Moving to Israel - Not Kedai for most people

This month there was an assassination attempt on former Pres. Trump where he was struck by a bullet, a fireman was killed, and two others were injured. The US Congress immediately embarked on an intense hearing where Secret Service heads have been grilled by Congress people on both sides of the aisle. This is ongoing. 10 months ago Israel experienced a far more significant failure where terrorists flew kites over a fence that was supposed to be guarded by the military, who had prior knowledge of the impending invasion. 1,300 people died and since then 350 soldiers have died and 1,000s wounded. Hostages are still in Gaza. But there has been no investigation. The High Court of yentas whose power was supposed to be curtailed after the last election blocked it after the military finally got around to considering starting one.  What happened to the election? Oh the left rioted, blocked the airport and the roads, and military people said that they would be derelict in the duty that they swo

  Every article is about war or terrorism. Could this be because the Zionists disobeyed Chazal and took the land by force?  And Aliyah salesmen continue to insist that Israel is as safe as Chutz, that we must all move into this life of violence and pain. They tell you that they must draft all the Charedim (Hashem save us) because the country is under existential threat and at the same time that it is no more dangerous than Chutz which is not under existential threat, even for Jews where the US Congress makes official proclamations against anti-Semitism.  There's something about Zionism, it takes over the brain and shuts down all logic. That's the power of  idol worship. The Talmud tells us:  Rav Ashi said to him: Since you were so wise, what is the reason you engaged in idol worship? Manasseh said to him: Had you been there at that time, you would have taken and lifted the hem of your cloak and run after me due to the fierce desire to engage in idol worship and due to the f

I live in a country where half the population is despised for being Arab and 15% of the population is despised for being Haredi. That leaves only 35% of the population and they are the ones who run the place, have all the power, and all the money.  The great majority of the population here is hated. But 15% of the 35% are "Dati" Leumi.  Leumanim tell me that they are despised by the Chilonim because the Leumanim try to impose some religious restrictions on them. So the remaining 20% hate the 15%.  This is Israel. It's hard to imagine any other country on earth being like this. We are talking here about a land of hatred. You want to be involved in that? You call that coming home to family? What kind of family is that? By the way, I say that half the country is Arab, because Gaza and the West Bank are not countries. The Israel government won't tolerate them even being part of the UN, and Knesset voted not to allow them to have their own country. So what country are they

  He says here the role of the rabbi should be to push the baal habayis to move to Israel.  Maybe the role of the rabbi should be to help the baal habayis figure out if it's the right decision, not to push him to go. It's not the right decision for everyone. Apparently it's not the right decision for Herschel Schacter because he lives in New York. 

Since it's so easy to be a frum Jew in the year 2024, easy to keep the mitzvos while comingled with a world that's gone mad with it's gay agenda and its promiscuity and its atheism, et. al., since it's so easy functioning as a frum Jew when we no longer have the likes of R' Moshe Feinstein, R' Yaakov Kamenetsky, and the Lub. Rebbe, so easy to keep our children interested in Judaism, easy to keep marriages together, easy to earn a living in an era when housing prices are through the roof and most of the money is in the hands of the few, why don't we make our life hard and move to Israel and lower our income by 75% while increasing our expenses. We can send our kids to schools in trailers where they get shouted at all day long. We'll stay away at night worrying about terrorism and worse than that the Israeli military and its draft. Let's move to Israel with all its stress and in-fighting. We'll live in a tiny apartment, where the kids have no room

אמנם צריכים להיות נגד הציונות, אך את האנשים המחזיקים בה באופן אישי יש לקרב, כלומר: מקרבים כל יהודי מאחר שהוא יהודי, אך לא מקרבים יחד איתו את הציונות שבו ח"ו שיחות קודש תשכ"ז ח"ב ע' 407 It is true that we must be against Zionism, but one should still engage in outreach with the people who cling to it. That is to say, one should do kiruv with every Jew because he is a Jew. However, the Zionism should not be brought in along with him. Lubavitcher Rebbe Sichos Kodesh, 5727, p. 407

