They know one thing

This morning my elderly neighbor entered the walkway at the same time as me. "Hello," I said, knowing that she is an English speaker. "Do you live in this building?" she responded. "No, I live in that one," I said. Pointing to a different building she said, "I live in that one. But I have lived in many places." She has told me before that she has been forced out of at least six apartments, like many of the people here in this land of housing shortages about which the government does nothing. Not mentioning her frequent relocating in Israel, she added, "I have lived in Florida and California." I said, "And you grew up Vermont*," something I knew from prior conversations. Here's the rest of the exchange:

"That's a beautiful place," I said.

"It's OK," she said.

I paused, and then said, "You are not obligated to disparage where you come from."

"It's OK, but it's not here," she said referring to Israel.

Since she's an elderly widow, I held back and ended the conversation, but I wanted to say, "Do you like living in a place full of abrasive anti-religious people who put Jewish boys in prison?"

I can only guess her response. I felt as if I were talking to a zombie. Does she really like Israel? Was she told that she likes Israel? Does she actually examine her life here? Is she getting quality healthcare? I doubt it. Does she like living in a tiny apartment all by herself? Is it challenging living in a country whose language she doesn’t speak. I would think so. I can assume that she is not bothered by the millions who violate Shabbos here. I won't unpack it further. I'll just call it a weird encounter, the kind that happens all the time here. These people are so brainwashed. They know one thing: Israel!

I know another guy whose marriage ended here, like so many do. The divorce rate for olim is very high. Couples live on top of one another, unable to pay bills, fighting in part because they are influenced by all the fighting that goes on everywhere in Israel such as the bus, the schools, the stores, the Knesset. He also lost a son - to suicide committed shortly after his ordeal in the military.* But still for him Israel is the place to be, the future for the Jewish people as the exiles are ingathered, the safe haven from antisemitism which allegedly is bursting out all over the world -- all the baseless cliches. I was in Texas recently where I didn't see a hint of antisemitism. People were as friendly as could be, the polar opposite of Israel. 

The Zionism indoctrination is like none other in the world. It takes people out of their lives, out of common sense, all for the cause of moving to an anti-religious society that is perpetually at war through much fault of its own. It's surprising that anybody could be so stupid as to fall for it. I never met an American that just packed up and moved to a foreign country whose language he didn't speak, where he didn't have family or a job, that had a higher cost of living, that was many steps down culturally, socially, medically, and economically, that has a mandatory draft of three years, that is a much more stressful place to live. I know one or two that moved to Mexico, without children, where the cost of living is way lower, where people are accepting and friendly, where the pace of life is way slower, where they are not an ocean away from home. But Israel? It's across the sea. And the Torah tells us that you do not have to cross the sea. Who are we to listen? Instead we listen to Modern Orthodox 'rabbis' who tell us to move to Israel, even as most of them stay in their big houses in America.  I’ll give them credit for not being so stupid as to actually uproot their families and risk everything by moving to Israel. But to brainwash their congregants into it? Shameful. Disgraceful.

*It wasn't actually Vermont, but a different state. I'm trying to keep her non-identifiable. As for the man whose son committed suicide, I know a few like that here, so he's also non-identifiable.