KUMMUNIQUE

Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!

In this issue you will find:

1. "We Came For The Food" by Anonymous
2. "Essay: Brooklyn's not-one-inch crowd" by Hillel Halkin
3. "The Long Journey Home" Karin Kloosterman

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1. "We Came For The Food" by Anonymous

After all the tragedies of the disengagement and all the horror of Amona some friends are asking me why I uprooted my family with six children K"H and moved to Eretz Yisroel. I have also been reading all the brilliant analytical observations of well meaning people on both sides of the ocean debating the pros and cons of Aliya. Frankly I don't understand the question.

Obviously history is being made every moment and even time does not accurately tell the true impact of events whether they be large or small. To grasp at any event occurring in a microcosm of time and base your entire future on that event is in a word silly. If you want to make the most of a moment at least don't use the worst moment to make the most of. Now more than ever reality is changing at a pace unheard of since the beginning of time. We are clearly at a turning point and that point is clearly in a spin.

Just last month everyone was busy dealing with the powerful reality of Sharon's political future. We forgot that in less time then it takes to get from the Negev to Jerusalem an era can end. Eretz Yisroel is not a creation of any government or political process; it is the inheritance of the Jewish people since the beginning of time. It is also nice to have an Israeli Army but an Israeli army isn't always going to be nice. The Land will survive its government and their policies irrespective of its apparent strengths or weaknesses.

Our future as a people and as a nation is dependent upon Divine mercy and not on the whims of politicians or generals genuflecting to the will of their power base. Our leaders, whether they are the on left or the right or in the center are still all controlled from above. So stop worrying about who will be the next political flavor of the month (and stop using that as excuse) and come for the food. We did and we haven't been disappointed.

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2. "Essay: Brooklyn's Not-One-Inch Crowd" by Hillel Halkin
From Jerusalem Post

I don't really mind so much being called naively left-wing by my right-wing critics. My left-wing friends (and for my many sins, most of my friends are on the Left) all think I'm naively right-wing. It more or less balances out. As far as I'm concerned, it puts me in the center, which is where I'd like to think I've always been.

Still, there is one kind of right-wing critic I can't abide. This is the American Jew who sends me e-mails me from Brooklyn to tell me that I'm a craven appeaser. Not only don't I understand that the best Palestinian is a dead Palestinian, or at least, a Palestinian under a Jewish boot, I'm too naive to realize that the Palestinian from whose neck the boot was removed would jump to his feet and stick a knife into me.

In short, I'm an Arab lover.

Well, I'll admit it. I don't particularly hate Arabs, even if I sometimes find myself wishing that they lived in another part of the world. I'll tell you whom I do hate, though. It's the Jews who want me to go on fighting Arabs forever while they cheer me on from their apartments in Brooklyn.

In general, I've made my peace with American Jews. There was a time when I thought it was one of my missions in life to convince them all, or anyway, all of them who took being Jewish seriously, to settle in Israel. I even wrote a book on the subject, which was so successful that it's now out of print. Now and then I run into someone in this country who tells me he's living here because of it. I smile and say, "Another Jew on my conscience," but to tell the truth, I feel proud of it.

Still, I don't go around preaching aliya to American Jews any more. Either they don't know what you're talking about and wish you'd change the subject because it bores them, which accounts for the great majority of them, or else they do know what you're talking about and wish you'd change the subject because you're making them feel guilty. The first kind aren't worth wasting any time on and the second kind only make you feel guilty for making them feel guilty. Good, caring Jews who know they should be living in Israel but aren't for one of a thousand reasons - why rub it in? When it comes to aliya, American Jews have been a disappointment, but you can't go feeling mad at them forever.

EXCEPT, THAT is, for the right-wing super-Jews. The ones who demand of Israel that it make no concessions - who revile any Israeli who is not prepared to stand tall, stand proud, stand tough… while they sit in Brooklyn.

Talk of craven! What's their excuse?

It would be bad enough if it were just a question of morality - which of course it is. I can violently disagree with a fellow Israeli on matters of public policy while respecting his right to his opinion, because I know that, regardless of who is right and who is wrong, we will both have to bear the consequences of whatever this country does. For a Jew to sit on the sidelines and give strident advice, however, when the consequences of taking it have to be borne entirely by other Jews, is vile. What kind of person urges risks on the members of his family while refusing to run any of them himself?

OF COURSE, this is a criticism that can be made of many left-wing Jews in America no less than of right-wing ones. All American Jews who claim the privilege, as Jews, of telling Israel what to do while disclaiming the responsibility, as Jews, to be living here are in the same position, whether they support Peace Now or the settlers.

There is one big difference, though. The left-wing American Jew, in urging Israel to withdraw from all the territories, is counseling it to take a course of action that would alleviate its demographic problem. While he himself is not willing to immigrate here, or to call upon others Jews to do so, he at least is saying to Israelis: "Take my advice and you will not need immigrants, because by withdrawing to the 1967 borders you will have struck a viable population balance between Jews and Arabs and will be able to do without me."

But the right-wing American Jew is doing the opposite. As a territorial maximalist who opposes any withdrawal from the territories, he is counseling Israel to pursue a path that will make its demographic problem frighteningly acute. If his advice were followed, the only thing that could possibly save us from demographic disaster (although the prospects would not be bright then, either) would be the massive immigration of Jews from the Diaspora - which, given the current distribution of Diaspora Jewry, could only mean a massive immigration from the United States.

And yet our right-wing friend does not want to immigrate to Israel - he likes living in Brooklyn! He wants to be there while telling us here to adopt policies that will put an end to Israel as a Jewish state unless millions of Jews move here - millions of Jews for whom he has not the slightest intention of setting an example.

Imagine a country that is at war. Imagine someone who constantly criticizes the way it is fighting that war. Imagine that he mocks it for not fighting aggressively enough, for not fighting ruthlessly enough, for holding its army back. Imagine that he is constantly griping that the army itself is afraid to take casualties, that it is fighting too defensively, that it should be throwing more soldiers into battle. Imagine that he proclaims that it must never retreat and that anything short of total victory is disgraceful surrender. And now imagine that he is… a draft dodger, hiding from that war under his bed.

That's our American super-Jew. And now you'll have to excuse me. I've just gotten another e-mail.

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3. "The Long Journey Home" Karin Kloosterman
From Jerusalem Post

At one point in the parent/child relationship, things will change. For a growing number of families, a child will become the guardian of aging parents. The situation can be especially difficult if an aging parent lives in a different country and continent.

The Jewish Agency says that as the wave of North Americans who immigrated to Israel in the 1970s becomes older, olim are finding complicated challenges in what to do with the parents they left behind in the US and Canada - especially when the parents are no longer able to take care of themselves.

Such was the case with David Klein (not his real name) originally from Toronto, who made aliya 20 years ago with his wife and three children. After years of trying, Klein managed to get his elderly parents to move to Israel earlier this month, and they are now settled into a retirement community in Kfar Shmaryahu.

"It was the most difficult week of my life," says Klein, who lives in Kfar Saba.

"My parents didn't like the first retirement residence we went to look at because it felt too much like a nursing home. The second one would not accept them because the home didn't think my parents were independent enough. On their seventh day in Israel, we drove out to a retirement home that accommodates people at different levels. They have been there for several days now, have made friends with people who have similar Polish backgrounds, and speak Yiddish with the staff. My parents are eating three nutritious meals a day, and there's a doctor and a physiotherapist on the premises," he says.

