Behind the Headlines Aliya: the End of Exile

Many North American Jews talk about aliya. But last year 3200 Jews in the United States and Canada acted. They packed up their belongings, lifestyles and memories and moved to Israel. For almost all the decision came after years of thinking, re-thinking and assessing–and, in many instances, agonizing–the wisdom or the folly, the advantages or pitfalls of making aliya.

According to Yehoshua Yadlin, director of the North American Aliya Center, the reasons for making aliya range from intensely personal to ideological, from a feeling that remaining in the diaspora leads to loss of identity as a Jew to the conviction that Israel’s security requires an ongoing influx of Jews. But for almost all, he added, making aliya was the culmination of a developing consciousness that tended to fuse the personal needs with the historical imperative.

Aliya is the Hebrew word for ascent, for “going up to Zion.” But this is only the beginning of wisdom. It is the negation of diaspora, the affirmation of Jewish identity, the forging of a link in the chain of Jewish universality, the pride in the Jewish homeland, the abolishment of alienation, the transformation of the Jew from being a victim of history to being a participant in shaping history, the end of exile.

During an interview at the Israel Aliya Center at 516 Park Avenue, Yadlin, Aaron Hauptman and Allan Pakes, the three aliya officials agreed that these are the basic components in the metabolism of aliya. Hauptman, an American who works in the public relations office at the Aliya Center, has been to Israel several times and hopes to make aliya, Pakes, from Edmonton, Canada, is an economist and statistical analyst who made aliya in 1964, worked in a variety of jobs including the Ministry of Labor and was recruited to help in the Aliya Center here, Yadlin is a sabra who was appointed to his post seven months ago.

In discussing the nature of aliya, the three noted that Pinhas Sapir, chairman of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization Executives, has defined aliya as “a revolutionary act,” the alternative to which is the “self-liquidation” of the Jew through assimilation. They also called attention to Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s recent statement that “Aliya is the lifeblood of the Jewish State. The story of the rebirth and building of Israel is in essence, the story of aliya.”

MOTIVATED BY POSITIVE DRIVES

All this, however, it was pointed out, only poses some basic questions: Why aren’t more North American Jews making aliya? What turns Jews on to aliya? With no visible signs of imminent social catastrophes confronting North American Jews, what compelling reasons are there to convince them that they ought to be “going up to Zion?” Is Israel prepared with jobs, housing, and absorptive capacities for olim? And what is the Aliya Center in New York and similar centers elsewhere in North America doing to get out the message to Jewish communities?

“By and large,” Yadlin observed, “people who make aliya are motivated by a positive drive. They are motivated by the pull of a certain concept that is meaningful in their individual lives. They view aliya as moving to freedom, rather than escaping danger, the freedom of being a Jew in a Jewish nation,” He asserted that those involved in promoting aliya do not base their activities on any assumption that there is something wrong with the social system in this country or in Canada. “It’s none of our business what the social system is or is not,” Yadlin said. “We do not pass value judgements on this. If an individual makes aliya his choice based on his evaluation of the system, that’s his option.”

Hauptman noted that for many Jews, going to Israel is not at this time a conscious goal. “In fact,” he said, “on a conscious level they may not even want to go because they see no reason within the context of their lives to leave their jobs, lifestyles and milieu. This is especially true for those Jews who are involved in Jewish organizational activities or live in large cities. They don’t feel isolated, as do Jews in small communities. They feel they’re contributing to Jewish identity and continuity, and feel secure in a community of friends and co-workers.”

But, Pakes noted, in time, when a deeper consciousness begins to emerge, “it starts, usually, with an uneasy feeling that something is missing in their lives, a vacuum, a perception that not all their life spark plugs are firing. They don’t translate this into the need for aliya, not immediately, perhaps not for a long time. But the gears have begun to shift. It is only a matter of time, education, and ongoing consciousness raising that makes them realize that where they’re at is not where they ought to be to find fulfillment.”

LIVING IN A MAJORITY CULTURE

Pakes noted that one of the strongest currents carrying Jews to the shoreline of aliya is the realization that in Israel “you’re living as a majority in a majority culture, and the culture is ours, Jewish, not someone else’s culture. It’s identity. It comes down to the fact that I want my children to be raised as Jews and feel proud that they are Jews.”

