Rabbi Hershel Schacter gave some public remarks recently that in my view constitute one of the best arguments against moving to Israel, which is ironic since he was trying to promote moving to Israel. He said, “If it’s not reasonable, then there’s no mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisroel….You have to live in Eretz Yisroel and make a reasonably b’kovadik parnassah.” [YouTube, ax4FhA3vNuQ] He mentions finding jobs in your profession being part of what makes that parnassah b’kovadik. In my experience, that’s not going to happen if you don’t speak Hebrew and even if you do jobs in one’s profession are not available there if most cases.
Take for example, many people in New York work in the financial industry. It's very difficult to find jobs in that field in Israel. New York is the world's financial center. Israel has a small financial sector and it's a closed off industry with lots of nepotism. So if you got your start and have 10 years of work experience in the American finance in New York you are not going to be able to find a b'kovadik job in Israel.
It's the same if you work outside Seattle in aerospace or in LA in entertainment or if you work in an American university.
And not just parnassah should be reasonable, but any major issue of life. Just because somebody guilts you into taking on a radically reduced standard of living in Israel, doesn't mean that your spouse or kids can handle it. If kids are used to having a house and a mini-van, but they move to Israel and life in a tiny moldy apartment and take 3 hour bus trips to the ocean, they can start looking at you like you're a loser. It's very dangerous.
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