Why Would any Jew Think to Move to Israel?

About thirty years ago my wife and I and our three young daughters came home to Israel. There was only one reason why we came. It was because Israel is the only home of the Jewish people and we wanted to be there.

It certainly was not a simple move. Any move, even across the street, is a major trauma. To take your family into a different country with a different culture and a different language clearly makes it even more traumatic. And when you are moving to a country which is at war, and when the government insists that we must live together with enemies who seek our destruction, then it takes a tremendous amount of faith to stand up to these challenges.

We did not move to Israel because it is a “democracy” (which it really isn’t). We did not move here because we have a government which cares about the country (which it doesn’t). And we certainly did not move because our life wasn’t good in the USA (which it really was). We came home simply because it is our homeland and, while our grandparents could not move here, we could.

Nearly all of the time we have been here we have lived in Kiryat Arba. Our son, Avi, was born soon after we moved in and he was the first Jew in history to have a brit mila in the Hall of Isaac in the building atop the Cave of Machpela in Hebron where our forefathers are interred. Soon after our son was born I began to say my morning prayers every day at dawn at the Cave. Through the years I certainly had my problems there. I often prayed at the site where my son had his brit. But Jews were not permitted to pray there with a minyan. I cannot remember how many times the soldiers threw me out. I was even arrested for this “crime”. And there was one time that, while I was praying inside the building, the Arabs set my car on fire! Yet, to this day, I continue to pray every morning at Machpela and consider it a tremendous privilege.

During the intifada I cannot count how many times our car was stoned on the ride to and from Jerusalem. Miraculously none of us was ever hurt. And there was even a time when the Arabs, being frustrated at the fact that our plastic windows were impervious to rocks, began to shoot at us! While, fortunately, I was never actually shot at, for a short while we did stop driving to Jerusalem by car and only used the bullet proof buses.

I am sure that everyone who saw on television the results of suicide murderers on buses and stores must have been sick. You can imagine how we felt living here. Yet we persevered and never regretted our decision to live here. Nor would we ever dream to live anywhere else.

Today one of our daughters is raising her family in the apartment where she grew up here in Kiryat Arba. She has five beautiful children who are all growing up as proud Jews in their ancient homeland. She has chosen not to teach them to speak English, so we can only communicate in our holy tongue of Hebrew. No words can describe the pride felt by a grandparent watching his grandchildren grow up in Israel. . . especially knowing that, had we not come home this couldn’t have happened!

And our son, who was born soon after we moved here, was recently married here in Kiryat Arba. He and his wife have chosen to live here as well and we are expecting another grandchild soon after Passover. And, if that isn’t enough, our son just recently successfully completed all of his examinations at the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem and is a rabbi himself!

Could any of these blessings have occurred had we not chosen to come home? Not likely.

There is a joke that asks, “How can you make a small fortune in Israel?” And the answer is, “Come to Israel with a large fortune.”

Many good Jews choose not to come home out of fear. They are afraid that they cannot make a living here. They are afraid of terrorism. They are afraid that they cannot learn to speak Hebrew. They are afraid that Iran will blow us off the map. They are just afraid. And this is understandable.

It is not easy to live by faith when your eyes and ears tell you it is dangerous. Yet, if we would but consider the reality that the reborn Jewish State was clearly a miracle back in 1948, and that every day we continue to exist here is an even greater miracle, we cannot help but realize that Israel is not just another country. It is part of a Divine Destiny that no power on Earth can stop. The mitzvah that is recited by Jews every day in Shema Yisrael, commands every Jew to love our G-d with all our might. How can this mitzvah be better observed then by ignoring our fears and expressing our love for G-d simply by coming home? The fears are real as are the dangers. But the only way to express faith in G-d is to overcome those fears and follow His Commandments.

Our move to Israel was not easy. It was filled with dangers and problems. We worried when our son was in the army and served in a combat unit in the Gaza Strip. We were worried when Prime Minister Barak tried to give away Kiryat Arba to Arafat. But our faith overcame our worries and we can only thank G-d for our countless blessings. I have no doubt that, had we not chosen to come home when we did, we would never know the infinite joy that we have found here. We didn’t come to Israel to suffer. We are not heroes. We are simply fortunate Jews who were blessed with the opportunity to fulfill a dream which our ancestors would have given their eye teeth to fulfill. Every Jew in the world today has that opportunity as well. What a tragedy that so many fail to recognize that fact.

Danger exists wherever you may live. Nowhere is there a guarantee of a good living or a good life. What you may have today you can easily lose tomorrow. All that a Jew really has is his Torah and G-d’s Commandments. This is the real meaning of our lives. And the only place where we can truly live with our Torah is in the Land of Israel. It may not be perfect. The redemption is only beginning. But our only future is here.

There is no way to know how much time is left, but our Rabbis tell us that Redemption and Exile cannot coexist. The Redemption is rapidly progressing, and the Exile is coming to an end. Now is the time to leave with our heads held high before it vomits us out.