Klein's parents are settling into life in Israel.

But when he had gone to Toronto in late December, he found his parents, both in their mid-eighties, in a crisis.

"They were living on their own, but my father's health had taken a turn for the worse," says Klein, who describes his parents as stubbornly independent and feisty Holocaust survivors.

Prior to Klein's visit and for the past several years, his parents had resisted any suggestion of moving to a retirement home or accepting live-in help in Toronto or elsewhere.

This year things were different. His father was suffering from Alzheimer's and if action wasn't taken quickly, Klein knew it would only be a matter of time until his father would be hospitalized, possibly against his will.

"My mother and father were refusing the idea of leaving the sanctuary of their home in Toronto that had sheltered them for five decades after arriving on Canadian soil as refugees - penniless, friendless, stateless and without family."

Earlier in their lives, Klein's parents had dreamt of living in Israel but were denied immigration by the British Mandate.

"One of their treasured possessions is a photograph taken of their Hashomer Hatzair Zionist youth group in the 1930s in Poland, in which they both appear - though they were not yet boyfriend and girlfriend," says Klein.

"Whether they grasped it or not, Israel loomed ahead of them as a safe and secure haven."

After intense negotiations with his parents and their eventual agreement, Klein set out to make arrangements with the Israel Aliya Center in Toronto, a procedure he thought would be swift and easy.

"I was wrong," he says.

Many quick decisions had to be made, and Klein felt that the clerk handling his case was unsympathetic to his special circumstances.

Dina Gidron, the regional director of the Israel Aliya Center for Central and Western Canada, explained that making aliya is a stressful process.

"The trauma of making aliya is really hard," says Gidron, who agrees that Jewish Agency emissaries usually have the best grasp of oft-changing Israeli governmental policies. It is not unusual, she says, that people working for the government will contact emissaries to know the latest updates and rights for new immigrants.

Gidron says that the Klein's case was not something she was used to seeing. "Without family support," she notes. "I would not recommend that seniors move to Israel."

Those who do make aliya are entitled to the same benefits as anyone else. Seniors can receive an absorption basket of about NIS 16,000, a free plane ticket, a waiver of customs' fees and taxes, free Hebrew classes and medical insurance for six months.

Wendy Keter, the Midwest regional director of the Jewish Agency's Israel Aliya Center based in Chicago, has become the North American expert on helping ailing and frail seniors make aliya. She has a wealth of professional experience in helping seniors know about rights and services when they make aliya. A trained social worker originally from Philadelphia, Keter has worked for 30 years in geriatric and service development in Israel. Before working for the Jewish Agency, she worked for municipalities in Israel and later became the director of a home healthcare organization.

In 1999, with the backing of her family, Keter decided to move her Philadelphia-based mother, afflicted with Alzheimer's, to Israel. Keter found an apartment close to her home in Rehovot for her mother, who was able to receive supervised 24-hour home care.

"At that time, my mother fulfilled her lifelong dream without fully knowing it," she says.

Although, some of her mother's savings were used to cover expenses, social security and other government resources helped the shekels stretch.

"Money goes much farther in Israel than it could go in the US," attests Keter, who estimates that the quality care her mother received in Israel cost one-third of what it would in the US.

Keter also thinks that Israelis are kinder to the elderly than Americans may be; she doesn't think her mother would have been given the same treatment had she remained in Philadelphia.

"The people in the local grocery store in Israel set aside a chair for my mother on which to rest while her caretaker shopped for groceries. They would give her cookies and flowers for Shabbat."

A year and a half ago, Keter was sent by the Jewish Agency to work in the US. At that time, her mother returned with her to Chicago but passed away four months ago.

In the past years, Keter has helped dozens of families bring their aging parents to Israel.

"I tell them my story and sit and cry with them," she says, adding that her experience gives people the belief that they can do it, too.

THE FIRST steps a family should take, says Keter, involves speaking with experts and engaging in as much preplanning as possible. After liaising with their local Jewish Agency, people should be in contact with local social services in Israel, their local National Insurance office and a healthcare organization.

The Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel (ESHEL) also can provide a lot of preliminary information.

The National Insurance can provide a nursing grant, a basket of home healthcare services for those who qualify, says Keter. There is a worldwide trend to provide home healthcare services; since 1985, these services have been progressive in Israel.

After initial research, families should look into the services provided by such organizations as Hadassah; the Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO); and the Association for Americans and Canadians Living in Israel (AACI). Housing options depend on individual needs, preferences and circumstances.

"Some people can move to villages to be close to their children," she says, noting that it is worth looking into special services made available through a local municipality before making any big decisions.

"People usually find out about services only in a time of crisis. At that point, one cannot think logically. Even though your parents might not agree, it is important that they hear from their children that they are being thought about. You never know when there is going to be a switch in the parent-child role," says Keter, who believes in encouraging people to stay in their community for as long as one is able.

Newer organizations like Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN) are recognizing the need to cater services toward aging olim. The organization works alongside the Jewish Agency to help North Americans realize the dream of aliya through financial assistance and other benefits.

"NBN recognizes that pre-retirees and retirees have specific aliya needs, and we are interested in helping this population," says Doreet Freedman, director of Pre-Aliya.

She adds, "We have noticed an increase in interest from parents of olim who wish to join their children. There are also older individuals who feel that they are finally able to actualize their Zionist dreams but are wary of the bureaucratic red tape, nervous about the healthcare system, unaware of residency options and concerned about financial/taxation implications."

To accommodate the growing interest in aliya by the senior population, NBN is offering pre-aliya informational seminars for the senior populations in New York and New Jersey on March 5. Hiring a retirement facilitator to mitigate some of the anxiety caused by running between various governmental offices could be a wise move, says Freedman.

Despite the growing number of services catering to the aging olim, over the last month in Israel Klein has found the bureaucracy on the Israeli side to be unfathomable. However, he points out, volunteer facilitators such as Susan from the AACI have made the experience bearable.

"When we arrived at Ben-Gurion airport, worn out after the long flight, the last thing we wanted to do was be whisked away to the aliya processing office to do all kinds of paperwork," says Klein.

"The fact that Susan was there to chat with my parents and answer questions is representative of the best that Israel has to offer. She and her colleagues are what good old Eretz Yisrael is all about - Israel's finest face. Because of people like her, it's all worthwhile."

For more information, contact
The Jewish Agency in Chicago:
1-847-674-8861; wendyk@jazo.org.il
AACI: (02) 566-1181
ext 305; jarbel@aaci.org.il
Nefesh B'Nefesh:
(02) 659-5700; doreet@nbn.co.il

Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!

In this issue you will find:

1. "The 4-in-1 Marriage Contract" by Malkah Fleisher
2. "Jewish Seeds Planted at Cave of the Patriarchs" by Alex Traiman
3. "Spreading a 'Neo'-Zionist Message" by Ruben Brosbe
4. "Arrivals: From the Berkshires to Moshav Aderet" by Rena Sherbill

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1. "The 4-in-1 Marriage Contract" by Malkah Fleisher

For all of you who were indoctrinated into being sad about not taking part in the pagan festival celebrating a late Christian martyr ("Saint" Valentine) which occurred this week, dry your little red and pink, heart-shaped tears – it's your anniversary this weekend!

