I know a rabbi who advises all olim to stay two years in Israel because you can’t see if won’t work out in less than two years. This to me is an example of how yeshiva guys turn everything into a formula that is presented as if it's from the Gemara.
What is the basis for this two year rule? If you get to Israel and realize that you have been utterly lied to by aliyah evangelists, then two years isn’t going to change anything. If you have health issues and discover that the Israeli health care system isn’t 10% of what the American system is, then you need to leave now. That’s not going to improve. If you realize that you don’t like the culture, don’t like Israelis, then leave now. Because you are not going to like them in two years. They will still be obnoxious in two years.
Now if your only issue is finding a parnassah or community or learning the language, two years might help. But if you come without money and find out that apartments cost $800,000 a piece and that you are never going to have a decent parnassah or place to live in Israel, then leave now. If you realize that the approach to religion in Israel is extreme, and you are not that kind of person, leave now. You don’t need two years to figure that out, and you are going to try to change over to their way and it won’t work out.
If you see that Ulpan isn’t a magical language acquisition program and that it’s much harder to learn Hebrew than you were led to believe, then leave, because you can’t live in a country where you don’t speak the language.
All the two years thing does is make it harder to leave when you should have left immediately. It’s a con. It gives that impression that the rabbi isn’t a complete flaming Zionist and has some sense that Israel isn’t for everyone, but that only fools you into staying longer, and then you get stuck, and ruined.
What is the basis for this two year rule? If you get to Israel and realize that you have been utterly lied to by aliyah evangelists, then two years isn’t going to change anything. If you have health issues and discover that the Israeli health care system isn’t 10% of what the American system is, then you need to leave now. That’s not going to improve. If you realize that you don’t like the culture, don’t like Israelis, then leave now. Because you are not going to like them in two years. They will still be obnoxious in two years.
Now if your only issue is finding a parnassah or community or learning the language, two years might help. But if you come without money and find out that apartments cost $800,000 a piece and that you are never going to have a decent parnassah or place to live in Israel, then leave now. If you realize that the approach to religion in Israel is extreme, and you are not that kind of person, leave now. You don’t need two years to figure that out, and you are going to try to change over to their way and it won’t work out.
If you see that Ulpan isn’t a magical language acquisition program and that it’s much harder to learn Hebrew than you were led to believe, then leave, because you can’t live in a country where you don’t speak the language.
All the two years thing does is make it harder to leave when you should have left immediately. It’s a con. It gives that impression that the rabbi isn’t a complete flaming Zionist and has some sense that Israel isn’t for everyone, but that only fools you into staying longer, and then you get stuck, and ruined.
In general the frum world doesn't understand the concept of life change. Generally, what they do is tell you to suffer and suffer and suffer and expect some kind of magical change to happen just because you stick it out. This is brutish. Sometimes, the answer is to make a change in your life. Not that changing your place changes your mazel. Not mazel. Changing the place changes your experience. Bashing your head against the world has become the frum way. And that's maybe why there's so much stupidity in the frum world, from all those concussions.
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