R. H. Schachter making the outrageous claim that Jews in chutz are not part of klal Yisroel. His proofs are weak in my opinion.   The Real Klal Yisroel - Rabbi Hershel Schachter (torahweb.org) His sources:  Sefer Hamitzvos, Mitzvos Aseh 153 That is that He commanded us to sanctify (proclaim) the months (in other versions, and to calculate the months) and years. And that is the commandment of sanctifying the month. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months" (Exodus 12:2). And the explanation (Rosh Hashanah 22a) comes [and tells us] that "this testimony is given over to them" - meaning that this commandment is not given over to each and every individual, like the Shabbat of creation, towards which every individual counts six days and rests on the seventh. [Here, it is not] that when each and every individual sees the [new] moon, he determines that today is Rosh Chodesh (the first of the month), or that he sh

Who is not part of Israeli society: 6 million Arabs, 1.2 million Haredim., which is 60% of the country. That's because Israel is not a democracy, not a pluralistic society. It is not a country for the Jews. It's a country for Israelis, i.e. basically secular Jews who have no religion other than militarism. The Zionists conned the Jewish people, asking for support, when all along its intention was entirely narrow-minded and selfish. It steals an identity from Tanach while denying the central tenant of Tanach, which is to keep mitzvos. Now, it even wants to destroy the Haredim.

  That's the way it's uttered in Modern Orthodox communities. So and so made aliyah. It's said with awe, like the poor boy who made good. He's idealistic. We should be like him. That's the way it's said. Having made 'aliyah' or as I sometimes call it 'yeridah' I liken it more to a man jumping off a bridge. It's pretty exciting until he hits the water. It's a reckless action really. It's not logical, and that's not a good thing, that's not a backhanded compliment. So and so made 'aliyah.' Nebach. I hope he survives it. Foolish man. 

 So that's what a local rabbi, originally from LA, who moved to Israel told a shiur. He said they are frummer in Israel. Is he right? No. Middos, seichel, ahavas Yisroel, honesty in business, chesed - those are big parts of being frum. In general, those are not done as well in Israel. There are those and there are those. But Zionists don't think they have to tell the truth. Any praise of Israel must be true. That's the assumption, even though they are slandering good Jews in chutz. I wrote to the rabbi and told him all this. Of course, he didn't reply. 

Those who should not move to Israel 1. People who are not Torah observant because they'll bring sin to the land. Additionally, they oftentimes are disappointed to find that Israel isn't really home, isn't full of idealistic people, is a difficult place to be. It's not Hebrew class at Brandeis University come to life. Rather, it's more like this:  It's not me, it's you 2. Yeshivish or Chassidic people because the country wants to draft them into the military, which is an anti-religious tyranny. As Rav Moshe Sternbuch phrased it, "its fundamental purpose is drawing young people away from religion and educating and accustoming them to 'unburden' them from the yoke of Torah." Additionally, they are coming to a society that holds them in contempt and discriminates against them in employment and other matters.  Any Haredi who lives in a decent Western country that honors religious freedoms and allows them to earn a living should never move to Isr

When the prime sinister addressed Congress recently he referenced - as you knew he would - the alleged symbiotic relationship between America and Israel with America providing the money and Israel the high technology, thus endeavoring to propagate the myth of Israel technological prowess. In reality, comparing American technology to Israeli is like comparing Michael Jordan's ability in basketball to mine. Israel is not actually a leader in technology. The technology is not non-existent, but it's not that wonderful really. It ranks behind many countries of a smaller size it its innovation index.  Many an aliyah salesman tries to push the myth of Israeli technological wonderfulness. You'll hear endlessly of its drip irrigation. Very nice. But that's one little thing that was developed decades ago. Or another aliyah salesman boasted to me of the desalination, how water goes from the Mediterranean to the kitchen sink in a hour or something like that. Very nice. I don't

