What Elul Can Teach Us about the Aliyah Debate
There’s a strange argument happening right now between Jews in America and Jews in Israel.
It started with a debate over aliyah. Some American Jews are saying Israel needs to do more to make moving there realistic — more affordable housing, better job opportunities, easier integration.
The response from some Israelis has basically been: Stop making excuses. If living in Israel matters enough to you, come.
I’ve spent most of my adult life working with young Jews in America and now running an MJE site in Tel Aviv. I’ve also spent years trying to deepen the connection of young Jews to Israel, bringing thousands there and encouraging many to consider making it their home.
I also have two kids who have made aliyah and live in the land. So I think I understand both sides.
Israel should make aliyah easier. We should want Jews from around the world to come home, and we should be asking what practical obstacles we can remove.
But aliyah is also called “aliyah” for a reason. You go up. And going up requires sacrifice. Israel cannot become Manhattan with better weather before we agree to live there.
Then I heard something from my friend Rav Shlomo Katz which he heard from his Rebbe, Rav Moshe Weinberger, a beautiful reading of Elul. That אלול is an acronym for:
אמור לעצמך ולא לאחרים
“Say it to yourself, not to others.”
That hit me.
We’ve become very good at doing soul searching for everyone else.
American Jews can tell Israelis exactly what Israel needs to change.
Israelis can tell American Jews exactly why they haven’t made aliyah.
Religious Jews know what secular Jews are doing wrong. Secular Jews know what religious Jews need to fix.
And then comes Elul which says look at yourself.
Maybe the question for an American Jew is: What am I willing to sacrifice to build a life in Israel? Maybe the question for an Israeli is: What can I do to make another Jew feel that this really is their home?
This is also what I’ve learned from decades at MJE. Real Jewish growth begins when we stop talking about what everyone else should be doing.
Elul is here. Less fixing everyone else and more looking in the mirror.
