to us" - Rashi, Breishit 1,1
Quizrael: Motza'ei Shabbat Parshat Lech Lecha, November 8th, '03 • Now after
the chagim… play Quizrael - Tehilla's 2nd annual international Quizrael
trivia night is the best way to support Aliyah and also have a fun-filled
evening you'll be talking about for months! Sign up today at www.tehilla.com,
For more information or to host Quizrael, email Adina at quizmaster@tehilla.com
or call 054-860848.
This year - commemorate Avraham Avinu's Aliyah by supporting Aliyah!
Aliyah Pen Pals • Potential olim can contact David Magence at magence@netvision.net.il
for names and addresses of Aliyah pen pals. Aliyah pen pals, listed
according to profession, are veteran or recent olim interested in providing
assistance.
From the student editor of YU's Commentator: WE NEED YOUR HELP! Contribute
to the Commentator's Special Symposium on Israel and Aliyah! The Commentator
will be preparing a special symposium dedicated to promoting Aliyah and the
many Yeshiva University alumni who have courageously moved to the Holy Land
during these difficult times. The goal is to increase awareness about the
importance of Aliyah among the YU community and beyond, and to enable
potential Olim in America to learn more about Aliyah from those who actually
moved to Israel from the United States. We are asking all alumni (no matter
from which particular school) to contribute to this special section, which
will be sure to have an enormous impact on our thousands of readers in the
YU and broader Jewish community. Generally, we are looking for articles
about your own personal experiences or reflections on the experience of
Aliyah and on life in Israel today and since your arrival. However, writers
may choose to focus on virtually anything about life in Israel, the
experience of Aliyah, and/or your reflections about any issue pertaining to
the Jewish state and the Jewish people... and/or allow us to conduct a phone
interview... Just email us me your phone number and The Commentator will
take care of the phone bill... Contact me to discuss your potential
involvement.tkahn@ymail.yu.edu or by phone (New York) 551-206-5613. Tzvi
Kahn, Editor-in-Chief
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. Send
the essay to: aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il.: Rabbi Morey Schwartz of Hashmonaim
thought of Aliyah by the end of his post-high school year in Israel.
Nineteen years later he finally made Aliyah.
A glance ahead and I see a familiar face.
A former colleague, an American rabbi visiting Israel. He is here with his
family, or leading a solidarity mission.
"Shalom Aleichem," he holds out his hand.
"Baruch Haba," I respond, and we shake.
"I heard you're living here now, right?" he asks.
"That's right, since June of 2000," I answer.
And then, without fail, comes the inevitable question. It never takes more
than a few utterances before that question comes:
"So, what are you doing here?"
He really means: "So, what does a former American pulpit rabbi do to make a
living in Israel? How did you leave the rabbinate, and all that comes with
it? Are you happy? Do you want to come back?"
I just turned 40 this year. We came to Israel three years ago, and I am here
to stay. I left the rabbinate after building a congregation and community in
Kansas City for a very exciting nine years. If I had it to do over, I would
do the same. As an American musmach, I did feel that it was my
responsibility to give a number of years to the American Jewish community.
That was my main purpose in becoming a rabbi. However, first and foremost I
am a Jew, as are all of us rabbis! And therefore, just as we teach and
inspire our congregants to be loyal first and foremost to the Torah and its
commandments, so too are we bound to observe every one of those
commandments.
It is clear to me, as it would be to all
of my colleagues, that yishuv ha'aretz is one of those commandments. I
believe that every one of them would agree that they consider it a mitzvah
to come on Aliyah, to make one's home here and to raise one's children here.
With this is mind, I often respond to
their question by saying, "I am being mekayem the mitzvah of yishuv ha'aretz."
Knowing full well that this doesn't exactly answer their question. I look to
see on their face that they got the subtle point. Some of them do and some
don't.
I tell them what I do, that I do not have
a shul. They ask if I miss the rabbinate. I tell them I do, and that I
didn't come to Israel in order to leave the rabbinate. This wasn't a
"professional move". It was a personal and profoundly faith-driven decision.
Why don't they come? There are many
reasons. I know that many of my colleagues want to make the move. Part of
their difficulty is seeing past their professional calling, to their
personal calling in life. It is a difficult transition. I will admit that.
But it's well worth it.
It's important to strengthen the American
Jewish community. But no single rabbi, no matter how great he is, needs to
bear the entire responsibility for that task. Give it some ten years, give
it your all, and then come home to Israel.
We all need to look beyond the temporary
obstacles and challenges, envision our children and grand- children growing
up in Eretz Yisrael. HaShem has opened the doors wide for us. We all have
something to contribute here, and in the long run, this is where Am Yisrael
needs us the most.
Hashmona'im by David Magence Licensed Tour Guide: Hashmonaim, situated
midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, was established in 1984 as a private
initiative by a group of religious Jews, whose goals were settling the Land
and creating a religious community. The pioneers were four Yemenite
families, who lived without electricity for nearly two years.
Hashmonaim has developed into a community of more than 300 families. True to
the vision of the founders, it remains a religious community, with a mix of
national religious and Haredim, Sephardim and Ashkenazim, sabras and olim.
Approximately 40% of Hashmonaim's population are English speaking.
The name "Hashmonaim" derives from its
location within the Modi'in area, where the Hashmonaic revolt began,
ultimately leading to the rededication of the Bet haMikdash and Hanukkah.
Less than 2 kms. to the west is the Arab village Midya, believed to
preserve, in slightly altered form, the name of ancient Modi'in. Within the
village is a tel, identified as the actual site of Modi'in.
Just south of Hashmonaim, there is a
series of ancient tombs cut in the natural rock. For the past century, these
tombs have been popularly known as "Kivrei haMakkabim" (the Tombs of the
Maccabees). Historical and geographic considerations bring into question
this tradition. Next to Kivrei haMakkabim, there is a monument to our
soldiers who gave their lives fighting in the area during the War of
Independence.
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