At the Zionist Assembly Convention: Aliya and Soviet Jewish Emigration Dominate the Opening Session

The urgent need for North American aliya and the problems of Soviet Jewish emigration and drop-outs (neshira) dominated the opening session of the First Zionist Assembly here Sunday.

Leon Dulzin, chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency Executives, and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister David Levy addressed about 1,000 delegates of American Zionist organizations, youth movements and aliya support groups attending the convention organized by the American Zionist Federation.

The highlight of the opening session was a live satellite broadcast by Israeli President Chaim Herzog from the Presidential residence in Jerusalem.

‘A LANDMARK IN U.S. ZIONIST HISTORY’

Herzog, who answered questions from the delegates over the phone, quipped: “The fact that your opening plenary session is devoted entirely to aliya is no less than a landmark in American Zionist history. I would even dare to suggest that the Shehecheyanu blessing would be appropriate.” Herzog reminded the assembly that not long ago, the subject of aliya was taboo at Jewish gatherings in the “affluent diaspora.”

He called on Zionists to come to Israel, not only for the benefit of the State, but for their own personal growth. “Aliya is most precious when it is a response to the ideal of Zion rather than to brutal necessity . . . We need you and we know how much you can mean to democracy in Israel. But your olim will not only give, they will surely also receive.”

Levy echoed Herzog’s call in a passionate speech delivered in Hebrew with a simultaneous English translation. “The essence of Zionism is the return to Zion. A free people in its own country, master of its destiny.” Levy suggested that Zionists have divided into two camps, one in Israel and one in the diaspora and this division can only cause problems.

Dulzin forcefully addressed the problems of Soviet Jewish emigration and neshira, or Soviet Jews who choose to settle in the U.S. instead of Israel.

“The issue of Soviet Jewry must be raised constantly by the Zionist movement, by the State of Israel and by Jewish communities everywhere.” He noted that the Soviet government’s oppressive emigration policies are not the only cause for the plight of Soviet Jews. Those Soviet Jews who do receive exit visas but choose to settle in America are hurting the struggle for freedom immeasurably, he said.

“Neshira should be condemned in the strongest terms as should all the organizations that assist them. Soviet Jews are not refugees. Neshira undermines the effort to open the gates of the Soviet Union and provides the Soviet Union with an excuse not to open them.”

Dulzin also pointed out that assimilation of Jews in the diaspora and decreasing birth rates are the biggest threats to Jewish existence. “One of the most serious problems of our time is the safeguarding of our people’s national existence,” Dulzin told the assembly.

Regarding the plight of Jews in Syria and Ethiopia, Dulzin declared: “Securing their release is the historic mission of our generation.”

Herzog, responding to one of several questions from the youth movement delegates over the phone, also discussed the problems of Soviet Jewry.

THE DUTY OF AMERICAN JEWRY

“The pressure Israel can bring from an international point of view is very limited. We are not a major power or an important power. We can do our best with feeling. When it comes to pressure, this must be the duty of the diaspora Jewry and in particular of American Jewry. It is the Western world in the final analysis that can bring about a change.”

Levy said the two major problems facing the Zionist movement are yerida, the massive immigration of Israelis to the West, and assimilation. It is paradoxical that Jews survived centuries of oppression but that in this era of wealth and equality, Jews are assimilating and disappearing, Levy said.

Herzog was also questioned on the tensions between Orthodox extremists and non-Orthodox in Israel. This is the most serious problem Israel faces today, he said.

“I would say that the source of many of these problems lies in the United States, in the American Jewish community… But I have to emphasize here again that many of the peripheral problems that we have, racist problems, extreme fanatical forms of Orthodoxy that really do not recognize the State of Israel, these are problems that have come from the United States and are incidentally to this day funded from the United States.”

One of Herzog’s questioners, Sam Shube, national chairman of Telem — The Movement for Zionist Fulfillment–challenged the Zionist establishment’s conception of aliya. “The American Zionist Federation is promoting the slogan that a real Zionist is one who pays dues. Do you agree with this statement and what kind of dues do you want from American Zionists?” Shube asked Herzog.

Herzog replied, “The dues I want from the American Zionists are the American Jews. That’s really what is the most important thing of all.” He stressed that Israel is short of manpower, especially in the high technology fields, and needs a critical mass of people to retain its independence.

“I would say that while paying dues is very important in the American Zionist Federation and everywhere else . . . the most important task world Jewry and American Jewry has is to come as far as they can to Israel… and in particular to encourage the youth to come to Israel.”