Newtime commenter "
nuch a chosid" left me the following comment:
I don't feel comfortable asking you this. But I don't really get the fact that you feel living in such areas, is your mitzva of protecting Eretz yisroel, we wouldn't live in Harlem and we would rather understand you making sure your family is in a safe place where you are not in constant danger, then chosing to live in the frontline I know you think different, but we Americans (or at least I as a yankee) can never understand it.Dear Nuch a Chosid,
Although you felt uncomfortable asking, I'm glad you posted your comment.
Living in Eretz Yisrael is first and foremost a privilege to fulfill the mitzva of
Yishuv Eretz Yisrael. Just as keeping Shabbat and observing the laws of Kashrut are not always simple, living in Israel can quite challenging as well.
Like you, I also grew up in the United States (and while I didn't live in Harlem, my junior high school yeshiva was surrounded by barbed wire at the time) and didn't live in a "war zone." I recall travelling on the NYC subways (and feeling less than secure), and I also experienced antisemitism. As a teenager riding on the subway, I was spat at by someone so frightening, it didn't even cross my mind to fight back or say anything. Riding my bike through suburbia, I had an occasional glass bottle thrown at me with an accompanying nasty epithet. Our shuls and mikva had swastikas spray painted on them as well.
However, the decision for me to move to Israel took place while I was learning in Yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael. Learning the
mitzvot Teluyot Baaretz, combined with a new understanding of Jewish history made it obvious to me that one could live life as a Jew outside of Israel as an observer, a spectator of emerging Jewish history, or one could live in Israel and be a player, an active participant in modeling our future (hopefully, as a positive influence as well on Israeli society).
Living in the Shomron wasn't always "front line". Kiryat Shmona had it very bad in the 70's, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv had a terrible spate of bus bombings and other terror attacks from the mid-90's, Southern Israel is still receiving almost-daily Qassam rocket attacks, and Northern Israel didn't have the easiest of summers.
Yet, when Palestinian terror came to the Shomron, I volunteered to actively participate in our community's defense through the IDF. There are 2 ways to deal with issues; you can sit back, complain, and worry. Or, you can be proactive and take an active role in your own defense.
I think the latter is a much healthier way to deal with problems, and it also has a positive educational effect on our children. They don't walk around scared that any second something can happen (and for the most part, things are quiet), because they know that in the event of an emergency, we have many dedicated people who train to neutralize terror threats quickly and effectively.
It can be "scary" at times, but there are plenty of scary situations all over the globe, all the time -- be it airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center buildings, biological, chemical or nuclear threats against the USA, terrible terrorist attacks in London and the rest of Europe, or just plain old targeting of Jews through antisemitism.
In the bigger scheme of things, I sincerely believe that the more Jews live in Israel, the better the situation will be for our people. Realizing that Israel is the land where Hashem constantly watches (more than any other place on the planet - ארץ אשר עיני ה' אלוקך בה), we have the opportunity to personally and positively influence our history, as individuals and as a community.
While we may have seemingly scary situations from time to time, we don't view ourselves as living in constant danger. My kids can safely stay out late and come home by themselves, my younger kids can walk to gan by themselves if they wish, and that's something you don't often find in Chutz Laaretz.
Bringing an M16 to shul on Shabbat may seem like a big deal, but in the grand scheme of things, my quality of life is probably a lot higher than yours.
And we merit to live in Eretz Yisrael.
Thanks again for dropping by to visit.
Jameel.
PS: For an amazing
movie review of the new movie about the life of
The Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, please see Chana's blog, The Curious Jew,
here.
