Another off the derech kid, another divorce

Today in the news, I'm on line at the makolet, the tiny little grocery store, standing behind a teenage boy who was not wearing either a yarmulka or tzitzis. This is a religious neighborhood. What's a non-religious Jewish kid doing here? I wonder, is he an oleh? Maybe he's Israeli, not that that makes it any better. Maybe he is from a non-frum family. Then I see that he's with two young boys, both of whom are wearing yarmulkas. An off the derech Israeli perhaps? Then I hear it, the perfect English, and the polite comments to the cashier.  So there we have it. Another off the derech oleh teen. I leave a bit after they do and see that they walk into the building next to mine. My building has four oleh families. Three of them have at least one off the derech teenager. The Israelis in my building do not have off the derech teens. Aliyah is too much, too hard. The kids can't take it. 

Also in the news, I heard today of yet another oleh divorce. The wife threw the man's belongings out of the apartment. With nowhere to go, he's been sleeping in the park in Jerusalem. Would she have acted like such a maniac if she lived in chutz? I doubt it. Israeli society makes you crazy. 

And now I will phone an oleh friend whose oleh wife forced him out of the apartment. He's living in a dump without a kitchen. I will see if he needs a place to eat for Shabbos.

This is the real face of aliyah. Don't believe the clowns who sell you a fantasy.