The good news is that in the past 12 months some 400 more olim came to Israel from North America than in last year’s count. The bad news is that this figure is a mere drop in the bucket - .08% of the 5 million Jews who reside there (if there are 5 million considering the out-of-control increase in assimilation). Furthermore, this year's overall olim figure from around the world is down 20%.
Why don’t more Jews make Aliyah?
One reason can be gleaned from the end of the Torah portion Vayigash (Bereshit, 47:27). The Torah tells us: “And Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen, and they had possessions therein (ואחזו בה)…."
The literal reading of the Hebrew is written in the passive form, meaning, “and they were possessed by it." According to the Midrash, the expression indicates that the land of Egypt took possession of them, causing them to want to live there. The Torah commentator, the Kli Yakar, states that this verse is a criticism of the Children of Israel. They sought to be permanent settlers and property holders in Egypt when they were only supposed to be temporary strangers there. The land of Egypt “possessed" them.
This attachment isn’t unique to ancient Egypt. It exists in whatever foreign country where Jews reside. In France, Jews become to look like French people, speak their language, adopt French culture, and finally they come to believe that they are French, or German, or American - wherever they settle down to stay.
Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook offers another reason. He explains in his book “Orot" that when a Jew doesn’t learn the inner secrets of Torah, he or she becomes alienated from Eretz Yisrael (Orot, 1:2). In learning only the superficial side of Torah, Jews in the Diaspora center their religious observance according to the commandments which a Jew can perform outside of the Land of Israel, such as Tefillin, Kashrut, and Shabbat.
His orientation to Torah observance, and to life in general, become a private affair. He doesn’t miss the much larger national essence of the Torah and the fact that he lacks his own Jewish Land, Jewish government, Jewish army and so forth. America or France or Germany takes care of his national needs. He lives a private life, concentrating on his career and on the welfare of his family.
The goal of the Torah - the building of a holy Torah Nation in the Land of Israel - is not the focus of his life. So of course, why make Aliyah? Not having learned the deeper national essence of Torah, he believes he can be a complete, God-fearing Jew in Australia of Mexico City.
Rabbi Kook writes:
Things which stand at the apex of the world in the matter of knowing the Name of G-d, Blessed Be He, and in the depths of the spiritual realms of the Torah... were very neglected, to the great sorrow of all those who love G-d's Name, and who love His Nation and His Heritage in TRUTH. This neglect, this is the source of all of our ruin. All of the length and lowliness of the Exile is solely because we turned the Torah into a parched land.... In our return to our deep spiritual wells, Hashem will shine His light and salvation upon us, and a NEW LIGHT ON ZION shall appear... (Letters, 95).
May it be soon.
Tzvi Fishman is a longtime contributor to INN. He has published over twenty books and novels on a wide range of Jewish themes. Two of his recent publications, "Like Father, Like Son," and the "Torat Eretz Yisrael Anthology" are available at Amazon Books and bookstores in Israel.