Ah, love. Though "diamonds are forever" and sending an over-priced greeting card apparently shows that you "care enough to send the very best", nothing says eternity like thunder, lightening, smoke, earthquakes, a hovering mountain, and a voice so powerful that you die. Twice. This week, 3318 years ago, we married G-d. Happy anniversary!

Boy, did G-d set up a fancy chuppah for the Jews! What a party. On top of the day's supernatural entertainment, He provided for us the world's first ketubah, the Torah, which set out our marital arrangement, the quid pro quos for an infinity of marital bliss.

After a little honeymoon in the desert, we made our home together in the Land of Israel, where our husband, G-d, gave us a token to remember that wonderful day by – the Temple. Our commentators say that there were 4 levels of holiness at Mount Sinai which correspond to 4 levels of holiness in the Temple. They say that the Temple was essentially a symbol of the Siniatic experience which was meant to stay with the bride, the Jews, for all time. The four levels were: 1) the bottom of the mountain where the Israelites stood, which corresponds to the gate of the Temple Courtyard, 2) the mountain itself, which corresponds to the interior of the Courtyard, 3) the cloud where Moshe stood, corresponding to the interior of the Temple, and 4) the thickness of the cloud, which corresponds to the Holy of Holies.

Sadly, we were a little unfaithful in the marriage, G-d destroyed our love token, and we separated – the Jews were sent packing, and G-d stayed at home in Israel ("For the L-rd has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation. This is My resting place forever, here will I dwell for I have desired it." – Psalm 132). Despite our long separation, we always missed each other, and just could never find another to fulfill us. Today, many of us wayward Jews are reconsidering the ol' marriage contract, thinking "if doing all this means I get to be near G-d again, I'm ready to commit." With both of us hoping for a loving reunion, let's pack up our bags and head back home. We'll renew our vows and make a new monument to our old love.

Valentine's day? Ha!

Malkah's Mexican Mikdash Meal

2 cups hot cooked rice
1 can spicy beans (or make your own with cooked beans and store-bought harif or red pepper flakes), brought to a boil.
3/4 cup shredded lettuce
1/2 cup diced fresh tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 cup shredded cheese
3 Tablespoons sour cream

Layer 1: place cooked rice on a platter.
Layer 2: pour the beans (with or without the sauce) over the rice
Layer 3: mix the lettuce, tomatoes, and green onions, and layer over the beans
Layer 4: sprinkle the cheese over the veggies, topping with a dollop of sour cream.

May you build a Bayit Ne'eman b'Yisrael!

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2. "Jewish Seeds Planted at Cave of the Patriarchs" by Alex Traiman
From Israel National News

Fifty new immigrants ascended to one of the world's holiest sites Monday, along with IDF soldiers, to plant Tu B'Shvat trees adjacent to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron.

The unique event, organized by Arutz Sheva and Kumah, tied together many spiritual elements, combining one of Judaism's four holy cities with the Jewish New Year for trees. Jewish sages devote great attention both to the city, which Kabbalistically symbolizes 'Earth,' and to the holiday considered the beginning of the Spring season.

Monday's planting was the first of its kind to take place at the holy site since it was reopened to Jews following the 1967 Six Day War. After learning about the clearing of the site just a few meters from the Patriarchs' burial site - above the area known as the Seventh Step - Arutz-7 and Kumah collaborated to organize the planting. The group was joined by members of the Israeli Defense Forces who regularly provide security in the area.

IsraelNationalRadio's Yishai Fleisher, who arranged the trip, explained how the planting came to be:

"It was simply Divine Providence. I was at a wedding in Hevron a couple of weeks ago, and I happened to be chatting with a local resident. I asked him, 'What's going on here on Tu B'Shvat?' He told me that a unique army permit had just been received to plant right outside the Machpelah Cave. I asked him if I could bring a busload of people to take part, and he said, 'Let's do it!'"

Hevron is known as Judaism's first city, home to the Jewish forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the place King David first ascended the throne and established his kingdom. The Jewish holiday Tu B'Shvat celebrates G-d's many creations, particularly the seven species inherent to the Land of Israel: wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranate, olive, and date.

Participants ascended to Hevron and were greeted by Jewish community spokesman David Wilder. Wilder toured with the group through the handful of Jewish enclaves in the holy city.

In Tel Rumeida, participants viewed excavations uncovering remnants from Biblical times. The site was home to the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, and later King David. Additionally, Tel Rumeida features a view of the entire city of Hevron.

The group then proceeded to the tomb of King David's father, Yishai, and his greatgrandmother, Ruth.

The group continued its journey with stops at the historic Beit Hadassah and Avraham Avinu neighborhoods, learning about life in Hevron over the past 3,000-plus years. Wilder enchanted the group with stories of physical determination and mystical magnetism.

The group continued to the holy Cave of the Patriarchs, where are buried the forefathers and mothers Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivka, and Yaakov and Leah. The site is also believed to house the tombs of Adam and Chava, the world's first man and woman.

The monument surrounding the site was built by the Roman King Herod over 2,000 years ago. Herod similarly commissioned the building of Jerusalem's Second Holy Temple and its supporting structure, which includes the Western Wall, where millions of Jews pray each year.

After learning of the history of the site - from its purchase recorded in the Torah, through recent efforts to discover the locations of the actual graves in a series of underground caves - the group toured the mega-monument, which is today a prayer site for both Jews and Muslims.

Following the visit inside the Machpelah Cave, the group exited to plant fruit trees and flowers just a few meters from the building and its courtyard. The group was joined by local infantry and officers of the Israeli Defense Forces, who were able to turn their attention away from their normal duties for a few moments to beautify the holy site they regularly protect.

Fruit trees planted at the site included dates, figs, pomegranates, and dates, some of the seven holy species indigenous to the land of Israel.

Participants then celebrated by eating a festive Tu B'Shvat meal. A Kabbalistic ceremony modeled after the Pesach Seder was performed, exploring the spiritual connection between man, earth, and each of the species.

The festive and historic day culminated in the home of legendary Israeli artist Baruch Nachshon in the neighboring large Jewish community of Kiryat Arba. Nachshon was among the first Jews to live in Hevron following the reclamation of Jewish land in the Six Day War.

The experience was moving for trip organizers and participants alike. For many on the trip, this was their first Tu B'Shvat in Israel, and for others - their first trip to Hevron. Dinah Levitan, who was on the trip with her family, called the trip "an unforgettable experience."

"Those of my children who had never been to Hevron before," she said, "and those who had, shared the same wonder and sense of connection to our history. Planting on the grounds of the Me'arat HaMachpela [Cave of the Patriarchs] was so special. We will forever consider those trees as 'ours.' What an unbelievable way to celebrate our family's first Tu B'Shvat in Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel]!"

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3. "Spreading a 'Neo'-Zionist Message" by Ruben Brosbe
From the Jerusalem Post

According to conventional wisdom, a room of 10 Jews is likely to have at least twice as many opinions. Apply that view to the Internet, and one can hardly fathom the number of differing Jewish opinions to be found. In recent years, the most popular way to express these opinions has been through web logs, commonly known as blogs. By recent estimates, the blogosphere is now home to 150 million writers of every stripe - and counting.

With the ability to reach anyone with an Internet connection, one blog site, Kumah.org has launched a campaign to promote aliyah. Kumah takes its name from the Hebrew word for "arise," and its mission is the complete return of Diaspora Jews to the land of Israel. Yishai Fleisher, one of the founders of Kumah, explains the advantages of using the Internet to promote aliyah. "You can report what people are really living like in Israel," Fleisher says, "[because] more and more people here are young and blog-oriented. You don't just have to read [about Israel] from the mainstream media anymore, you can hear it from people you trust."