That's what they told me. Because here's how it works. Israel is said to be the Jewish state and since Jews are the most intellectual and moral and wonderful people in the history of the world - whether they be Torah observant or not - anything you want Israel to be it must be. But we Torah observant Jews - I'm not talking about the "Religious" Zionists now - know that Jews without Torah are the biggest pains in the neck on earth and are not the most wonderful people who ever lived. And so Israel doesn't have a bookstore on every corner. In fact, it hardly has any bookstores at all. There's one small chain that contains as many toys and games as books in its tiny stores and nearly zero books in English. Just a few trash novels. Jerusalem has a used book store or two, but it's quite a hike to get there. Israel doesn't have libraries. There's no, public library in every town. You don't realize as an American how spoiled you are when it comes

Doesn't that sound wonderful, after all it has the word Jerusalem in it?  Actually, it's terrible, this city covered in beige. You can lose your mind from the blandness of it all. Beit Shemesh also has a rule, all buildings must be in Jerusalem stone. Everything the same, the same color. That's some democracy. Every building must conform to a government mandate not for safety but for color.  You look out on the city and just feel boredom. It has the aura of Soviet housing.  I'm told that Chabad built a few 770 replicas in Jerusalem and has to pay a million shekels a year in fines. I can't confirm but it wouldn't surprise me. Nothing surprises me here except the rare act of common sense. 

Zios told me that it's the most idealistic people. Actually, it's the craziest people, and usually the most arrogant too. It's not normal to relocate your family from the greatest democracy and most affluent society in history to a war zone. And so the people who move here are not normal. There is something genuinely crazy about them. They are fanatical, possessed, single-minded, and stupid really. This is nearly the rule. Many of them are violent. I have been literally choked by a crazed Zios. Many of them throw tantrums for all kinds of crazy reasons, because they thought you cut them in line (even though Israel doesn't have lines), because you said anything critical of the state or society, because you expressed the view that not everybody should move here, etc. And there's much arrogance too. You see it in some many ways, from this feeling of superiority that they are the ones to have made this so-called idealistic move, when it's really a foolish move. That

We see this all the time with olim who in America were right-wing YU or yeshiva light. They come to Israel and find that the Haredim are too much for them. So they go DT. A few years later you hear, did you see their kids, they barely look frum anymore. I know about a dozen cases like this, some people that I know very well. I would say that this happens in the great majority of cases.  Once you start falling, it's hard to stop. For young people, it's nearly impossible.  And shockingly some of the parents continue to be so excited about living in Israel that they don't even notice. As long as thir kids put on a military uniform the parents are proud. Living in Israel, which means military servitude more than anything else, has become their religion. It replaced mitzvos. They sacrifice their children to the idol.  So you go from trying to capture this optional mitzvah to losing all the required mitzvos.  Oh, the yetzer hara is powerful. 

  Tel Aviv is supposed to be Israel's big modern city. I have been there 100 times. I would say that there are 100 cities in America that blow it away. I'm talking skyscrapers, restaurants, apartment buildings, historic architecture, culture. Tel Aviv barely has any of that. It's really a dumpy place. There's so little culture there. You won't find classic theater. I was talking to a guy who runs a small cultural center in one of Israel's other dumpy cities. He had never heard of Strindberg or O'Neil.  Try to find a classical music performance in Israel. The Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra puts on pop music shows.  This is from the schedule of the Israeli philharmonic. Harry Potter.  Here's more.  Motown and Scooby Do. Beethoven anyone?  Compare to the Chicago Symphony. They call it the Philharmonic orchestra in Israel. In normal countries, those consist of 80-100 players. In Israel, usually you get about a dozen musicians, never a full orchestra. Here

Two stories I heard today. A man was arrested at a protest. The police hung him by handcuffs, threw questions at him, and slapped him in the face if he didn't answer. They then threatened to bring in a screen and play dirty videos. He said he'd kill himself if they did that. So they through him in solitary confinement for two weeks. I know a guy who knows the guy. Another story, bochur is arrested for avoiding the draft. They took him in for 'interrogation', which you realize is some form of torture. The interrogator held up a hammer and asked which finger he should break, holding the hammer above each finger. The interrogator then squeezed the bochur's nose severely. I know this bochur. All of this comes with being denied food, water, bathroom, being woken up in the middle of the night.  Both of these happened this week.  This is the state of Israel, the place that is supposed to be a safe haven for Jews.  

