Those who should not move to Israel
1. People who are not Torah
observant because they'll bring sin to the land. Additionally, they oftentimes are disappointed to find that Israel isn't really home, isn't full of idealistic people, is a difficult place to be. It's not Hebrew class at Brandeis University come to life. Rather, it's more like this: It's not me, it's you
2. Yeshivish or Chassidic people
because the country wants to draft them into the military, which is an
anti-religious tyranny. As Rav Moshe Sternbuch phrased it, "its
fundamental purpose is drawing young people away from religion and educating
and accustoming them to 'unburden' them from the yoke of
Torah." Additionally, they are coming to a society that holds them in
contempt and discriminates against them in employment and other matters.
Any Haredi who lives in a decent
Western country that honors religious freedoms and allows them to earn a living
should never move to Israel. It's not easy living on the edge of society,
feeling despised, getting glares, being screamed at just for following a
certain path in life. It can wear on you big time. On top of that, Haredi
schools don't participate in Ulpan-Hebrew language learning programs, so any
Haredi with children above the age of five certainly should not come. The kids
sit in school bored all day losing their minds and their self-confidence.
Much of Haredi leadership and
publishing comes out of Israel today, and idealistic Haredim want to be near
it. It's an understandable yearning. Some (far too many) come to study here and
fantasize about living here, not realizing that being in school for a year in a
Haredi or American Haredi enclave while being supported by their parents in Far
Rockaway is a far cry from living in this lunatic asylum. I might have fun on a
week long trip in the Amazon jungle, but that doesn't mean I should try to
become a tribesman there.
3. Middle of the road-Hirschian,
American yeshivish, or right-wing YU people. There are two reasons for this.
The first is that they will be forced to move more to the right because there's
no middle of the road in Israel, and this might not sit well with them
religiously. It can get very lonely. Those who move to the left often fall
apart religiously because yeridah is unhealthy. The children see the decline
and that affects them enormously. The second is the draft.
4. So that leaves us with the
Modern Orthodox. But many of those should not immigrate to Israel. Which
ones?
A) Those with health issues as
the health care system in Israel is far inferior to that of Western countries.
I know of people who died because they weren't brought to the hospital on time,
as the nearest one was an hour from their apartment.
B) Those who don't have financial
backing. An apartment here costs $700,000. A pair of polyester pants that will
fall apart in four months costs $70. In America you can buy pants that will
last ten years for $25. Not having financial backing includes not having a
profession that will transfer to Israel. And if you are not fluent in Hebrew,
that will be a problem for most professions.
C) People over thirty should not
come -- unless they are coming with two million dollars in retirement money --
because it is very difficult to acquire proficiency in Hebrew after thirty.
Even retirees who come should be prepared to live in relative isolation in a
country whose language they do not speak. Don't believe all this nonsense that
you are coming home to family, to your brothers and sisters. What you are
coming to is an unfriendly society that is rife with internecine battles. I
have lived for years on the same floor with Israeli neighbors who never spoke
to me, never invited me into their homes even once even as I tried to be
friendly with them. When you try to be friendly, they look at you as if there
is something wrong with you.
D) People who don't know Hebrew
and are not adept at learning languages should not come. Anyone who tells you
that Hebrew is not necessary because Israelis speak English is a liar. (One
Aliyah salesmen told that to me. Ironically, he is one of those who
died because he wasn't brought to the hospital quickly enough.)
Most Israelis do not speak
English. Most customer service people I have dealt with do not speak English.
Most government employees do not speak English. The same with most store
clerks, secretaries in the doctor's office, taxi drivers. They don't speak English!
This is not Norway, Belgium, or Switzerland. And official documents, contracts,
bank statements, scary letters from the government, and even websites are in
Hebrew. Sometimes, they'll be in Russian too. Do not expect to see English.
It's the same with phone lines. They are not in English.
E) People with children above
seven. The transition is painful for them. Leaving their friends is painful.
You can put some real confusion in their minds, and this can lead to confusion
about religion. The streets are full of teenage olim who left the religion.
Learning a new language isn't easy for anybody above five.
F) People with children who have
health or emotional issues. Support for such issues is far inferior in Israel.
There's also lots of bullying here and such children are the primary target.
The bullying can be downright vicious, and the parents generally do nothing
about it.
G) People who are either
polite or sensitive by nature. People here are rough and rude. Cashiers throw
the receipt at you and slam your new light bulb on the counter. They are so
abrasive. There's no, "I'll be with you in a minute sir." A sensitive
person can lose his mind in this place. At the least, he will not be able to be
himself. The same applies to friendly people. You can say the same for honest,
orderly, and punctual people. Now if any of these Modern Orthodox people are
hard-core Zionists they might be able to put up with the Israeli style even if
it conflicts with their nature. But be careful with that. It's one thing to
dream about living in Israel, but you might find that your Zionism doesn't run
as deep as you think once you get here and see what the place is actually like.
H) People with family in Chutz.
It puts tremendous strain on a family when family members are living in two
parts of the world. If you have an elderly relative, it can be downright cruel
to leave him or her behind. Same with a child who needs support in his or her
marriage or life in general.
