Jews Against Secular Jewish Nationalism

That's the question I hear often and the answer heard from me is "I went with the Jewish Agency." Nefesh b'nefesh has its place, makes it contribution, but their public relations are better than their services. They do help the aliyah candidate to get a start on things. They give an Anglo style intro to the process. They introduce you to the paperwork. They give an overview of benefits. They list the communities. For some people, this is much more information than they currently possess or would likely be able to gather elsewhere. They are an information source before you get to EY. Once you get there, you won't even know they exist. All that and I never paid them a penny. But they didn't give me a penny either. The Jewish Agency pays for the flight. The Jewish Agency issues the Sal Klitah, the immigrant basket money. The JA pays for Ulpan. (And from what I hear, the JA pays a large part or most of their budget. So I have heard. Not sure if it's true.) Non...

Countering the many pleasant surprises of Israel, is the rude awakening as to the state of foreign language instruction. Hebrew is the only language I know of that has its own special term for language instruction - Ulpan. The famous Ulpan. You figure if they have their own term and method, then they take it quite seriously. With Hebrew being the #1 obstacle to  aliyah, and with a government that will literally pay you to come here, you'd think you'd see Ulpan dripping from the walls. However, I have yet to sit in an Ulpan class. They are not offered in the Summer at least not in my town. And when they are offered, it's in one place at one time with a small night offering for those who can't make it. How rigorous will it be? I have no idea because it hasn't started yet. Not offered in the summer? Do all Israelis switch to English in the summer? How can language instruction ever stop? In New York, one sees posters for English language instruction on every corner. I c...

It's shocking really, but they are nearly as fry as your fry relatives in San Francisco. The young chilonim are like Europeans - blue jeans and smart phones. Many are wonderful people. However, they don't talk politics. They don't talk about Zionism. And they never heard the terms Chumash or Tisch. They never heard of Samson Raphael Hirsch. If they have religious feelings, they don't share those feelings - though of course with Judaism one can express himself with action. So in truth it's hard to know. I know Orthodox people who never say a peep about religious feelings either. Many appear to do nothing but do quite a lot. So who really knows. But if I were forced to say, I'd say we are talking about a post-Zionist, post-religious Israel in large swaths of it. This is what the anti-Zionist, anti-Mizrachi gadolim of Europe feared.

So goes the Nefesh b'Nefesh ad for aliyah that one sees everywhere. Actually I used to see it. Somehow the Internet or Google or some vague big powerful invisible forces know not to send me those ads anymore. Now that's scary. Is it a dream here? Is it fulfilling and wonderful as one person proposed to me? It's fulfilling in the sense that it's a mitzva, a comprehensive one. It's wonderful to be in a country that overall is a better match for my values and provides a more complete Jewish life for my family. It's neither of those things in the sense of olam haba in this world, which is what Americans generally seek. Many insist on it. The NBN ads all showing smiling faces, and by smiles I mean ear to ear smiles, against the backdrop of brand new homes against the ocean and the land. American advertising at its best. It's advertising that suggests olam haba in this world. It's not like that here. How could it be? There's many things that aren't any...