This past Sunday at 8:30pm in the Glen Avenue Shul in Baltimore, Rabbi Yigal Segal from Nefesh B' Nefesh spoke about making aliyah and the services that Nefesh B' Nefesh provide. Segal is the so-called NBN ambassador to the yeshivish world and was hired by NBN to reach out to the yeshivish community.
Well, we skipped his lecture. We had this chasuna and we knew he would be speaking about the "basics" of making aliyah, i.e. the aliyah process and zechuyot. Since we are already Israeli citizens, we just came at the end to speak with him directly.
We came to ask Segal for advice on how and when to return to Israel considering that we are already citizens. Segal summed up the Aliyah process with a pithy comment: "Making aliyah is a leap in faith." He went on to explain that our hearts were in the right place but that there is no "recommended" way to come to Israel and that every single family's trip to Israel is different. As he put it, you'll choose to move, everyone of your friends and family will call you crazy, and you are going to get on that plane as a leap of faith.
He is right. Making aliyah is not about this smooth picture of smoothly landing a job by following such and such process, etc. Rather, its about acting on faith, knowing that its the Jewish homeland, its a mitzvah d'oraita, and that Israel is comprised of Olim who were in the same place that me and my wife stand now and took that leap of faith to live productive and happy lives in the Jewish homeland.
Thank you Yosef. A commentor named Yosef was kind enough to point out a serious flaw with the way that this post was originally worded. I tried to fix it and would love to hear his comments about the new version of the post.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your aliyah! I hope to join you very soon.
ReplyDeleteYasher Koach!
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