To achieve its mission, Kumah launched a flash film over a month ago from a site called aliyahrevolution.com . The animated short spoofs the 1999 film The Matrix, set in a dystopian future in which computers control mankind. In the "Kumatrix," Keanu Reeves' heroic protagonist isn't attempting to break free from the false reality created by the Matrix; he's fighting to escape exile. With the help of Dr. Moseus (a Hasidic version of The Matrix's Morpheus) Neo realizes his place is in Israel. What follows is a surreal dream sequence that includes Neo being led up a ladder by an angel, olim arriving at Ben-Gurion Airport on the backs of giant eagles, and finally a scene of the rebuilt Temple on the Temple Mount, with Neo presiding as Kohen HaGadol (High Priest).

The next day Neo tells his mother and co-workers he's decided to leave for Israel. He must battle skepticism and guilt, but eventually he leaves, bringing his mother along. Fleisher describes the film's climax not as the point when Neo and his mother depart for Israel, but the montage of photos of real olim that appears at the film's end. The idea, Fleisher explains, was to juxtapose the fantasy of The Matrix with actual olim. "These are real people, they're really there, this is the real Israel," he says.

Fleisher and Kumah are determined to change the American relationship with Israel. "American Jewry is taught to support Israel, [but] we're saying 'Don't support Israel. Be a part of Israel,'" Fleisher says.

"Neo-Zionism," Fleisher goes on, "is a direct assault on post-Zionism ," the idea that the original Zionist platform has become obsolete. But some of the images of neo-Zionism in the Kumatrix assail the sensibilities of many who would hardly classify themselves as "post-Zionist."

The Kumatrix has already been viewed more than 50,000 people, and the six-minute film has generated a great deal of hype and debate since it hit the web.

Michael Felknor of the blog Jewlicious responded to the Aliyah Revolution video in an irreverent blog posting typical of the site. His reaction on the phone was ambivalent at best. "I appreciate the spirit," the 20-year-old new Israeli immigrant said. But he added, "As far as actually encouraging North American Jews to make aliyah, it appeals to a narrow type of person."

Felknor expressed further skepticism about the film's usefulness in promoting aliyah, "If they really want to get all Americans to make aliyah, they're not going to do it with Matrix references and the Third Temple."

A more heated debate took place between Kumah and the "Orthodox Anarchist" site run by Dan Sieradski. After viewing the Kumatrix, Sieradski posted an open letter to Kumah on Jewschool, one of several sites he contributes to, leading to a bitter online argument about Kumah, aliyah, and Zionism occasionally involving words like cynicism, overzealous, materialistic and dogmatic.

Despite the right-wing, messianic message of Aliyah Revolution, or perhaps because of it, Kumah's video continues to spread, generating controversy particularly on Jewish blogs and sites.

While opinions differ about how to encourage aliyah, the transfer of the debate to a new domain - the Internet - suggests the continued importance of the topic among young Jews in the cyber age.

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4. "Arrivals: From the Berkshires to Moshav Aderet" by Rena Sherbill
From the Jerusalem Post

Though Josh and Tali Berman spent most of their lives in the United States, it is in Israel that they say they have finally found their home. Their mannerisms and language are more Anglo than Sabra, but they seem more connected to the land they have adopted than the one they were raised in.

"One of the things I love most about Israel is that while driving, you can almost always see someone praying to G-d. Whether it's to Hashem or Allah, people here have a higher G-d consciousness, spiritual consciousness; their eyes are always towards G-d.

"People here seem to know that much of life is out of our hands, it's less about what we make happen and more about what G-d has planned. Either you say Baruch Hashem or Inshalla, but the focus is the same," Tali says.

FAMILY HISTORY
"We're both third-generation Americans; our parents and grandparents were all born in the United States," Tali says.

Josh grew up in Seattle, while Tali grew up in California, Kansas City and Philadelphia. Tali's maternal grandparents made aliya right after the Six Day War. Her grandfather passed away seven years ago, but her grandmother still lives in Jerusalem's Katamon neighborhood.

BEFORE ARRIVING
Tali and Josh met in Israel in 1998, when Tali was living in Jerusalem and Josh was learning in Yeshivat Bat Ayin in Gush Etzion. They married here in December 1998, but six months later moved to the Berkshires.

"The purpose was always to return to Israel, but we spent four years in the States so I could receive certification as a teacher of autistic children," Tali explains.

Tali trained in the SonRise Program, a program that teaches parents the tools to eventually care for and teach their autistic children independently in the comforts of their home (for more information on this visit www.meirautism.org).

Josh was working as a project manager for new buildings for the Option Institute. In 2002, Anava was born.

UPON ARRIVAL
They made aliya with Nefesh B'Nefesh in October 2003.

"We happened to come on a very publicized trip. When we landed Sharon, Netanyahu and Sharansky were all there to greet us. From that day I connected with my first client, who connected me with my second client, which led to my third client. Thank G-d, it just blossomed," Tali says.

They have a lot of appreciation for Nefesh B'Nefesh, saying that "they embody the saying 'give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, he eats forever.'"

LIVING ENVIRONMENT
In order to surround themselves with a more religious environment and to enable Anava to be around other shomer Shabbat friends, they decided to move from Moshav Mata, their first home, to Moshav Aderet at the end of this past summer.

"We're happy in Aderet, but we're looking to buy land and build a house," Tali says. "We're still looking for that ideal place to build our home."

ROUTINE
Josh works for an American Internet company called Tail of the Lion, which sells kitchen cabinets and other furniture over the Internet. His clients all live in America so he works from 7 p.m. till 2 a.m. Israel time.

Tali's schedule is split between traveling to different clients' homes in disparate communities and working on the fundraising and administrative aspects of the business. Thanks to their somewhat flexible schedules, she and Josh split a lot of the child-rearing duties.

CIRCLE
Their Aderet community is a mix of both Israelis and Anglos, though their good friends are mostly Anglos.

LANGUAGE
They both attended ulpan when they first made aliya, though Tali came with a strong command of Hebrew thanks to a day school education and a year at Hebrew University during college.

Josh gets along fairly well, but works only with Americans, which impedes his ability to speak much Hebrew. Tali attributes her work with mostly Israeli clients as having vastly improved her vocabulary and comfort with the language.

They boast that Anava already knows words and songs in Hebrew that they don't.

"One day she'll come home with homework that we won't be able to help her with - it's a whole new world for them," Tali beams.

FAITH
They consider themselves to be shomrei mitzvot, which entails keeping Shabbat and kashrut, but their ideal community would have to be open and diverse in addition to having a shomrei mitzvot population.

IDENTIFICATION
"I still feel like an immigrant but without feeling at all estranged from the general Israeli population," Josh says.

"I definitely feel more Israeli than American," says Tali, "but I would say I feel like an English-speaking Israeli, more immigrant than native."

REGRETS
"We have no regrets, we haven't looked back," Tali says, but adds that "it is very hard to be away from Josh's family. His parents don't get to see their grandkids that often and I see it as something that will only get harder with time."

Tali's two sisters already live in Israel and her older brother and his family are due to join them this summer, along with her parents the following year.

FINANCES
"We've been blessed with flexible schedules and salaries that allow us to be financially independent," Tali says. "We're not putting away savings or anything, but please G-d we will be able to soon."

