Hi. My name is Jerusalemcop and I'll be your guest blogger this evening.
I've know Jameel for close to 12 years and during those years, we've met in unusual places; cell block AA23, The Muqata itself, not to mention a number of shmachot (bloggers and non-bloggers alike).
He and I have one passion that we share, and that's the love of Eretz Yisrael.
Since Jameel asked me to guest blog last week, I have tried to think of an appropriate topic for this venue.
Drum-roll, please
"After living in Israel for x years, what makes you want to stay?"
People living in Chul are always asked "Why dont you make Aliyah" or "when are you making Aliyah?" Sometimes the idea of Aliyah can be so overwhelming that being bombarded by the question over and over can be too much. So in this blog, I will be shifting the spotlight AWAY from those of our brethren (and sisters) still in the Diaspora and focus on those of us already here.
I believe that Aliyah is possible for anyone!!!
Seriously, I mean that.
Aliyah is a complicated process for anyone, but in order for Aliyah to work, one must find the right time in life to do it.
Some people choose to do what I did; learn in Yeshiva for a year and then stay. I'm here in my 14th year in Israel and I still cannot see myself living anywhere else in the world.
Others, may come after they finish college; get married; have their first kid; second kid; tenth kid; right before their eldest hits a certain age/grade; or even after the kids have made aliyah themselves.
The trick is trying to figure out when is the best time for you. You have tons of oppurtunities, so if you didn't stay after Yeshiva/Seminary, you can do it later on in life.
My reasonings for stayng here are quite simple. During my year studying in Yeshiva (only my 3rd time in Israel. The first two times were for a total of 7 weeks), I felt inside me a completeness that I had never felt while living in the States. I knew that I must help this country any and every way that I could. This feeling, drew me to volunteering and serving in the IDF. It later in life, gave me the courage to drop everything going on in my life and join the Israeli Police Force.
Whenever I vacationed in America since I planted my roots here, I felt like an outsider. Here in Israel, I feel that I belong and its that connection, the one between the people and the land that has kept me here for close to 14 years.
There is no other place exactly like it.
What has kept you here? Zionist reasons? nationalistic reasons? Historical? Religious?
You tell me!
J.
P.s. The first person who answers the movie quote trivia question correctly will get to guest blog on my own site.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael, even when Cellcom has no reception
Now you're in for it, ex-copper!
ReplyDeleteThat quote is from one of the few movies I ever liked, I can even tell you who said it:
Allison, in the Breakfast Club!!!
Wow, this sure is my lucky day [seriously!}
Truth.
PS - Let me know when you want my 'guest' column! Hahahahahaha...
Oh yeah, that reminds me, Jameel owes me a 'guest' column on HIS blog, too, I just forgot to email him [when I answered two of his obscure questions a while back].
ReplyDeleteI sure hope there's no expiration-date on that Muqata contest...
"It never rains, but when it rains, it pours..."
Truth.
Very nice.
ReplyDeleteThis place gets under your skin, there is no other way to describe it.
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
Anyone CAN make aliya. Timing is important, but moreso, the desire to make it work.
ReplyDeleteTruth: I understand from Jameel, that you love to guestpost and that you are very quick about it too. :)
ReplyDeleteJack: thanks
WBM: thanks, Gets under your skin, but then it feels as if it's part of you.
Elchonon: Get your mind outta the gutter ;) Read my companion piece (it'll be up tomorrow) to this post on my site and you'll see that it isn't always so easy to change your status, you were lucky.
Tova Yehudis: Looking forward to having you join us here in the Holy Land
If you will it: Exactly, it's all in the mind
J.
Anyone can make aliya? What about a chronically ill person who cannot work and has no money and cannot really speak Hebrew?
ReplyDeleteanonymous: If they are Jewish, the State has to take them in by law.
ReplyDeleteThere are many support organizations that can help make such a move, easier.
Hi Jameel. Thanks for your response.
ReplyDeleteI know it's the law, but there seem to be so many hoops nevertheless that make it seem impossible.
What support organizations help the ill and destitute make aliya?
Not to throw a damper on all this rah-rah-sis-boom-ba-aliyah stuff - 'been there, done that' - but the older I get, the less energy I have to put up with or change all the bad parts of living in Medinat Yisrael. Notice I didn't say 'Eretz Yisrael', which will always remain holy. Unfortunately, the Medinah is FAR FROM holy at this juncture.
ReplyDeleteMy comment here is so OPPOSITE the view on my blog. That's probably because it is 4:00 a.m. and I think I am coming down with pneumonia...must have caught it from my husband, who is currently sick with it.
I love Israel with a passion. But I am no longer the starry-eyed Zionist I was in 1977, when I first moved there. It's a long story, which I think I might post on my blog...
Kol Tuv!