So here's what I'm talking about, here's some copy from a NBN ad: "Mediterranean beaches, the Carmel mountains, career, culture & community.  Can I have it all?  Try Aliyah to Northern Israel!" That's the way they sell aliyah, like you are an orchestra conductor moving to Tuscany. This kind of talk makes me nauseous not just because it isn't Jewish but because you won't get those things moving to Israel. This borders on lying.  Or at least it's quite a stretch. There are mountains; although I wouldn't recommend random hikes because there could be terrorists lurking out there, Heaven forbid. There are terrorist incidents here every week. The phrase Carmel Mountains in conjunction with Mediterranean suggests Tuscany.  There's a whole culture in Tuscany, a culture of ease and laughter and lovely cottages and wine and funny Italians and vineyards. Israel has some mountains, but no cottages and no ease and no laughter and no funny people. It

So do you have fantasies about escaping corporate America by coming to Israel? You can drop the fantasy because it's not only just as bad here, it's in many ways worse. Job security is even worse for the kinds of jobs Anglos take. The secure jobs are taken by the Israelis. For the immigrants, there is no security. People come in and out of the high tech sector like a revolving door. The pressures are immense, the demands unreasonable, and the people just as cut throat as on Wall St. The work hours are as bad and with the commute times, overall way worse. You'll make friends at work, your comrades, your fellow prisoners. There are decent people here. But the bosses are the same bosses. Meet the new boss. It's the same as the old boss. Maybe you had fantasies about Jewish companies and Jewish rachamim. Maybe you have the same fantasies about the government here. Maybe you are picturing First Temple Israel. No, this is second Temple Israel. The Romans are in charge. We jus

So I'll speak about Beit Shemesh. The city bus takes 30-45 minutes to get to the train. And it's a bouncy ride. The train to Tel Aviv is 40 minutes, to Herzlia is 60. I take another but to my destination North of Herzila. My commute is 2 + hours each way. It's brutal. I leave the house at 7:10 AM and return at 8:15 PM, unless there's trouble with the train. If you work near the first stop Hagannah, then your commute could be 1:30 if you have a car. At 20,000 dollars for one with 200,000 miles, it might not be so simple to get one. There is a minyan both ways. The nusach changes with the shliach hatzibur. In the morning, it's crowded, which is a tough way to go with tefillin and tallis and birchas cohanim. Overall  the commute is beat and the minyan is not conducive to much cavanah. I don't know why they don't have a separate minyan in the next car where some guys who can't take the crush sit. I'd push for it but my Hebrew being weak, I have become so

And the answer is, not really. Now on the pilot trip you'll take note of the playground equipment. The city does have some decent playground equipment. But that's it. There's nothing for bigger kids or teenagers. There's no soccer field, basketball court, or bicycle park. Accordingly, the sidewalks tend to be dangerous places as teenagers race their bicycles there. The entrance ways to buildings often have kids smashing soccer balls into the walls. Also, there's no real libraries. In America, one takes libraries for granted. Every town has one, oftentimes very good ones. Here, there's a small municipal library way down in Beit Shemesh. In Ramat Aleph, there's a tiny library run out of somebody's storage closet. It's open for an hour or two a week and certainly you can't go in there and read. The community center had a small library for a while. I'm not sure if they closed it or limited its hours. It's also quite small, with books that som

So here's something important for you to know. NBN is an organization that promotes aliyah, largely through advertising, through providing information on a website, through a small amount of on-line information sessions, through arranging flights, and through helping you with the immigration paperwork. It helps. It's free to the recipient even though it costs the donors, including Israel's Jewish Agency, in general a fortune. The money does not appear to be well spent, but I'll leave that for the donors to examine. That's really it. Once you get to Israel, NBN disappears. They remind me of a car salesman. Before the sale, you think you found a new pal. Once you drive that car out of the lot, you never met him. In America, their ads appear every time you log onto the computer. That all stops once your IP address shows Israel. They organize a tiyul or two in your first year or two. There is some lady who gives some help with job search. But that's it. It's not