Aliyah pushers say the darndest things

Aliyah pushers say the darndest things as do children, but children have an excuse. They have immature minds. So do aliyah pushers, but they have no excuse for this.

When I was considering making yeridah to ssoi, I mentioned to a person whose mind was deranged from Zionism that the Israelis I met in New York were abrasive and kind of crazy. So an aliyah pusher always a comeback. You can do that when you fail to think and just spout memorized foolishness. He said, oh the worst people leave Israel.

I heard this said in a different way. The most idealistic people move to Israel. It's an inverse of the same propaganda.

I found the opposite. I have found that many of the people left ssoi because they were sane. They knew that the place was a lunatic asylum so they got the courage to leave. They are some of the best people.

And those who move to ssoi are some of the worst. They aren't logical first of all. If they came with family they are completely irresponsible, living in fantasy. But in addition to that, many are egomaniacs. They don't listen to gadolim. They don't care that the Gemara forbids violating the Three Oaths. You want to say that the state isn't a violation of that? If you believe that the state was founded with military miracles (it wasn't but you think it was in your ignorance) then the land was taken with force. If everyone must be in the military (they don't but you think that) then the land is being held with force. 

What I have found about aliyah pushers, who are the worst kinds of Zionists, is that everything that comes out of their mouths about Israel is a lie. 

Here's some of that:

Lie #1) They say learning Hebrew isn't a problem. You'll pick it up quickly and everyone here speaks Hebrew.

The reality)  If you are over thirty, you won't pick up Hebrew quickly. If you are over 50 you won't pick it up at all. People here don't speak all Hebrew. In the religious areas, it's about 10% that speak a drop. Even in non-religious areas where they watch American TV all day long, many do not speak Hebrew. That includes the average person on the customer service phone line.

Lie #2) The economy is booming. 

The reality) The economy was never booming. For decades it was just terrible and as Thomas Sowell says, 90% of what we have comes from those who came before us. The economy got better in the last decade but the ridiculous military assault on Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen has gutted what little economy ssoi has. Tourism has ground to a halt. Businesses are shutting down everywhere, 10s of 1000s of them. World businesses don't want to deal with ssoi for all kinds of reasons including a fear that the country isn't stable, but also a revulsion for the actions in Gaza. And even if the economy were blooming, that wouldn't help olim (yoridim) who don't speak Hebrew, don't have specialized skills, or don't have connections. You are not used to needed connections to get jobs, but that's largely how it works here. And the joke goes like this. "Hey there's a fire, who do you know in the fire department?"

Lie #3) The most idealistic people move here.

The reality) As I explained the craziest and most arrogant people move here. 

Lie #4) The worst people leave.

The reality) The most sensible people leave.

Lie #5) Health care is just as good but free.

The reality) Health care is subpar with months of waiting for sonograms, MRIs, surgery, evaluations. Large cities don't have hospitals. People die on the side of the road because they couldn't get to a hospital on time.

Lie #6) There's a bookstore on every corner.

The reality) Outside of Charedi communities there are hardly any bookstores anywhere.

Lie #7) You are coming home to family.

The reality) You are coming to the most hostile, angry society on the planet. Each group hates every other group. Just watching proceedings in the Knesset. They tear into each other. If you are religious, you will be hated here. If you are Charedi, you'll be triply hated. I don't know what kind of family you come from, but if had half the hatred that this place us, you didn't have a real family. You came from a psycho ward, which is what ssoi is. So maybe then you'll feel at home,.

Lie #8) Israel is a world leader in technology.

The reality) Other than spying and military products, ssoi is low in technology. Nothing works. Bus buzzers and signs don't work. Websites don't work. Anything of quality comes from somewhere else. Every last machine in the hospital comes from America or Western Europe. 

Lie #9) People are more religious here.

The reality) They are no more religious. Meah She'arim is very good but so is Williamsburg and Tosh. I'd say that there are more very religious people in America. Outside of Meah She'arim and Bene Braik, they are no better. Oftentimes they are worse because the middos are not good, the attitudes are extreme and people are stubborn. Shouting while studying Torah doesn't make you a scholar. It probably means your mind is stuck in a position. Overall, the Charedim are the same as Charedim in America. As for the Dati Leumi, the Modern Orthodox, they are far worse because of the army. But more importantly, your religious observance will likely decline and that of your children certainly will decline. Every oleh family has kids who are suffering. You will have less time for study as you will be working six days a week. Your ahavas Yisroel will collapse after your 100th toxic encounter. You will do less hachnachas orchim in part because outside of the hard core Charedi areas, people don't do very much of that and because you won't have space in your house for guests. Your giva will increase. Your inhumanity will increase. Your judgementality will increase. You will start to steal here and there and maybe everywhere.

Lie #10) The first year is hell but it becomes wonderful of you stay.

The reality) Each year is worse than the prior one and if you stay too long you are stuck. It doesn't get better because the place sucks.

Lie #11) You are safer here.

The reality) Every week people get killed via terrorism. Every week for a year now we lose soldiers. And while we are on the subject of lying, that the Israeli government and people care about every  soldiers life is the biggest lie. They didn't care about them on Oct. 6 when they ignored warnings about the invasion and they haven't care about them sense as they send them into a slaughter with no goal in mind other then revenge and macho, all on the backs of the soldiers.

Lie #12) There is construction everywhere.

The reality) There really isn't that much. You'll find more construction in any American city, although in America and Europe real edifices are being built, not the slapped together garbage that you find in ssoi.

Shall I continue? You want to hear what a lie is this notion of the ingathering of exiles (what to become apikorism?) or the beginning of geula (again for what war and death and pain?)

I'm sorry to tell you Dati Leumi people that you rabbis are fools on this subject. Well, Rabbi Soloveitchik told people not to move to israel, but all those who do, and that's many of them, they are making a terrible mistake, they care more about their ideologies than your life. Modern Orthodox rabbis, even the most learned of them, if they push you to move to israel, they are not Jewish leaders, not manhigei Yisroel, they are guys with jobs at YU. They don't care about you at all. 

Lie #13) The IDF is the most humane army in the world.

The reality) Take a look at the photos from Gaza and all the reports by soldiers of their killing everything in sight. If you don't know by now that the IDF is terribly inhumane, then you are hopeless. You want your son to be a part of this? It is creating mental illness everywhere, as well as suicide. The IDF isn't even humane to its own soldiers and has been sending hundreds to their deaths since Oct. 7, and is responsible for those deaths too as it didn't care to give weapons to the female scouts on the border of Gaza. Tell me, if Hamas is so dangerous that all of Gaza needs to be erased to eliminate Hamas, then why wouldn't you give guns to the young women who were on the border of Gaza?

So why all these lies? Aren't Jews supposed to be truthful? These are egomaniacs, people who just have big egos. And they assume anything associated with them must be wonderful. No need to fact check. They see themselves as the source of truth. There is nothing outside the egomaniac. He is the universe. So if it appears in his head, it must be true. You get it now? That's the kind of person you meet in ssoi.