PLANS
Josh, who holds an MA in Education, hopes to ultimately combine his love of teaching with his love of the environment and teach people about sustainable building and community-supported agriculture. He would love to spark interest here in environmentally-responsible construction and efficient building.

Tali hopes to raise enough money to open up a center for her SonRise Program. Their joint goals are continuing to raise their children here and to find a community that is mindful religiously, environmentally, spiritually and communally conscious.

"We would also like to be able to build a home here that responsibly and efficiently utilizes the resources of this country," Tali says.

Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!

In this issue you will find:

1. "Happy Tu B'Shevat!" by Malkah Fleisher
2. "Aliyah, Post-Amona" by Ezra Halevi
3. "I Just Don't Understand" by Go´el Jasper.

Great explanation of Tu B'Shvat

Great Tu B'Shvat Seder

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1. "Happy Tu B'Shevat!" by Malkah Fleisher

This edition of the Kummunique is dedicated to all you great trees out there, those of you who give us fruit, and those who give us shade, those who adorn our front yard, and those who will sacrifice this week so that words of Torah and love of Israel can be printed for spiritual and inspiring Shabbat reading.

It is customary on Tu B'Shevat to eat the Seven Species, the seven mystical fruits with which G-d adorned Israel, and by which the Jewish people praise her:

"For the L-rd thy G-d brings thee into a good land, a land of water courses, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and [date] honey; a land in which thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it... When thou hast eaten and art replete, then thou shalt bless the L-rd thy G-d for the good land which he has given thee." (Devarim 7-10)

Going to the Land of Israel = delicious, abundant food = thankfulness to G-d. For those of you math types, you will therefore infer that going to the Land of Israel = thankfulness to G-d (sounds like a good reason to move to Israel).

So let's be thankful for the Land of Israel by enjoying the things G-d Himself personally recommends:

Malkah's Ultimate Land of Israel Cake

1/2 cup chopped dried figs
1/2 cup chopped dried dates
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup pomegranate juice (with 2 Tablespoons of honey mixed in)
1 and 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
Grated rind of 1 etrog (or 1 lemon)
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Put all the dried fruits into a container, add the pomegranate juice, and mix. Cover and let stand 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a loaf pan, line with parchment paper and grease it with margarine or butter. Drain the fruits, reserving the jice. Dry the fruits, and toss with 1/4 cup flour. Sift the rest of the flour with the baking powder. Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs, then stir in half of the flour mixture. Add the etrog/lemon rind and 2 T of the juice. Add the remaining flour, the fruit mixture, and the almonds, mix until everything is incorporated. Bake about 50 minutes, cool for 15, and thank G-d for the amazing Land of Israel.

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2. "Aliyah, Post-Amona" by Ezra Halevi
From Kumah

A friend I grew up with in Albany, New York wrote the following in response to what some have been calling a good old-fashioned 'pogrom' in Amona. He wrote it in the talkback section of an IsraelNN.com article posting live pictures as the battle in Amona raged:

"After wasting so much time and energy to try and better a state that I thought was reishit smichat geulatenu [the beginning of the flowering of our redemption -ed.] I now understand that good and evil can not mix, that this State is truly evil (this is hardly the first example, just one of the more shocking). Though I will continue to identify as a member of the Jewish People, I can no longer side with the "Israelis." This is an evil state and an evil society, and I will not volunteer to continue to be a part of it.

"Goodbye Israel. You broke my heart."

I shed a tear after reading it, and realized that although I have been in news-writing mode for the past few years, hesitant to write opinion pieces, I must address this issue.

My first emotion was anger. Anger at the Israelis-by-lack-of-Green-Card presuming to lead this mighty nation to national assimilation who are demoralizing a good member of the tribe along the way. Then came pain - pain that a good man, who laid it all on the line for the Land of Israel is now saying, "We are grasshoppers in their eyes and are but grasshoppers in our own eyes," - just like ten of the twelve spies sent by Moses to scout out the land before our people first left exile for the Promised Land. Pain and frustration that grew as I looked elsewhere and saw emails from others, who have not even finished their Aliyah paperwork but are talking about reconsidering.

Of course all the pain, frustration and anger subsided once I took note of the part of the glass that is full: There is an Aliyah Revolution afoot, like it or not. And the rise of Nefesh b'Nefesh and planeloads of olim-by-choice aren't due to any economic boom or enlightened government here in the Jewish State during these years since the collapse of the Oslo Accords and the launch of the Temple Mount War (merely translating the Arabic 'Al-Aksa Intifada'). This Aliyah does not consist only of activists, nor does it consist largely of settler-types like myself. It contains within it suburbanites , Hassidim, good ol' earthy American Jewish hippies alongside PhD students and hipsters who are just way too cool for the Exile. This Aliyah is not about escaping some outside force (economic hardship, Jew-hatred) - it is about Israel simply being the place for the Jew who wants to do Jewish in 5766.

Everybody is coming and everybody is needed here. But for a moment, I am just going to address my homies, if you will, those Jews who are tuned-in, but are considering dropping out (of the Jewish Project) due to seemingly insurmountable odds. I for one, don't see Ehud Olmert, some consistently-wrong polling agencies and a steep decline in journalistic standards of the English-language Israel News sites plus a couple over-quoted organizations funded by Europe and misguided American Jews to be 'insurmountable.'

I don't know what you saw in Amona, but I am sorry if my coverage of the blood and brutality of the Yassam riot police gave you the wrong impression. What I saw on the beautiful mountain of Amona , where Abraham stood and was shown all of the Land of Israel by the Most High, was a glimpse of the Land of Israel . It was the glimpse that we American Olim, (we American ascenders, literally) saw for a moment, or longer, that initially brought us to consider staying here and making it our home, leaving perfectly excellent lives in the Exile.

I saw dedicated youth, some having dragged the adults in their personal sphere of influence along. And when I say 'youth,' I mean to include post-army grads, and entire families - families who expected Amona to be a festival of democratic carry-me-away-gently protest like back in the days of ' Nam or the Civil Rights Movement. Oh wait - back then people also had to submit to police violence in order to stand up for justice!

You know who those people were? Those parents who took off from work to risk a broken bone? Those kids who are no longer dazzled by the uniform the order-follower who comes to tell them a Jew has no right to the Land of Israel is wearing? Olim. A majority of the protestors were olim or the children of immigrants - and I was not surprised.

Every Diasporah community brought with it some key ingredient from the Exile to modern day Israel - a spark, if you will - that enriches and drives the Jewish Project being played out in the Land of Israel.

We American olim - immigrants-by-choice from the pinnacle of western civilization, bring with us the willingness to stand up for justice, no matter how impractical 'The Man' tells us that justice is - until justice prevails, and injustice crumbles. We bring with us the knowledge that the statement my friend wrote - that "good and evil cannot mix" - is merely an excuse to sit on the sidelines and allow evil to be perpetrated until good just drops from the sky - which would defeat the entire purpose of our creation.

We bring with us from the fleshpots not only liberal arts educations, imbuing us with the wisdom of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Jewish brother Abbie Hoffman, but the cultural Torah of twin-souls and mass Aliyah-enthusiast Rabbis Shlomo Carlebach and Meir Kahane, who taught American Jewry, each in his own way, what Love of Israel was all about.

