Rabbi Shlomo Avineris Head of the Ateret Yerushalayim Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem. Author of over 200 books on a wide variety of Jewish themes, he is known to occasionally adopt a literary style to convey an idea, in this call to Diaspora Rabbis he employs a fictitious Rabbi to communicate his message.
For more than twenty years I have been the Rabbi of a very influential shul in the Diaspora.
I call out to you from the depths of my heart – Make haste! Awaken the hearts of the myriads of our people to make Aliyah to our Homeland. I beseech you, not only to perform the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisrael, a mitzvah which our Sages consider equal to in weight to all of the commandments of the Torah. I understood the vital place of this mitzvah ever since I began to learn Torah, but nevertheless I remained in the Diaspora. I never spoke about the mitzvah to live in Israel, for reasons I won’t specify, for these are the same reasons you too have chosen to remain in foreign lands.
Today I am frightened. It is true that I am not a bold warrior by nature, but now the great increase in anti-Semitism has me truly alarmed. My great-grandfather lived in Germany. When Hitler, may his name be erased, rose to power, the majority of Jews believed that there was no reason to panic, that the troubling period would pass, and so they remained ensconced where they were. The end proved tragic and most bitter. Fortunately my great-grandfather sensed the coming storm and fled. Because of that wise decision I am here today.
Today’s rampant anti-Semitism isn’t the only reason for concern. You all know as well as I do about the frightening rise in assimilation throughout the Diaspora which increases from decade to decade. Since the Holocaust, six million Jews have assimilated in what is called the “Silent Holocaust,” may Heaven help us. And to our chagrin, the way to the abyss approaches at an unstoppable pace.
Right now I feel that we are facing a dire emergency. In addition to the plague of intermarriage, violence against Jews could break out in all corners of the Diaspora. In order to isolate Israel from the community of nations, foreign governments might close their airports to flights to and from the Jewish State. Diaspora Jews will be stranded, surrounded by wild mobs and unsympathetic authorities.
Therefore, I appeal to you, the mitzvah of the moment is to awaken your congregations to take immediate steps to begin the process of Aliyah as soon as possible by filling out the required documents and whatever papers necessary to have everything ready in order to insure their future, their family’s future, and the future of our nation.
Be strong and of much courage.
With great honor and affection, and with my apology for adopting this literary strategy.