A Friend, An Oleh, A Jew, A Hero
This is an article I just wrote for Arutz 7 about an new oleh from Serbia. Two close friends of mine both contacted me - nearly simultaneously - and asked me to write about this holy Jew.
May the Guardian of Israel avenge his blood.
Parade Update
Thank you to those who emailed regarding the parade. If you haven't yet, please email me (ben at kumah dot org) to let me know that you will be marching.
We will be meeting at W. 53rd Street, between 5th and 6th Ave, at
12:30 PM. Projected time to begin marching is
1:00 PM. Please enter the meeting place from 6th Ave and 53rd Street.
Please wear colored t-shirts - any bright colors are good, particularly blue, green, and yellow.
See you at the parade!
Remember this?
It has been over three years since I approached these Rabbis and Jewish Leaders asking them to put their names on a general call for American Jewry to go home to Israel.
Some reacted with consternation. "Don't people know this already," said one signer. I told him that what people DID know was that they couldn't remember the last time their rabbi, teacher or any other authority figure had told them that Aliyah was anything more than an admired option "for some" who are up to the challenge.
Now, as my neighborhood abuts another chock full of American yeshiva students doing "shana rishona" - their first year of marriage - studying in a Yeshiva in the Holy Land, it has become clear to me that although I gathered those signatures with a bit of a tongue-in-cheek approach (I mean, the wording is not very strong, but it is a positive message for many who limit their reading of signs to ones that carry heavyweight signatures) - it is a very powerful message that I would like to see replicated and spread.
Approaching one's Rabbi, teacher, or community leader and asking them to sign such a statement brings the topic to the forefront and whether the particular public figure says yes or no - it created a win-win situation in terms of pushing forward the objective of massive western Aliyah.
I invite all of you to approach any and all Rabbis, politicians and Jewish public figures and ask them to affix their signature to this
document. You can print it out, collect signatures - with the title and name of the signer printed underneath - and mail it back to us to add to the web-declaration and eventually we may take out full-page ads in North American newspapers.
Sometimes the leaders of a generation need a little prodding to do the right thing. Let's do just that.
The Parade is Coming!
For those of you who heard Rabbi Gold's speech, you remember his story about Charlie, the dog. Charlie was the dog of a family who lived near Rabbi Gold. When the family made Aliyah, they left Charlie behind. Some time later, the family bought Charlie a ticket to join them in Israel. When Rabbi Gold heard this, he says, "that dog is making Aliyah, and I'm not?!" And he decided to make Aliyah.
Just as Charlie never new that in his
zechut, merit, Rabbi Gold's family made aliyah, so too, we never know it what little, subtle way, we can be a positive influence in someone's decision to make Aliyah.
Three years ago, before the Salute to Israel Parade, Yishai had been thinking about how we could make an impact at the parade. He came up with the idea of a simple, yet powerful, message. We'd bring a bunch of people who are in various stages of planning their Aliyah, whether they are going tomorrow, or looking to make Ailyah several years down the road, and we'd march down Fifth Avenue with signs that said, simply, "I'M MAKING ALIYAH." Nothing about America and Israel standing strong together, or about remembering our brothers and sisters in Israel. Just a simple, personal, message: "I'M MAKING ALIYAH." And when the hundreds of thousands of spectators see these young, enthusiastic Jews talking about Aliyah, they'll start to talk about it too.
We marched, and it was indeed amazing. There was so much energy and excitement as we marched, sang, and handed out flyers. We did it again last year, and handed out flyers, articles, and over 5000 "I'M MAKING ALIYAH" pins to close to a million spectators. The energy was unbelievable. And both years, we can proudly say that a significant number of people who marched with us are already living in Israel.
This year, it is again up to us to play the part of Charlie, and be that energetic Aliyah spark for so many people. The theme of this year's parade is, "Let's Go To Israel Now." What could be a better theme for us? In addition, while in the last two years we marched near the end of the parade, this year we will have a prime time location in the middle of the parade, at 1:00 pm, when the spectator crowd is at maximum capacity. We'll be marching with our trademark signs, handing out pins, and having a great time.
The parade is two weeks from today, Sunday, May 23rd. Check back on the site for our exact meeting time and location. Until then, I'd like to get a good count of who will be marching with us. Please get in touch with me at
ben at kumah dot org, or post in the comments here, to let me know that you'll be joining us on May 23rd. This is our biggest opportunity of the year to make an impact; please make an effort to join us.
The Aliyah Revolution
So there has been some discussion on the blog regarding whether or not the revolution has begun. But what is a "revolution" anyway? Merriam-Webster offers several definitions.
2a : a sudden, radical, or complete change
This should be an ultimate goal of the Jewish People. Mass Aliyah today! Indeed
Nefesh B'Nefesh went from one planeload of olim in 2002, to over three planeloads in 2003. How many more olim will be going with NBN this year?
But there is another kind of revolution. A kind that is easily overlooked.
2d : a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change of paradigm {the Copernican
revolution}
The example used - the Copernican revolution, when society changed its view of the Earth as the center of the universe - is particularly apt. Similarly
Rabbi Gold discussed how despite its affluence and thriving communities history does not view Babylon as the center of Jewish life during the 600 years of the Second Commonwealth (the period of the Second Beit Hamikdash [Temple] ). Bare in mind that the vast majority of Jews did not live in Israel then. Only the "lowest of the low, the dregs of Jewish Society" resided there. All the wealthy and scholarly Jews lived in Babylon. Yet it is only well after the failure of the Bar Kochba Rebellion and the completion of Mishna in around the year 200 C.E. that we first start hearing about Jewish life in Babylon. As far as the Second Commonwealth goes "babylonian Jewry lived on the fringes of Jewish History." History was written in Israel. This was true then and it is true today.
We all know that favorite little mountain of ours which the Jewish World revolves around. And it's not anywhere in the U.S.A. - or even Canada. (
Hint. )
So in this sense the Aliyah Revolution has not only begun - it is well on its way! You don't believe me? Just go and ask any non-Jew where Jewish History is being written today. Yet oddly enough - not all us Jews live our lives focused around Jerusalem - or more specifically focused around getting home. And yes, when our last KUMAH event gets a packed crowd the night before final exams - that's a very good start. And when a
Tehilla event fills up - with people asking
real questions about
real mortgages to buy
real homes in Israel, it's even better! It's not just talk -
it's happening. We ARE well on our way.
Yet, this Aliyah Revolution will be complete only when all Jews live by Rav Nachman of Breslov's famous words "Wherever I go - I am going to Eretz Yisrael!"
Interestingly, Merriam-Webster also gives another definition for "Revolution."
2e : a changeover in use or preference especially in technology {the computer
revolution} {the foreign car
revolution}
This got me thinking of a new pin or bumper sticker…
"I'd rather be in Israel."Lag B'omer Samayach!
