‘Rising’ After Sandy

We all have moments when we attribute an event to either the Hand of G-d, or to circumstance, or somewhere in the middle.

So, in the aftermath of Sandy, whichever mode you are in, religious, spiritual, chance, or other, please read this as if it was written for you.

Here is one option to consider post-Sandy.

Aliya. Now.

Or, minimally, designate a short-term time table.

Sandy is an opportunity-even for those not directly affected- to take stock of personal needs and aspirations, and to balance them with what Am Yisrael needs most, namely, Jews, of all stripes, living in Israel.

So is NOW really the time to decide this, specifically during one’s most hectic, harrowing and trying moments?

YES!

I am sure many more exist, but I know of at least three cases of deciding to make Aliya precisely at a harrowing crossroad.

Two neighbors, currently in Bet Shemesh, picked up and made Aliya as result of a fire which consumed their respective homes. I know a third family whose decision was made when the father survived the FIRST World Trade Center Bombing in 1993.

Over the years, I counseled thousands of family units with their pre-Aliya plans. I always stressed that one should not be making Aliya running from something (as in the law, or the in-laws), rather they need to be running towards Israel and embrace G-d’s gift – The State of Israel. And I say the same here, run to your future. Our future. Am Yisrael’s future.

Use Sandy as a trigger to run Home!

There will be no looking back.