We came to Israel to build and are not fased by destruction. Those in Amona did not leave there with a sense of defeat, but with the sense that they stood up for justice and were forced to pay a heavy price. Despite that price, these people told every interviewer that spoke to them in the hospital, without blinking, that they are ready to continue to pay on behalf of their dream and the Jewish destiny.

We need more people, though. I am not talking about more people to stand up to face the police horses and clubs, but more people to be here, to play their role in improving and enriching all aspects of Jewish statehood and the rehabilitation of our nation after an extremely long and difficult journey through Exile.

The wounds incurred in Amona will heal. The wounded in the hospital all say they don't regret a thing, vowing to return the next time. Israelis-by-choice are a growing force on every level, fixing our people's great sin of rejecting the Land the first time around by embracing the good and fixing the not-yet-awesome.

I am told Ehud Olmert has two sons who refused to serve in the IDF and a daughter who lives in Paris. Meanwhile, I have a brother moving here in less than two years and recognize at least one person every time Nefesh b'Nefesh brings a planeload of American revolutionaries (they call 'em olim) over.

Meanwhile, Israel is now the largest Jewish population center in the world, and will soon be home to the majority of the Jewish people. It is where the game is being played and the only place where the Jewish Project can be implemented. Moreover, if you believe the Master of the World indeed gave us a blueprint for perfecting the world at Mount Sinai, then you must concede that the holy document makes it quite clear where this society must be built. If you don't buy that, but somehow have the secular Jewish urge to implement some sort of massive world-fixing project - forget Honduras, the cameras of the world are focused on Jerusalem, just waiting for someone to do something right here.

And seriously, between the color-war and the schoolyard skirmishes (ok, even following the occasional 'pogrom' called for by an unelected interim Prime Minister), life in the Promised Land remains rich and beautiful. You meet human gems on the streets each day and in the line at the supermarket. Spring has arrived early and everything is in bloom and all the while more and more Americans are packing their bags to make the move and American accents are heard in places like Afula, Jaffa and Beit She'an. At my home in Sde Boaz, where a house was demolished less than a month ago , trees are taking root in soil that was evidently not meant for a house, and a community has grown stronger. I planted a carob tree yesterday before I went to work in Beit El (Home of the original Stairway to Heaven).

So please, as someone who was hit with a baton by an Israeli policeman in Amona, as someone who saw a house built laboriously by Jewish hands crushed under the bulldozers of the Jewish army, let me assure you that not only are the other 45 homes in Amona still standing , the community of Sde Boaz is still planting and growing and building.

The only way we can lose this struggle, or fail to deliver the goods to our children's generation, is by throwing up our hands and choosing the irrelevance of Jewish exile, replete with its struggles against Holocaust-forgetting and gentile-marrying, over the awesome task of moving the Jewish destiny forward using the puzzle pieces each and every one of us hold, which together constitute Jerusalem rebuilt.

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3. "I Just Don't Understand" by Go´el Jasper
From Israel National News

What? Are you kidding me? How can it be?

How can it be that after all this time, after all this fighting, scratching, clawing - 2,000 years of battling our way back to Eretz Yisrael - how can it be that so many people are doubting the prospects of Aliyah now, "just" because of the horrors we witnessed in Amona last week?

I simply don't understand it.

I mean, check out Arutz Sheva's comments section. It's crazy. Comment after comment talking about wanting to make Aliyah, but now, after Amona and Gush Katif, this place, this state, this land of ours is not what they thought it was.

Give me a break. What do you think this is? This is not your favorite team trading away its best player. It's not a character leaving your favorite sitcom. This is your homeland.

But rather than take you through the rationale for moving here, and explaining that you will then be able to change the system, and that by making Aliyah, you will have a vote and can make of this country whatever you want, etc. etc., I've decided to not waste your valuable time (although all that is true!). I have a different line of thinking regarding this. Wanna' hear it? Yeah? Okay. Here goes:

You're all full of baloney. Because you don't really want to live in the land promised to our forefathers. You want to live here if it's easy. And you don't really believe that we are knee-deep in a very serious process of redemption here, that we are feeling the birth pangs of the arrival of the Mashiach. You'd rather leave that kind of "weird" spiritual thinking to the lunatics who already moved here.

I know what you're thinking because I was one of you. I worked for an Internet start-up in 1999-2000, and I said to family and friends, "If we go public and I make $10 million, then I'm moving to Israel." And you know what? I meant it. And this dot-com had a chance. But I knew it was unlikely to happen. So, I convinced myself to feel good about my Zionism. After all, as long as Wall Street cooperated, I had committed myself to making Aliyah. But I also had an out. And when that dot-com tanked, and I was out of a job (never mind out the $10 million), Aliyah was gone as well.

So, I've been there. I've put forth the "effort" to investigate Aliyah, only to walk away from it as soon as something didn't go the right way. And guess what, far greater men than I have been there, too. Far greater. And they had their reasons, too. You may have heard about it.

You know what they said? They said the existing inhabitants of the land were powerful giants. They said the cities were surrounded by high walls, and that the land devours its inhabitants.

So, here we are, 3,000-plus years later, and we're doing it all over again. But there's a major difference this time around. This time, some of us live here. And we can tell you the truth. So listen up.

The spies were right. People like Ehud Olmert are giants, as are the miserable human beings he sent into Amona last week. And the cities are once again surrounded by high walls, this time for supposed "security". And this place, well, what can I tell you. When you live here, you are gobbled up by the land. Gobbled up by the politics, by the religious polarization, by the culture, by the food. It's an unbelievably intense place.

And when you live in a place that is this intense, that has this kind of meaning, things happen. Big things happen. Some very good, like watching my kids growing up fluent in Hebrew, which will enable them to learn as much Torah as they want with no language barriers; and like how beautiful it is to watch your child's birthday being celebrated in school. And some very bad, like the events of this summer and last week.

Because when you live in a meaningful place, a land with real depth, you don't have to manufacture intensity. There is no Super Bowl Sunday here, where us vs. them is manufactured. No Valentine's Day, where love is manufactured. No Thanksgiving Day, where family relationships are manufactured.

There's just reality. And it's intense. And it's sometimes horrible. And it takes its toll.

But I have to tell you, after 2,000 years, after generation upon generation wishing, dreaming, shouting to HaShem , after so many Jewish deaths because we didn't have a land of our own, we olim will take the land as it is - because it's ours, because we see our kids growing up happy, because we can read the prayers without feeling like hypocrites; but especially because we've heard how this story ends.

Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!

In this issue you will find:

1. "2,000-Year-Old Judean Date Seed Growing Successfully" by Ezra Halevi
2. "Aliyah: Conversations with Liel Liebovitz" from Jewlicious
3. "Hip-Hop Aliya" from Cafe Oleh

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1. "2,000-Year-Old Judean Date Seed Growing Successfully" by Ezra Halevi
From Israel National News

A 2,000 year old date seed planted last Tu B'Shvat has sprouted and is over a foot tall. Being grown at Kibbutz Ketura in the Negev, it is the oldest seed to ever produce a viable young sapling.

The Judean date seed was found, together with a large number of other seeds, during archaeological excavations carried out close to Massada near the southern end of the Dead Sea, the last Jewish stronghold following the Roman destruction of the Holy Temple. The age of the seeds was determined using carbon dating, but has a margin of error of 50 years – placing them either right before or right after the Massada revolt.

The seeds sat in storage for thirty years until Elain Solowey of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies was asked to attempt to cultivate three of them. Solowey spoke with Israel National Radio's Yishai Fleisher and Alex Traiman about reviving the ancient date palm.

