Ever since I first started to learn "Eim Habanim Semeicha" by Rav Teichtal, one question started to fester inside me: "Why don't our Rabbis in Chutz L'aretz stand up and demand that we all make aliyah?" If most poskim agree that yishuv l'aretz is a mitzva d'oritta, and seforim extol the great kedusha that is present in Eretz Yisroel, then shouldn't we all be picking up and leaving? Yet even a Young Israel rabbi will at the most only talk about how important it is to support Israel (they might even say a "mi sheberach" for Israeli soldiers) but they don't stand on the bima and yell: "Jews, its time for us ALL to move!"So when I have a question and the answer actually matters to me, I call Israel and speak to Rabbi Zev Leff, Mora D'asra of Moshav Matisyahu. He is one Rabbi whose opinion I always respect and who I believe will give me a truthful, non-political answer.
Rabbi Leff said that it is appropriate that Rabbis do not encourage mass aliyah and that there can only be such an aliyah after moshiach comes. He stressed that since making aliyah is intrinsically an individualistic decision because ever Jew has different circumstances, different family dynamics, different sensitivities, etc, that it could never be appropriate, until the days of moshiach, for every single Jew to live in Israel.
However, he did encourage me to make aliyah (fyi - Rabbi Leff is the editor of To Dwell in The Palace (Perspectives of Eretz Yisroel, published first in 1991 through Feldheim). He said if I feel a pull to come move to Israel, that is a positive feeling. And in order to keep that feeling going, I should surround myself with friends who share my love of Eretz Yisroel and who might also be considering aliyah so that we can be mizchazek each other. He added though that a desire to live in Israel should be part of a greater yearning to live a life of greater kedusha and a desire to be closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
Rabbi Leff said that it is appropriate that Rabbis do not encourage mass aliyah and that there can only be such an aliyah after moshiach comes.
ReplyDeleteThere is a balance that should be adopted by Rabbanim, instead of ignoring the entire issue of Aliyah--speak positively about 'yishuv eretz yisroel'& how it raises kavod shem shamayim when yidden come to live in the holy land. Speaking about the positive attributes of Eretz Yisroel is a non subject in the majority of shuls/beis medresh/yeshivos/beis yakovs. Mass Aliyah is a fantasy at least wish a mazal tov to those who are planning aliyah rather than denigrating them as 'zionists'.
I agree. There is more of a middle of the road option for Rabbis to adopts that presently is not happening. However, Nefesh B Nefesh has changed the world a lot so that aliyah is on more and more people's minds, even if they don't hear the message from their Rabbi per se. When I tell people that I want to move back to Israel though, they all look at me a litte funny as if to ask "Why would you do that?" It seems that a more normal response that should be taught in yeshivot and seminaries is to respond "Way to go! That is what we should all be doing!"
ReplyDeletemass aliyah like the hebron yeshiva, formerly called slobodka? or novardok? and a whole bunch others? i wonder if nbn is somehow aiding a mass aliyah, against the will of god...
ReplyDeleteHere is the essay that R' Leff wrote in the introduction to the book shown in the blog post above. It is a MUST READ for all Torah Jews, in my opinion. The essay has the haskama/approbation of R' Mordechai Gifter.
ReplyDeleteThe full essay is available here:
http://www.beyondbt.com/where-is-the-religious-aliyah-from-the-westto-dwell-in-the-palace-perspectives-on-eretz-yisrael/
(The essay is long, but worth every second you spend reading it!)
Gedalia: Thank you so much! Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteTo the comment from "@", I am not sure whether the will of g-d plays into mass aliyah or not. Its almost universally accepted among the poskim that its a mitva d'oraitta to live in Israel (the Satmar Rav, zt"l, was a daat yachid in this regard). Therefore, in my humble opinions, its like the Jewish King from Nach (his names espaces me at the moment) who has a navua that his children would turn out reshaim so he didn't get married and Hashem told him to do teshuva because its a yid's responsibilty to do with the ribono shel olam asks, without making chesnonot.