Hauptman added: “Jews have always been outsiders. For the first time in 2000 years a Jew in Israel can be a part of the majority culture, not through assimilation as in the diaspora but through the assertion and development of Jewishness, to live as he wants to live without being programmed by another culture, to live as a human Jew and not have to choose between being a ‘Jew’ or being a diffused human.”

But, he noted, there may even be more practical, personal, even selfish reasons for making aliya. “Let’s say he’s got a job in America and is good at it. Where does he go from here, what gives him a sense of commitment? Most people are not satisfied with their jobs because there is no fulfillment for them. Sure, they can make a few more dollars for some large firm, they can apply their talents which, in the final analysis, helps the firm, they might get a raise. But what are they contributing in an overall sense?”

But how does this differ in Israel? “A higher ideal is involved,” Hauptman asserted. “Israel is special. In America or elsewhere I am just part of the general work force, undifferentiated in commitment and undistinguished in terms of my contributions. In Israel there is a chance for changing things. I can contribute to help the country. Many of the industries are still young, still growing and change is still the essence of Israeli reality. There is a focus, a framework and a meaning to my activities.”

Pakes said he couldn’t agree more. “Coming to Israel means coming to a country that is still in flux, still developing, still youthful at the age of 26. In the U.S. or Canada I can’t feel this anymore. What I do here may be good for my family, for my boss, but not necessarily for society. What I do in Israel will have an effect in my particular field, in my particular neighborhood. It’s total involvement. Working in Israel with a population base of three million means there is a greater feeling of community, so that what I do will be felt. We are still talking about establishing a society. Israel still exudes the spirit of the pioneers.”

Yadlin focussed on the same issue. “Israeli society is a young society still in its formative stage. This gives many individuals a feeling of forward motion and a chance to pursue professional careers that will have a bearing on the course this society will take. Aliya means participating in a total Jewish experience.” He riffled through a stack of letters from former Americans now living in Israel and held up two of them. “These are just examples of what I mean,” he said.

One was a letter from Michael Rosenberg, 25, formerly from Bayonne, N.J. who studied at Johns Hopkins University and has a B.A. in Social Sciences. “I made aliya, he wrote, “to achieve personal liberation and to participate in the national liberation of the Jewish people.” The other letter was from Joseph Schwartz, 43, formerly from Chicago, who wrote: “My aliya was motivated by the need to participate more actively in the future of the Jewish State, for the need to live a more complete life, to be part of a majority culture, and to participate in shaping my own history.”

VISIONS OF BUREAUCRACY

But for many Jews who are contemplating aliya, and even for some who have taken the step aliya evokes visions of bureaucracy, delays, red tape, frustrations and disappointments about the kind of jobs and housing available to the newcomer. Hauptman didn’t deny this, nor the fact that too many Israeli officials involved in absorption are insensitive and indifferent to problems encountered by newcomers. Nevertheless, he noted that frequently North American olim come to Israel with expectations that Israel should provide them with conditions that are comparable to those they had.

“There is the expectation,” he said, “that when I come to Israel all I have to say is ‘Here I am. Make me an offer I can’t refuse.’ But this same person, who decides to leave New York and goes to another city in this country doesn’t make that same demand, he doesn’t expect the city in which he’s just arrived to provide him with the amenities he was used to back home. Why, then, do Americans, who are supposedly self-reliant, demand that Israel provide them with all the comforts?”

HELPING HAND PLEDGED

Yadlin, however, conceded that “there are a lot of hardships in Israeli life. We realize this and know that someone coming from a different background, not conversant with the language or culture needs a helping hand in order to integrate.” In line with this, he said that official at the Aliya Center “pledge to every family interested in aliya that we will help them to integrate, investigate job opportunities for them, assist in setting them up in business and housing. We also pledge relocation costs to Israel and the cost of training programs to help them integrate.”

As for bureaucratic foul-ups, he noted that Sapir recently initiated the concentration of all-purpose immigrant absorption centers to help olim get processed, housed, employed and medically insured. The first such absorption processing center is already functioning in Netanya and similar centers are due to open in Jerusalem, Ashkelon, Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Aliya Month, launched last Sunday by the Israel Aliya Center of North America which is sponsored by the WZO, will seek to convey in intense consciousness-raising forms the meaning of being part of the total Jewish experience which is provided in the State of Israel. “Aliya Month,” Yadlin noted, “in a way is a campaign to turn the attention of Jews to the validity of considering this option.” Basically, he said, Rabin expressed the essence of aliya when he stated that it was never an easy act but it is the ultimate challenge.