I) People who don't have family
in Israel. The standard sales line is "come home." Home means family,
but Israelis do not treat each other like family. They are not friendly, and
they easily become enemies. In general in the frum world, most people are busy
with family. They have no time for you. This is even worse in Israel. And it
doesn't help that people don't have big houses with guest rooms. For example,
to find a place to stay in Jerusalem is nearly impossible. I accomplished this
only once because I rented an apartment.
J) Baalei teshuvah. You are going
through enough changes. Most aliyah salesmen are frum from birth (frum because
of parents) and moving to Israel doesn’t represent as radical a change in life
as it does for you. As you know, just entering frum society is like moving to
Mars. Moving to Israel is like moving to another galaxy that is rife with
Klingons. BTs shouldn’t even be thinking about moving to Israel.
K) People with secular interests
that are important to them. If you have a strong interest in classical music,
art, sports (other than soccer), the ocean – you won’t be able to do much of this
in Israel. There’s little culture. They don’t have libraries. Museums are
difficult to get to and don’t compare to those in America or Europe. You are
thinking that a country full of Jews should have all kinds of intellectual
activity. Well, if you want to design a new kind of gun or bomb you might find
some people to talk to. Most intellect here is redirected to military pursuits.
You won’t find a baseball field. You’ll find people who study the martial arts
of course but mostly as a combative tool rather than a philosophy.
So who is left? Not that many
people actually. You have some uber-Zionistic aggressive Modern
Orthodox types that can manage here. They are Israeli already. They are
barely Orthodox, sort of Sabbath observant, not tzniyus, don't respect gadolim.
Their god was the state before they came, so moving here doesn't change them significantly;
although they become worse. I have seen lots of these people at the shiva
visits of soldiers who died in Gaza. And if the parents are barely religious,
the children are even less. You look at the sons and try to figure out if they
are wearing tzitzis or if they are able to put down their smart phones. Let’s
put it this way, it’s to the left of the most modern part of Teaneck.
Unfortunately, many of them run
around pressuring innocent Jews who aren't a match for Israel to move to here.
They'll tell you it's a chiyuv when it isn't. They'll tell you that you are
missing out on the mitzvah when it's likely that you'll lose far more mitzvos
than you'll gain by moving here. They'll tell you that you are staying in chutz
only for luxuries when there's a thousand valid reasons not to move to Israel,
and you likely aren't living in luxury in chutz at all with the $50,000 in
tuition bills. They are manipulating your idealism and playing on your guilt.
Many of these aliyah pushers are
rabbis who get jobs leading American communities and teaching in American
schools. They are more religious than their followers so you get fooled by
them. Their source of income is America, which according to some poskim means
that they do not get credit for yishuv ha'aretz. They deal with Americans. They
aren't really living in Israel. Many of them come in their thirties or later
and didn't have to deal with the military, although their children do, and in
their rabid zionistic zeal that pretend that they have not put their kids
through a living hell. In my opinion, rabbis like this are some of the most
disreputable, hypocritical lowlifes that we have today. They ruin lives
and don't really care. They are narcissists. I can think of ten names right off
the bat. They are terrible people who see themselves as wonderful people
because they live in Israel. And that's true of many here. The Torah gets replaced
by a single mitzvah, that isn't even a chiyuv. The satan is so clever.
Part of their trickery is to tell
you that criticism of anything in Israel is the sin of the spies, as if the
Torah doesn’t allow you to use facts and logic when making life decisions when
it involves the secular State of Israel. Meanwhile, the Baba Sali came here and
left three times because of his displeasure with the state of affairs here. He
only stayed in the end at the advice of the Lubavitcher Rebbe who thought it
would be an opportunity for him to work with Sephardic youth. So obviously, he
had criticisms of the place as have many gadolim including the Brisker Rav, the
Chazon Ish, and the Steipler.
Hashem commanded the Jews of the
Midbar to enter Eretz Yisroel. He didn’t command us. This entire religion is
built around what Hashem commands and what He does not. So there’s a world of
difference between us and them.
Beyond that, they were not coming
to mingle with the Canaanites. They were coming to displace them. The only
question was could they succeed militarily, and for that task they should have
trusted Hashem because He openly promised them success. But people who come to
Israel today aren’t coming to chase the Israelis from the land. Rather, they
will live under Israeli rule. And Hashem didn’t make any promises that they’d
succeed. Generally, we should run from bad environments as even the best people
are vulnerable.
The Netziv says that while
Avraham’s ability to prophesize was actually more advanced than that of Sarah,
his ruach hakodesh was not as strong because he was affected by his involvement
with the people of his city during his kiruv work. So Avraham, who was the
pinnacle of a person who overcame his environment, was affected by his
environment.
How about us? We have to examine
all the factors before making big moves for our families. Don’t allow aliyah
salesmen, who are some of the most despicable people I have ever known, trick
you into silence with their manipulation of the Torah. Moving to Israel isn’t
this wonderful action if only you can find a way to earn a living. It may be a
terrible action even if you can find a way. Research. Weigh out all the
factors. Don’t believe a word that Nefesh b’Nefesh tells you because they are a
pack of liars as are most rabid Zionists. They are idol worshippers, and the
idol that they worship is really themselves, but I’ll have to explain how that
works on another day.