Solowey, who raised the plant, has grown over one hundred rare and almost extinct species of plants. Together with Hadassah Hospital's Natural Medicine Center, she seeks to use the plants listed in ancient remedies to seek effective uses for modern medical conditions. The Judean date has been credited with helping fight cancer, malaria and toothaches. Solowey was skeptical about the chances of success at first, but gave it a try. "I treated it in warm water and used growth hormones and an enzymatic fertilizer extracted from seaweed in order to supplement the food normally present in a seed," she said.

As this year's Tu B'Shvat (The 15th of the Jewish month of Shvat, the Jewish new year for trees) approaches, the young tree that sprouted from one of the three seeds now has five leaves (one was removed for scientific testing) and is 14 inches tall. Solowey has named it Metushelah (Methusaleh), after the 969-year-old grandfather of Noah, the oldest human being recorded in the Torah.

Solowey said that although the plant's leaves were pale at first, the young tree now looks "perfectly normal."

The Judean palms once grew throughout the Jordan Valley, from Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) to the Dead Sea. Those from Jericho, at the northern end of the Dead Sea, were of particularly notable quality. Though dates are still grown widely in the Jordan Valley, the trees come mostly from California.

The Judean date palm trees are referred to in Psalm 92 ("The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree…"). The tree was also depicted on the ancient Jewish shekel and now appears on the modern Israeli 10-shekel coin.

It is too early to tell the sex of the tree, but if it is female, it is supposed to bear fruit by 2010, after which it can be propagated to revive the Judean date palm species altogether. "It is a long road to our being able to eat the Judean date once again," Solowey said, "but there is the possibility of restoring the date to the modern world."

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2. "Aliyah: Conversations with Liel Liebovitz"
From Jewlicious

A 9th generation Israeli writing about American Immigration to Israel..from New York. Seemed a little hafuch, or upside-down to me. Nonetheless, Author and Culture Editor for the New York Jewish Week, Liel Lebovitz indulged me in several email rounds of modern talmudic debate about zionism and Judaism which all began with one simple, if lengthy interview, ostensibly about his book.

Titled Aliyah: Three Generations of American-Jewish immigration to Israel, the book asks why would american jews - not just materially successful in this country but perhaps for the first time in the two-thousand-year jewish diaspora truly socially accepted and at home - choose to leave the material comforts, safety and peace of the united states for the uncertainty and violence of israel?

I've pretty much lived this book, yet still find Liel's perspective to be an interesting one. The interview reprinted below transcends the genre, and goes to the heart of the American Jewish experience.

Laya: You're 9th generation Israel, writing a book about Aliya, yet living in New York. Do you find there to be a certain irony, or tension in that?
Do you intend to move back?

Liel: Despite being a ninth generation Israeli, it was my move to New York, I believe, that has given me the critical distance necessary to write the book. Immigration - like poverty, war or illness - is an emotionally charged experience, one that does not lend itself easily to the journalist's probing gaze. Having gone through that experience myself, albeit in the reverse direction to that taken by my subjects, I felt more at ease with, and more capable at, trying to understand them, or, as journalism professors often like putting it, getting inside their heads.
For the near future, at least, I see myself remaining in New York, in my heart there is always a lively and engaged dialogue with Israel. When I return there - and I believe it is a question of when rather than if - I would do so with the advantage of insight that only years in exile can award.

Laya: What, if anything, do you think that American immigrates specifically offer Israel or Israelis?

Liel: On the most basic level, the American olim bring with them a sense of propriety and a penchant for order that is sorely lacking in the Israeli public sphere. The idea, for example, that one must patiently wait in line when a line is formed, or show a modicum of respect for one's elders, these ideas are largely foreign to Israeli culture, where directness often slips into bluntness and from there to temerity. Second of all, the sort of methodical thinking that the American mind so excels at - analytical, strategic, computing - is an asset from which Israel stands to greatly benefit. Israel, ever since its rocky birth, has always been a nation that took pride in its capacity to improvise, a talent that had, many times in the past, saved it from utter demise. There comes a time, however, in a country's mental life, in which the sort of maturity that is associated with planning ahead, making decisions, being prepared is unavoidable. I believe that it was precisely this sort of thinking that American olim brought with them as a dowry, improving in the process everything from Israel's business landscape to its political traditions.

Laya: There is a certain amount of resentment from Israelis that is sometimes felt by American Immigrants, can you explain why or where that comes from?

Liel: Most of Israelis, I believe, are ardent Zionists, but their Zionism is not very different from the patriotism of Frenchmen, Italians or Brits, an inherent sense of pride that stems from the natural affection and dedication one feels toward one's birthplace. For American Jews who make Aliya, however, Zionism is more of a spiritual ideology, a stirring and dominant sensation. Israelis, never ones for naïve expressions of emotion, sometimes regard the unabashedly enthusiastic Zionism professed by the American olim and shudder. To them, such unmitigated ideology, expressed by a non-native - particularly a non-native who was gullible enough to leave the United States, which most Israelis still see as being not very different from Disney's Magic Kingdom - is not admirable but laughable.
The main exception, of course, is American olim who serve in the army, where all distinctions are largely erased and a uniform mentality, supremely Israeli, is instilled.

Laya: How do you define Zionism today, or what defines a Zionist?

Liel: Personally, I still define Zionism simply as the firm belief in the right of a Jewish homeland to exist in Eretz Israel (or parts of Eretz Israel), and the dedication to that homeland as a political entity. Herein, I believe, I differ from many in the religious camp, whose Zionism leads them to crave the land while taking umbrage with the state, particularly when the state does such things as withdraw from territories or negotiate with its former enemies. I believe this is a rupture that is only bound to get deeper.

Laya: While Zionism used to be seen as a movement of the working class, aligned with social justice, left wing politics and the like, it now seems to be aligned with the political right and the religious. When and why did that change take place, and why does it now seem like a contradiction to be a leftist and pro-Israel?

Liel: To paint a brief portrait, the movement can be said to have three major moments in its history. The first is its moment of birth, in the 19th Century, with numerous intertwined helixes - cultural Zionism, religious Zionism, territorial Zionism, political Zionism - coming together to form both a movement and an idea .

The second moment, of course, is the establishment of the state of Israel; with Zionism having achieved its main, if not only, goal, namely, the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Eretz Israel, the movement and the ideology alike began to flounder. What had once been a solid ideological structure was now open to questioning: How, for example, was the Israeli's patriotism, which he might define as Zionism, differs from the Frenchman's? Or how can an American Jew define him or herself as a Zionist, and still decline to fulfill Zionism age-old purpose, the immigration to Zion? And with the idea descending into doubt, the movement, too, became fractioned.

A third, equally important moment came after Israel's victory in the Six Day War, a victory that brought many Biblical sites under Jewish control, Jerusalem first and foremost. Inspired by Rav Kook Jr., a new wave of Zionism, this one religious, erupted, manifesting itself mainly by settling in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This movement, in a sense, was the only one capable of giving a successful and coherent answer to the crisis of Zionism; spiritual yearnings and biblical undertones were always present in even the most secular streams of classic Zionist thought, and the religious Zionists could now claim a concrete goal akin to the one of the movement's original period

As a result of all of the above, the traditional, leftist adherents of Zionism became somewhat detached, while the right-wing, religious Zionists grew more adamant and more numerous. This, I believe, also explains the fact that the majority of olim in the past two decades have been religious, with many moving to settlements. This is also why some find it impossible to reconcile their leftist views with support for Israel; with Zionism no longer broad enough to contain its previous sub-ideologies, socialism first and foremost, many on the left are moved to judge Israel in the harsh, decontextualized prism of its actions, thereby judging its occupation of the West Bank, its continuing military measures against a civilian Palestinian population, and its construction and expansion of settlements in the heart of territories heavily populated by Palestinians in the harshest light.

