Perhaps the time has come to “walk the walk”

About two months ago, while sitting in the bomb shelter waiting for the all-clear message, i had a conversation with a fellow Jew visiting Eretz Yisrael from the USA..

We discussed the current situation, both here and abroad, and he made the following comment:

“Here in Israel there is more danger. There in the USA there is more fear”

Here I know that I am at home, not a guest whose presence is dependent on the good will of my host. As long as the good will remains, we live with the illusion that it will.last forever, but historically it never has, It always weakens, and when that starts happening if we are perceptive we start to understand our vulnerability and we begin to fear for our safety and the safety of our loved ones despite our faith in the One Above, for deep down we know that the Exile of our people from our land was never meant to be permanent, and by living in the exile we have placed our fate in the good will of our Gentile hosts, which could quickly evaporate.

Here I may face enemies, wars, terrorism, missiles, and international hostility. But here we defend ourselves as a sovereign people in our soverign homeland, Here we are no longer a defenseless minority dependent on the mercy of our host nation. Here iwe have an army, intelligence services, and the capacity for self-defense. Here “the eyes of G-D are upon the land..” always. Here is the natural environment for the Jewish soul and the only place where Torah can be fulfilled in its entirety. Here we have not outsourced our fate to others.

The aftemath of October 7th saw an unexplainable eruption of anti-semitismn all over the world. Perhaps this is G-d’s way of waking up a nation that prays to return to Zion, faces Jerusalem in prayer, mourns its destruction, breaks a glass under the wedding canopy, and ends Yom Kippur and the Seder with the proclamation “Next year in Jerusalem” so that we not just “talk the talk” but “walk the walk”.

I therefore think it is very important that Rabbis and community leaders all over the world – without rxception – seriously begin to encourage Aliyah amongst their congregants and communities. Certainly there will be many for whom such a move will be too difficult, and no one should judge his fellow, but “words from the heart enter the heart”, and many will heed the call, especially the youth who have not yet “planted roots” – for it is much easier and less complicated for one who has not yet planted roots to make Aliyah then one who needs uproot himself.

The exile, even a golden, comfortable one, was never meant to be permanent, and all of the Jewish people will eventually return to Eretz Yisrael. To think and plan otherwise is not only to ignore this basic, universal Jewish belief, but it may be a dangerous bet whereby you prioritize your comfort to the point that you are willing to gamble your safety and the safety of your loved ones.

So why wait, especially if you can come now, for the longer you wait the more roots you plant and the harder it becomes to “uproot” yourself in the future?