For years when I asked rabbis their opinion on whether I should move to Israel, I received two types of responses. The Modern Orthodox rabbis always excitedly said to go as if there were no factors in the decision. It could only be good. Yeshivish rabbis would only ask, “Can you earn a parnassah there?” That seemed to be the only issue that they knew of.
But there are so many more. “Do you speak Hebrew?” would be a good question. You cannot function in a society whose language you don’t speak. If you went to yeshiva in America, even a Modern Orthodox school where aliyah is promoted but Hebrew rarely properly studied as a spoken language, then you likely don’t speak Hebrew even if you can read a Mishnah Berurah. It’s not the same. If you are above the age of forty, you aren’t likely to learn conversational Hebrew. There are gadolim, geniuses, who moved to America after the age of forty and never learned English even after decades of living there.
You will not be able to earn a decent parnassah if you don’t
speak Hebrew. Thus, the question about Hebrew goes with the question about
parnassah. Many olim take essentially sweat shop level jobs, if they can find
them, working American hours for minimum wage, sometimes at home on the
Internet (in front of their children who get drawn into the Internet) because
of their inability to speak Hebrew. The nerves wear thin when you can’t read
leases, utility bills, or scary letters from the government, not to mention
being unable to help children with their homework or have a conversation with
90% of the people you meet.
Do you have medical issues? The medical
care in Israel is noticeably inferior to that of the USA. You can wait six
months to see a surgeon here, four months for an MRI. Most procedures take
place only in a hospital, yet many large cities lack hospitals. With medical
care in particular, after you move to Israel you realize how good you used to
have it.
Are your kids above the age of 3? If
they are, don’t go. It’s too late. The adjustment puts them at risk. Even those
who learn to speak Hebrew often feel uncomfortable speaking it. Many children
of Anglo families who are born in Israel oftentimes find interaction with
Israelis to be unsettling and try to avoid them, as if that’s possible. Olim
parents sit in their tiny Anglo ghettos and don’t have to deal with the general
society nearly as much as their children do. The parents don’t sit in Israeli
schools and deal with the bullying, not just of the other students but some of
the teachers. Shouting is frequent. The schools like everything can be
militaristic. Children who don’t grow up with that, aren’t likely to be able to
adjust to it. It seems at times that every family of olim has a child who is
struggling or off the derech. If your child is delicate, then all the more so,
this is not the place for him or her.
Can you deal with the huge drop in
standard of living? In Israel, housing is three times the price of most of
America, and that’s for small apartments. For equivalent housing, it’s more
like six times the price. Cars are double the price as is gas. Yet, income is
less than a third of what Jews typically earn. For olim it’s even less. Can you
live in a small space, without a yard. Kids have no room to play and frequently
get into fights. You’ll have no space for sleepover guests, including family.
Can you manage without a car, riding the bus, and waiting for the bus in the
heat? Can you deal with junky products and limited selection because that’s
what you get in Israel?
Can you deal with the small size of the
place? The country starts effectively in Beer Sheva. South of there is a
desert. It’s a two-hour drive to Haifa, another hour to Lebanon. That’s the
length of the country. The width is one-hour. And even within that limited
space are all the dangerous parts that you must avoid. If you are Haredi you’ll
probably want to avoid all the anti-Haredi parts which is most of the remainder
since you won’t be welcome there. You will find yourself going to the same
places over and over again, particularly if you don’t have a car. Will you feel
boxed in? News alert: happiness is a factor in life. Sad-faced religious
parents don’t inspire children to pursue Orthodox Judaism.
Can you handle all of the fighting
between groups, even religious groups? In chutz l’aretz, there is
strain, but there is plenty of cordial intermingling and overlap. In Israel,
it’s a war, and the war party with the most power is the anti-religious one.
They run the country. No, you are not necessarily “coming home” when you move
to Israel. As Rabbi Avigdor Miller said, it’s a “double-golus” in Israel.
Can you deal with religious extremism?
In Israel, the Dati Leumi or Modern Orthodox are worlds apart from the Haredim,
but they have one thing in common: militancy. Everybody here is an extremist
one way or another.
Can you deal with Israelis? Go to Queens
and spend some time around Israelis and determine if you can handle the aggressiveness,
argumentativeness, and abrasiveness that are characteristic of many of them.
You can’t move to Latvia if you don’t like being around Latvians.
Can you deal with militarism? There are
soldiers everywhere. This can be an off-putting sight for a New Yorker or
Californian. America has a big military, but it’s not part of daily life in
Jewish parts of the country. In Israel, the military might close roads or
declare a region off limits for the week. Clocks show military time, and people
are militaristic, i.e. bossy. Fighter jets fly overhead every day. The news is
full of articles about the army, war, and soldiers getting killed or maimed for
life. Over the last one and a half years, over 850 soldiers have been killed
and Zahal Disabled Veteran Organization is expecting 20,000 permanently
disabled soldiers! (Times of Israel)
Are you Yeshivish or Chassidish? Historically,
your sons had two options, the military, which the gadolim tell them to stay
clear from, and learning Talmud all day and night to maintain their draft
exemption. Will they be productive? You can destroy a boy by putting him a
situation that’s not appropriate for him. Is your son a learner or should he be
working? The Israeli government won’t let him work.
But even that difficult choice is moot
for officially there is no exemption anymore. The court nullified it. The
government is coming after everybody, may HaShem save us. Can you handle that?
Israelis are built like Brillo pads, so the strain and worry don’t bother them quite
as much. If you are a nice law-abiding American, Canadian, or Englishman, the
strain can kill you.
Do you have family and friends in chutz
l’aretz? Being a world apart geographically puts tremendous strain on people.
Ah, you are thinking that moving to Israel is “going home,” yet you might find
yourself deeply homesick for the people you care about or simply can relate to.
You aren’t likely to replace them in Israel. You’ll be lucky to get a Shabbos
invitation now and again, nearly always from an American.
These are some of the factors. There are
many more. You want to say that this is all negative? There are positive
aspects to the place that you have heard about in exaggerated fashion a
thousand times. You don't need me to talk about them. If they don’t outweigh
the negative ones for you, then you best stay where you are.
Rabbis Moshe Feinstein and Joseph
Soloveitchik held that living in Israel is an optional mitzvah even according
to the Ramban. It is not an obligation. Rabbi Soloveitchik explained that mitzvos
are no better if done in Israel. Thus, the wearing of tefillin in Greenland, is
just as effective as wearing them in Israel. So, the question is will you lose
mitzvos by moving to Israel? Many people have less time for Torah study and
less resources for chesed and find that their middos decline. Overall, they are
less productive and happy. Many are miserable. For some, this is not the case.
It depends on the person. Rabbi Soloveitchik and the Lubavitcher Rebbe
counseled people to live where they can function best as a Jew.
Rabbis need to know about all this to
counsel people. Just as they need to know basic laws of kashrus, they need to
know about specific issues in the huge decision of whether to move to Israel.
It’s a decision that is difficult to reverse, so it must be made with extreme
care and good counsel.
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