Editor: Batsheva Pomeranzt Marc and his family spent most of the day with us learning about the block of settlements where we reside, considering whether any of these communities reflected the lifestyle they wanted to lead when they make Aliyah. Within each community they delved into questions regarding the athletic, cultural and educational facilities, youth groups, transportation, Rabbinic services, shiurim, and chessed activities. Every query was designed to help work out the Aliyah statement sheet. The choice to make Aliyah had already been made. Making it a successful one was a process that Marc, like many others before him, had to undergo. The more data, the better the chances of easing into Israeli society - a primary sign of success. For my husband, Aliyah was not really an intellectual, emotional or ideological choice of his - he was six months old when his parents, survivors of the Nazi concentration camps, boarded a boat from Cyprus, with two suitcases in hand and headed for the newly formed State of Israel. Now, many years later, with 4 generationsin Israel, his parent's Aliyah would no doubt be considered on the plus side of the statement sheet. Marc's visit to our yishuv dovetailed with the departure of Tehilla pilot trip #91. The group visited 16 communities and heard lectures on practical issues. Tehilla provided them with packets of information and staff assisting them with whatever their needs. They came from well-heeled Jewish communities, where they enjoyed a rich community life, had a multitude of Jewish facilities at their fingertips, and excellent employment opportunities. Their trenchant questions prodded detailed answers. Polite, inquisitive, a little nervous, but mostly filled with a burning in their hearts that they were closing in on the answers they were seeking. The participants were busy with job interviews, networking and gathering employment information. Having helped with the logistics of two Tehilla pilot trips does not make me an Aliyah expert. Yet, I am becoming an expert on recognizing when a family's Aliyah statement sheet has reached an overwhelming credit balance. I know it because I can sense when a particular community we have visited has touched a chord in their hearts, when they can envision their lives intertwine with those already living there. Through their eyes I see them watch their children babbling in Hebrew with other children, and them filling their Shabbat table with their newfound friends. I can see them plant the first tree in their garden, and argue with a repairman in Hebrew. Regardless of the balance sheet, Israel has grabbed their hearts in a way that makes all future questions and concerns superfluous. I watched this on both Tehilla pilot trips that I facilitated. I see it in Marc's face now, and I see it in the eyes of those from my summer trip who will come back and beckon their children, family and friends to enter their home in Israel. No matter that they arrive with more than
the first two suitcases of my husband's parents. No matter that they will
arrive by plane and not by boat. And no matter that their home will be more
substantial than the first tent that my husband shared with his parents.
What matters is that they will come. And, they will bringtheir hearts with
them to this Land. Like so many before them… and so many after them. For the past 15 years, Michelle has been involved in Jewish education in four continents. She studied as a fellow in the ATID Fellowship Program and researched Dati Leumi Oleh Teens in High Schools. Upon completing the program, she began working as an Educational Consultant. Most recently, she coordinated high school fairsin Bet Shemesh and Jerusalem, publishing handbooks about schools. Her educational counseling services are also in conjunction with AACI, Tehilla and Nefesh B'Nefesh. Some of the services Michelle provides
includes: Discussing the issues olim teens and their families face,
emotional transition process of teens and providing parents with preparation
tips to help ease their teens' difficult transitional points. Michelle
believes in the importance of involving teens in all aspects of the
decision making process in searching for a high school. Writer Dvora Waysman of Bet HaKerem, J'lem, has written 9 books including "The Pomegranate Pendant" and "Woman of Jerusalem", inspiring books concerning Jerusalem. Finding My Home Then I lived for a few years in London, and that too captured my heart. It represented the best of all I knew in literature - a pulsating, vibrant city to live in, steeped in dignity and history. So why Israel? It is a mystery that I still haven't solved. It was certainly not my idea to come, but my husband's who wanted our four children to know that they had a homeland. I fought it vigorously. When resentment is festering in your heart, nothing is beautiful or welcoming and I was probably the most reluctant immigrant ever to make Aliyah. Of course I knew enough Jewish history to understand about Abraham, who responded to the Divine urge to leave the land of his birth to travel to an unknown Promised Land. And I also know that for 2,000 years Jews through the ages have sought ways to return from the lands of their dispersion to their ancient homeland Eretz Yisrael. But what did that have to do with me? At the time, in 1971, religion was on the fringe of my life, Zionism was just a word and I certainly wasn't living in a country of distress, or had personally experienced any real anti-Semitism. "Aliyah" meaning "ascension" was actually a big step down in quality of life and living standards, but at the time I had no choice in the matter. You don't fall in love with Israel easily. It doesn't "grab" at your senses, like the boulevards of Paris, the enchantment of Tuscany or the snow-capped mountains of Switzerland. It is much more subtle. I lived in Jerusalem for years before one day I realized it had captured my heart. And after that, it never let go. I suppose it began with the people - with the ordinary people, whose lives add up to the extraordinary story of modern Israel. Most of them were born abroad, and they bring to the State the culture of half the world - a human, ethnic mosaic. Even when you go to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market, among the shoppers you still see old ladies shuffling along wearing the faded costumes of their forgotten communities. It is a place where everyone rubs elbows... saints, sinners, philosophers, cobblers, spice merchants, professors, nuns, holy men, doctors and housewives. Eventually I discovered the Kotel, the Western Wall. Judaism's holiest site, I was unmoved when I first saw it. But once when I really needed to pray, I went there and communed one-to-One with the Creator. I can never explain the sense of peace and serenity that washed over me like a blessing. They say G-d's presence has never departed from there, and now it is where I go for comfort and guidance. I have never been disappointed. They say that if you live in Israel and don't believe in miracles, then you are not a realist. We expect them all the time - we even rely on them. The State of Israel, that has survived for 55 years despite never-ceasing efforts to destroy it, is a miracle; just as the Six-Day-War and the Entebbe rescue were miracles. "Ye'hiyeb'seder"... it will be OK, is one of the most common sentences heard here, covering everything from financial to marital to health problems. We don't say it for comfort, but because we really believe it. When we travel anywhere in Israel, our hearts lift up at the unique beauty of the land... Eilat in the south with its turquoise waters, palm trees and flamboyant coral reefs; the loneliness and stark symmetry of the Negev desert; the lunar landscape of the Dead Sea area, and the ibex silhouetted against the skyline of EinGedi; the inspiration of Masada; the sparkling waters of Lake Kinneret; the lushness of the Galilee and the Jezreel Valley; the majesty of the Golan Heights. And everywhere - holy sites and archaeological ruins that prove the authenticity of the Bible and let our history enter every pore of our bodies, until we become saturated with its weight and solemnity. I have lived in Jerusalem for 32 years.
It has not always been easy. But I know that every time I leave, it is like
an amputation. If one day I am granted a place in Paradise, I am convinced
it will look just like Jerusalem. Among its founders were many teachers. Since 1929, Bet HaKerem is home to the David Yellin Teachers' College, Israel's largest secular teachers' college. The College was established in 1913 by David Yellin in response to the "war of languages". Yellin led the fight to use Hebrew as the exclusive language of learning, instead of German. The Gan HaEsrim park in the center of Bet
HaKerem commemorates its 20 residents who gave their lives fighting in the
War of Independence. Bet HaKerem has a central synagogue and a yeshiva. [The Parshat
Sh'mot Homepage]
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