Laya: How does the current trend of "hipster Judaism" play into this?

Liel: At the outset, I must admit to a certain bias regarding both the term and its adherents. I believe the term to be derogatory, or at least derogatorish, as it assumes that reading mishna and tosafot is Jewish whereas reading "Guilt and Pleasure" is not, or at least not as serious. I believe that just as religious Zionism provided a strong, simple, and coherent explanation at a time of doubt, questioning and paradigm shifts, so did religious Judaism give a strong, unequivocal definition of Jewish culture, a theory, I believe, that helps explain the exponential growth in both the numbers and influence of the fervently Orthodox community. In both cases, however, the religious definition is compelling but narrowly cast; it offers a world entire, but demands the adoption of a few key credos that not every Jew is comfortable with.

Therefore, I am thrilled with any serious effort to try and redefine what does Jewish culture maketh, and agree that listening to a recording by a Jewish artist could move some into conversation, contemplation, and hopefully action, much more effectively than a straightforwardly Jewish text.

In this light, I believe, Israel may very likely emerge as a major attraction for the new set of cultural seekers. I suspect that many in my generation might discover, if properly introduced, a country chockfull of cool people, terrific music, perfect weather, interesting foods and relaxed atmosphere, a country very different from either the ephemeral holy place of the right or the sinister Leviathan of the left. Under such circumstances, I can certainly imagine Aliya becoming bon ton with the so-called hipster set, with young people tuning in to Jewish culture on the Lower East Side and becoming transcontinental Kerouacs, going on the road that ends in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

Laya: Do you need faith, in the greater sense, to live in Israel?

Liel: I believe the answer is yes – faith is necessary. But that depends, of course, on what your definition of "faith" is. For me, the faith you need to immigrate to Israel is not the faith of the observant Jew, but the faith of the absorbing Jew, the Jew ready to absorb the country's illogical and magical and incomprehensible elements and distill them into a personal identity. Let me briefly quote from my book: "A man can give as many reasons as he wishes when asked why he emigrated from America to Israel, but the real answer simply isn't available to the cognitive faculties. It must be felt. It is sensed when one walks down the streets of Jerusalem, realizing that one's ancestors walked those same streets centuries ago. It is present when one experiences the depth of spirituality in Israel, the sort of spirituality that relies less on texts and ceremonies and prayers, and more on the air and the hills and the sea." Aliya, then, is an act of faith, but, at its core, it is faith of a different sort.

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3. "Hip-Hop Aliya" from Cafe Oleh
From Jerusalem Post

One of the first jobs that Shai Haddad landed when he came to Israel in 2001 was that of a shoe salesman at Aldo's. He left a well-paying, three-piece-suit job as a project manager for an insurance/investment company in Montreal to fulfill his dream of living in Israel. But he didn't care. He was willing to do whatever it took to live in Israel, even at the height of the intifada.

Now he's a well-known figure on the Israeli hip-hop scene, and his commercial hit "Kabel" is played regularly on Israeli airwaves and in dance clubs. He never thought that he'd make a living doing what he loves: hip-hop.

"I did whatever it took to pay the rent," says Haddad. "I started from scratch."

Well, not completely. He had already tried his hand at aliya in 1997. During that time he met the then-unknown rapper Kobi "Subliminal" Shimoni, today the prince of Israeli hip-hop. They met at a record shop, recognized their mutual love of hip-hop and became fast friends. In fact, it was Haddad who gave Shimoni his rapper name "Subliminal."

But Haddad knew that to really make it in Israel he'd have to save some money and put his undergraduate education behind him. He completed his degree in business in Montreal, worked and then decided - after a Taglit-birthright trip in 2001 - that it was time to give it all up to make aliya.

While struggling in a string of dead-end jobs in Israel, Haddad perfected his Hebrew rhyming skills and got gigs on local stations Radio Tel Aviv and Radio BU as a hip-hop DJ. He then started DJing in clubs, but a heart problem prevented him from performing on stage. About a year after Haddad arrived in Israel, Subliminal became a hip-hop phenomenon, and Shi360 became part of the elite local hip-hop clique.

Haddad's rapper name, Shi360, epitomizes the essential themes in Haddad's life and music "360" signifies the full circle he completed in leaving Israel with his family at age five and returning on his own to Israel at age 29. SHI is the acronym for Supreme Hebrew Intellect: "Hebrew" as an expression of Jewish pride and "Supreme Intellect" as a reference to smart lyrics.

"When you're battling lyrically, you have to be sharp, you have to battle your opponent," he says.

Subliminal's label, TACT, signed Haddad in 2004, and his album Chai has enjoyed relative success in hip-hop circles. The album is very revealing of Haddad's struggles and opinions.

"I'm very candid about my life, myself. I have a song where I'm very vulnerable and I talk about my experience and things I have to go through."

His lyrics are sprinkled with quotes from the Psalms, references to Judaism and unabashed mentions of God. Haddad considers himself more of a "conscious" rapper than a Zionist rapper.

The music industry in Israel, as most of the arts, is generally associated with the Left, post-Zionist camp, so it's rare to find an artist who is so proudly in tune with his Jewish identity.

"It's sad when people say Zionism is racism - especially coming from Israelis or Jews," he says. "When people asked me if I was Left or Right, I couldn't understand why it's so categorized. I don't consider myself left-wing or right-wing. I just really love Israel and don't think there's any shame in being proud of your country."

For example, when Subliminal's album came out at the height of the intifada with messages of love for his country, some reviewers called him a fascist. "It's cool to tell the army you're a psychopath [to get out of army service - a reference to rocker Aviv Geffen] and to go to India and do drugs, but it's not cool to go out against drugs and say you love Israel."

But even now that his dream is coming true, he has not forgotten his Jewish roots. His connection to his roots has contributed to the honesty of his music. He makes it a point to sing about real issues - the pitfalls and triumphs of the Jewish state such as child abuse, addiction to remote controls and government bureaucracy.

Since being signed, Haddad started his own label called EMeT - the Hebrew word for "truth" and an acronym for "art, music, and culture."

"Too many rappers in Israel try to be like Jay-Z or 50 cent. I'm trying to bring more real hip-hop to the Israel scene, to stay as truthful and honest as we can behind the mike."

And he's not about to let his marketing and business background go to waste, either. He intends to go for his MBA in a few years, once his career is more stable. Like his friend Subliminal, who recently opened a mega bar in Tel Aviv and is coming out with a new alcoholic beverage, Haddad is looking into more entrepreneurial ventures. He wants to create a local hip-hop clothing line called For Real, inspired by "truth, realness - IsReal."

For even with his moderate success on the hip-hop scene, record sales can never make ends meet, and he's still making less than he did at his executive job in Montreal.

While he's aware that making aliya is not easy, he remains committed to this country and thinks more people should be doing it.
"The more we'll be here, the stronger we'll get. I'm all for aliya - if you're ready for it; but it's not for everyone."