One of the most important - and emotional - subjects in the Jewish World today is the complex relationship between the Jews of Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora. For centuries, this may have been a non-issue, but now it is one of the thorniest questions in the Jewish debate. What, exactly, is the responsibility of the Jews here to the Jews there, and vice-versa?
Like every other important subject, this, too, can be found in the Torah. And so we turn to this week's sedra. There, Moshe, on his way to Eretz Yisrael, confronts his father-in-law, Chovav (Yitro), and implores him: "Come with us, and it will be good for you, for Hashem has spoken well of B?nei Yisrael." (10:28)
Yitro shakes his head, "I will not go; but to my land and my family I will go." - ?Ki im el artzi v'el molad'ti eylech." In seven choice words, Yitro employs the classic arguments against making Aliyah:
My land: "All my real estate, all my business interests, all my accumulated wealth is there. How can I leave it all behind for the uncertainty of an unsown land?"
My land: "The place I come from is 'mine.' I'm comfortable with the language there, the culture, the idioms, the weather, the ins and outs of that place. I feel at home there; I'll never, ever, acclimate to a new life in Israel."
My family: "You know, family is everything. How am I going to leave my elderly parents, my brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles? I need them, they need me, we need each other. If they were all coming, okay, but they are staying put, so I have to do what the majority wants."
Moshe tries one more plea with Yitro: "I beg you, do not forsake us," and then he returns to his first point: "If you go with us, then the good which Hashem does for us, he will do for you, too."
Moshe the Wise knows that he cannot counter the emotional arguments of kin and comfort. So he reiterates the same promise Hashem told Avraham, when He said "Lech-lecha," go for you. That is, "Israel is good for the Jew!" While Diasporas appear comfy and cushy, they all eventually turn tragically hostile. Centuries of Jewish settlement in the Galut can disappear in short order, taking all the shuls, schools and people with it. History, alas, does not lie.
Does Yitro reconsider and come to Israel? No one knows for sure; the text doesn't say and the evidence is inconclusive. So, too, the ongoing tug-of-war over Aliyah remains - then and now - an open question. It is the answer to that question - in the hands of each and every Jew - which may very well determine the fate of Klal Yisrael.
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Rabbi Weiss is the director of the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra?anana.
Aloh Naaleh is an organization dedicated to building Aliya motivation among North American Jewry. Torah Thoughts contributed by Aloh Naaleh members appear in the Orthodox Union's Torah Insights publication. Contact Aloh Naaleh at aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il.
Like every other important subject, this, too, can be found in the Torah. And so we turn to this week's sedra. There, Moshe, on his way to Eretz Yisrael, confronts his father-in-law, Chovav (Yitro), and implores him: "Come with us, and it will be good for you, for Hashem has spoken well of B?nei Yisrael." (10:28)
Yitro shakes his head, "I will not go; but to my land and my family I will go." - ?Ki im el artzi v'el molad'ti eylech." In seven choice words, Yitro employs the classic arguments against making Aliyah:
My land: "All my real estate, all my business interests, all my accumulated wealth is there. How can I leave it all behind for the uncertainty of an unsown land?"
My land: "The place I come from is 'mine.' I'm comfortable with the language there, the culture, the idioms, the weather, the ins and outs of that place. I feel at home there; I'll never, ever, acclimate to a new life in Israel."
My family: "You know, family is everything. How am I going to leave my elderly parents, my brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles? I need them, they need me, we need each other. If they were all coming, okay, but they are staying put, so I have to do what the majority wants."
Moshe tries one more plea with Yitro: "I beg you, do not forsake us," and then he returns to his first point: "If you go with us, then the good which Hashem does for us, he will do for you, too."
Moshe the Wise knows that he cannot counter the emotional arguments of kin and comfort. So he reiterates the same promise Hashem told Avraham, when He said "Lech-lecha," go for you. That is, "Israel is good for the Jew!" While Diasporas appear comfy and cushy, they all eventually turn tragically hostile. Centuries of Jewish settlement in the Galut can disappear in short order, taking all the shuls, schools and people with it. History, alas, does not lie.
Does Yitro reconsider and come to Israel? No one knows for sure; the text doesn't say and the evidence is inconclusive. So, too, the ongoing tug-of-war over Aliyah remains - then and now - an open question. It is the answer to that question - in the hands of each and every Jew - which may very well determine the fate of Klal Yisrael.
----------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Weiss is the director of the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra?anana.
Aloh Naaleh is an organization dedicated to building Aliya motivation among North American Jewry. Torah Thoughts contributed by Aloh Naaleh members appear in the Orthodox Union's Torah Insights publication. Contact Aloh Naaleh at aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il.