Why We Are Celebrating Shabbat Aliyah
Communities around the world will likely discuss Aliyah as we read the story of Abraham’s journey this Shabbat, but what about communities in Israel? Is Aliyah something worth celebrating?
Each year, as we reach Parshat Lech Lecha, we read the words that began our Jewish people’s relationship with this land: “Lech lecha me’artzecha u’mimoladetecha u’mibeit avicha, el ha’aretz asher areka” — “Go forth from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.”
Avraham Avinu and Sarah Imeinu were the first Olim. They left behind everything familiar — language, culture, family, the comfort of a known world — for a land they had never seen, on the strength of a promise. Thousands of years later, that same journey is being made by families arriving at Ben Gurion Airport almost every week.
And yet, although Aliyah sits at the heart of the Zionist story, it is rarely something we stop to celebrate together. That is what Young Israel is setting out to change by launching Shabbat Aliyah this year on Shabbat Parshat Lech Lecha.
From a private anniversary to a communal celebration
Most Olim mark their Aliyah anniversary quietly. There is the “aliyahversary” Facebook post, a family dinner, perhaps a moment of reflection on how far the family has come. These are meaningful moments, but they are personal. The community around them often doesn’t notice or pay attention.
Aliyah, though, is not only a personal milestone. It is also a great communal achievement, and it deserves communal recognition. Behind every Aliyah stands a real measure of idealism and sacrifice: careers rebuilt from scratch, parents and grandparents left behind, a new language learned, children navigating a new school system, a new army, and a new culture.
This matters most for our children. Children who made Aliyah with their parents often did not choose the journey, yet they carry much of its weight. When a child sees their community recognize that what their family did was brave and important, it reframes their personal story. Aliyah becomes not just something that happened to them, but something to be proud of.
A celebration in both directions
Shabbat Aliyah speaks to two kinds of communities in Israel in two different ways.
In communities made up largely of Olim, it is a chance to look around the room and recognize a shared journey. Everyone there knows what the first year was like. Pausing together to acknowledge the challenges builds the kind of solidarity that carries people through the harder times.
In communities that are mostly Israeli-born, Shabbat Aliyah is an invitation to see the Olim in their midst. To appreciate what it took for them to move to Israel, and to recognize what they bring with them — to the shul, to the neighborhood, and to the economy. Olim are not guests in Medinat Yisrael. They are among its builders, and they deserve to hear that from their neighbors.
The Parsha is honest about the costs of relocation. No sooner does Avraham arrive than “Vayehi ra’av ba’aretz” — there is famine in the land. The Promised Land does not always greet its newcomers gently. That is exactly why community recognition matters: the challenges are real, and so is the achievement of persevering through them.
Why the Mizrachi-Young Israel Shuls Network
For the past three years, Young Israel in Israel and World Mizrachi have been building the Mizrachi–Young Israel Shuls Network: a growing network of Olim communities across Israel. The idea is simple. Communities that cater to Olim are often dealing with many of the same challenges, and their rabbis and lay leaders have a great deal to learn from one another.
Our network gives them a way to connect, to support each other, and to collaborate.
Shabbat Aliyah is a natural outgrowth of that work with Olim communities, creating an opportunity for shared celebration. 42 communities — newer and older, large and small, from the north to the south — will mark the same Shabbat in the same spirit. Some have organized communal meals or Kiddushim; most will invite Olim to speak about their experiences; some have invited guest speakers who are themselves Olim, and many are using the Shabbat Aliyah resources that we have provided to spark conversations about Aliyah.
A blessing that reaches outward
G-d’s promise to Avraham ends with a remarkable line: ”V’nivrechu vecha kol mishpechot ha’adama” — “And through you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Avraham’s journey was never only about Avraham. His arrival became a source of blessing for everyone around him.
That is the story of Aliyah in our times as well. Each family that comes home strengthens the country, the community and the Jewish people as a whole. On Shabbat Lech Lecha, as we read of the first journey to this land, we invite communities across Israel to stop, look around, and say thank you to those who have followed in Avraham and Sarah’s footsteps.
Wherever you live, and whatever your journey, we invite you to join us this Shabbat, saluting Aliyah and the Olim whose arrival has enriched both their own lives and the lives of those around them
