I hope that you realize by now that every utterance of aliyah pushers is a manipulation. So one of their tricks is the line that "the first year is hell." That suggests that you ignore all the evidence you are encountering about life in the SSOI and rather than leave you stay on. The suggestion is that magically - and magic is the key word - it will all get better and it will be worth it.
This manipulative line takes other forms. "Don't even mention going back," is a line I heard from another yenta. I ask, "Why not?" You are not obligated to live in the land of Israel. If it is going to destroy your family, you should consider going back. Another line I heard, this time from a school principal, a very arrogant American, is "Only losers can't make it here." These are the kinds of people you encounter when you move to SSOI. They are not idealists. They are idiots.
Here's a different approach to the subject. Your initial experiences are bad because the place is bad, at least for you. If you go to Hollywood and immediately are shocked by the superficiality, materialism, and psychopathology of the culture, then shouldn't you leave? If it's so bad, that it hits you in the face like a baseball right off the bat, then maybe you shouldn't stay. Why would it magically get better? The evidence is smacking you in the face.
Actor Jeff Daniels is from Michigan and he made it big in films but continued to live in Michigan. He says, you come to Hollywood and it's like two fists punching each other. And you realize they aren't going to change. You have to either do this - and he impersonates a vein person flamboyantly running his hand through his hair - or go back to the Midwest. And that's what he did. And he's happy.
Yes in life, there is an idea of beginnings being difficult, of working through challenges. But don't exaggerate. You shouldn't bang your head into a brick wall. It's not going to get any better just because you keep doing it.
Comments
Post a Comment