1977-1978

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THOUGHTS ON ALIYAH As someone who, when I arrived last July, had no conception of the term "aliyah", its meaning, or more importantly, significance, this year in Israel has precipitated an awareness in me. This awareness was brought about through a development of thought. While this development began at a level of naivity rather than ignorance, it filtered through periods of apathy, guilt, radicalism, and has concluded in a period of contentment and rationality. It is this conclusion, the result of a series of thought processes, that I would like to share with you. The concept of Aliyah,and Aliyah is a concept as it involves not only a decision, but an ideology and a change in way of life,- first struck me as unthinkable. Why should I leave the United States, which has offered my people a place of refuge? Beyond that, Israel simply would not have been able to survive without her strong«"ally", (I use quotation marks as a result of recent developments) an ally that supports and offers nations throughout the world the opportunity to seek out their legitimate rights to freedom and national determination. The United States does represent the citadel of freedom and liberty in the world today. Besides all this, the United States offered comfort, opportunity, and the freedom to come to Israel. The Jewish part of the question had yet to enter my mind. After a month or two of living in the Jewish state, I began to notice a number Of new things. I was able to travel in a city without ever thinking of my Jewishness as something foreign; rather, I was at home. People accepted me on at least one common ground, which was not my ability to communicate in the Hebrew language. Indeed, places such as the Kotel on Erev Yom Kippur became my backyard. One thing, however, was different: the people. While most people, I think, are almost anti-religious here, many in Israel experience a religious fervor at times and all are proud and knowledgable of their Judaism, history and traditions. While being brought into the realization that every Jew in one place can be proud and knowledgeable of his or her history in Judaism, the Aliyah spectre reappeared. It now was a spectre because it appeared a responsibility. The Israeli Jews represented The "front line" of Judaism. They are the ones who fought the wars, they are the ones who are the first Jews thought of when a non-Jew discusses politics and they are the ones who make Jewish life in the world today easier. Why should I be exempt from these challenges? After all, is Israel not the land promised to my people in our convenant with God, do I not really belong here? Is Aliyah not my responsibility also? At this point my thought development become less emotional and more objective. While I must admit that the happiness I have in the United States, in terms of comfort and opportunity, weighed heavily on me, more important thoughts siphoned through to enable me to reach conclusions. I now understand all the components of Aliyah-- responsibility, Judaism, peace of mind, and to an extent , a feeling of guilt because I was in the back lines of a Jewish identity crisis. However, I was approaching the problem from the wrong perspective. Why did I not feel at home as a Je!w in the United States, and why did I feel that the Israeli Jew represented the purest Jew I had ever encountered? The answers are simple and I believe they give a new dimension to the concept of Aliyah. First of all, the problem is the Jewish identity crisis. I did not feel at home in the United States because I was a victim oF this crisis. The Israeli Jew, generally speaking, is clear about his or her Jewish identity within our historical perspective. With this awareness, the new dimensions to Aliyah emerge. I am not in the back line of the Jewish identity crisis; I am in the front line. I cannot justify making Aliyah now. We Jewish Americans are facing a severe problem that we must solve. This problem is a disease called assimilation. Most of us have suffered from an abhorent lack of education in Jewish history and traditions. While Israel is the textbook for Jewish education, Few American Jews bother to open it. When I say Israel, I do not mean
simply Israel 1948-<strong>1978</strong>, I refer to the Israel that Abraham and God referred to in a covenant and a promise. The Israel I refer to is not merely a poetic embodiment; it is an ideal. Israel was given to the Jewish Pepple.by God,-it is God's part in the bargain. Our part is the responsibility that we, the Chosen People, have to God. We must deserve the Land of Israel. We American Jews do not. We must become strong again. We must become the embodiment of the unique way of life that we were chosen for. We must again become a community like the citizens of Israel, whom to me represent Judaism at its apex. As I have stated, this representation manifests itself not only through religiosity- which by itself is not sufficient- but through strength, pride and knowledge. We Jews in the United States, number nearly double the population of the State of Israel. We must return to the status of representatives, because we are the representatives of the People of Israel.We are the front lines. We must uphold our end of the bargain for the State of Israel, or else I am afraid Israel will once again slip from our grasp. As a conclusion I would like to reiterate some thoughts that a professor made clear to me as he was discussing Holocaust Rememberance Day. In the United States today it seems that personal experiences, such as the Holocaust, appear to be the impetuses to Judaism's survival. This is problematic, because without a personal experience, an event, such as the Holocaust, becomes a mere fact in a history book-- like the Russian Pogroms, the Crusades, the Bar-Kokhba Revolt, the Exile to Babylon, and the Captivity in Egypt. Apparently we do not learn from history. The heart of Judaism is the family and the comminnity. These are indeed the first impetus to Judaism, yesterday, today and tomorrow. The beginnings of something great always start with pride and education. What is necessary is not to build Judaism on anti-Semitism or to bui'd Judaism on hatred for those who do our people harm, but from within-- on pride, happiness, and the glory of Judaism; History and Civilization, Tradition and Torah. How else will Judaism survive in the Diaspora? Which leads me to ask: Without the Jewish population living in the Diaspora, can Israel survive? I want my successors to not only be proud, strong, and wise, but I want them to survive. As Deuteronomy XXXIV:4 relates; And the Lord said to him, This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and to Jacob, saying, I will give it to thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thy eyes, but thou shalt not go over there. Respectfully, Barry H. Miller Iyar 17,5738--May 24,<strong>1978</strong> ‘Doonesbury’ by O.B. Trudeau
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1977-1978

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