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Yishai Fleisher Yishai Fleisher is the founder of , a grassroots pro-Aliyah organization, and a broadcaster at .
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By Yishai Fleisher
February 21, 2002
This is an excerpt of a longer article available at Kumah.org
There are now two million expatriate Israelis living outside of Israel, and why not? They ask a simple question: Why should we live this awful life when our American brethren live quite well. Mothers ask why they should see their children die -- better move to America, where they can be raised as Jews just as well as in Israel. Maybe the land of Israel is not such a high value in itself and therefore it would be better to live elsewhere. Subconsciously, Israelis believe that if the American Jews don't want the land, maybe it's not so valuable.
We American Jews haven't done much to counter this trend. We pay lip service to the awful situation but we do not mourn the death of our brethren, and we do not do anything to stop the hemorrhaging of Israelis from Israel. American Zionism has become a hypocritical oxymoron. We send money to Israel to whitewash our own guilty souls, yet we do not rend our own clothes and mourn for the deaths of our brothers and sisters.
We are too comfortable, too content, too fat, to realize that we are contributing to their deaths every day. We American Jews are justifying Yerida (the leaving of Israel) by not making Aliya (moving to Israel). We are justifying the death of Israel by providing a viable and attractive alternative to the State of Israel right here in America. We are encouraging the Palestinians by providing a convenient differentiation between Zionists and Jews. "Jews are fine, it's the Zionists we want to kill." We American Jews have become cold, weak, and heartless, we are not moved to tears, we do not take up arms.
We Jews -- Americans, Israelis, and others -- are afraid of our own great potential - it is our greatest fear. We, as well as the whole world, sense that our mission is great and that our destiny is wondrous. The nations of the world sense this and they are angry with us for holding up their redemption. Our enemies are filled with jealousy and a sense of self-worthlessness. They create WAR, WAR, WAR, they fill us with fright and immobility, and they make us doubt our own strength. Then we begin to in-fight at every level and chase our own tails.
We are depressed because the tumult seems unending, there is no respite, and maybe there is no dream. Yet, our mission is calling to us to renew ourselves, to gird ourselves, to invigorate ourselves, to arm ourselves and to educate ourselves. God's call knows no time constraints and no political hardships - we American Jews are being recalled to Israel and soon we will be homeward bound.
Our fledgling state arose fifty-four years ago and it was a miracle baby. Now, having completed the first stage of the ingathering and the building of the state, Israel finds itself struggling for meaning, asking itself what life is really about. Today, Israel is an acne-riddled, irreverent teenager, who drives too fast and contemplates suicide. American Jewry's role as political influencer and economic supporter of Israel served a great purpose when Israel was a baby, nurturing Israel until it was ready to leave the nest. Now American Jewry's support is smothering and suffocating Israel because Israel is inextricably shackled to the whims of the U.S.
The new mission of American Jews is to bring about a revival of the Jewish spirit in Israel, by bringing fresh hands, new blood, and a clean mind, to heal the current malaise. 'Stage two' of the Zionist project will begin with us. We are being called upon to take a great leap of faith, to leave our homes here and to resettle in the Land of Israel before the eyes of all mankind. Once again in our long history we are being called upon to be spiritual pioneers and trailblazing innovators. Our charge is to complete the great mission of Judaism - to continue building the state, to make it viable and safe, and to make Israel the world's first spiritual superpower.
So many of us American Jews are stuck in the mundane world, our jobs sucking our lives away. By accepting a new challenge we can become wild again, alive again, reborn. Israel is not the war-racked militarized zone that the media portrays. It is a beautiful country, with beautiful beaches, and beautiful people. Israel's future holds great potential for economic growth and development. Smart Jews like us have a chance to build up financial institutions, create businesses, make medical advances, and practice law. We can broadcast, write, study, teach, build, design, and innovate. We can shape Israel in our image and in our likeness. And we can have fun while doing it.
This current depression is just a passing phase, an interlude before the great second act, of which we are the stars. We American Jews can also lead the way to change in Israel. Government reform, education reform, television reform, road reform, economic reform, and law reform, these are much needed in Israel, and our American ambition and know-how will be the catalyst for innovation. Realism and family coupled with ideology and adventure - Israel is the real land of opportunity, a land of milk and honey. Our arrival will herald the beginning of a grand social experiment, which is destined to succeed and to flourish. No doubt, there are obstacles to surmount: security, economy, mentality - but we can overcome, because American Jews and Israeli Jews are two halves of one whole, we are lovers just waiting to reunite, once we get together it will be like magic.
We are unsure of ourselves because we are divided; we are weak because we are not as one. We must stop being afraid of the TRUTH, must stop using rhetoric to mask our fear and to justify our laziness. Fear is sin when it deafens us to the screams of children. Fear is sin when it makes us cowards. Fear is sin when it makes us shrink from our awesome Godly task. It is clearer than ever before what we must do - WE MUST ARISE AND LEAVE America in favor of our Home, we must leave the exile en masse to our Land, Israel. Our prophecies, our miracles, and our souls demand it. We must awaken the deep-rooted slumbering love that we all have for each other, for our Land and for our God. We can wait no longer. The answer to the Jewish question is this: Aliya, Aliya, Aliya.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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