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. "Nice Try, But Not Torah" Malkah's comment to an AISH article
2. "That's So Israeli" By Jonathan Udren
3. "Yom Yerushalayim" by Rabbi Yehudah Prero
4. "First And Foremost A Jew" by Yossi Beilin

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1. "Nice Try, But Not Torah" Malkah's comment to an AISH article
From AISH

Your article in defense of the Diaspora is a nice try, with a lot of good points, but ultimately you've missed the cruxt of what A.B . Yehoshua was saying.

Your article took a long time to say basically one thing: the Jews can't survive without the Torah. Absolutely, 100% true.

However, I believe that underlying Yehoshua's premise is a deep personal and national understanding that Israel is ALSO fundamental to Jewish existence.

Aside from the "easy out" you get from the ability to disregard Yehoshua as a secular Zionist, you completely ignore the fundamental truth of what he's saying.

Let's look at some texts:

"In all times, a Jew should live in the Land of Israel, even in a city where most of the residents are idol worshippers, rather then outside the land, even in a city where most of the residents are Jews." Talmud, Ketubot 110b (also Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 5:12)

Here's another one:

"Jews who dwell outside the Land of Israel are idol worshippers in purity." Talmud, Avoda Zara 8

And for good measure, let's add even another:

"In the Diaspora, whoever increases its settlement (by establishing a home, business, etc) adds to the destruction of the worship of G-d. But in the Land of Israel this same work is considered a mitzvah since it settles the land." The Chatam Sofer, on the Talmud Sukka 36a and Yoreh Deah p. 136

A.B. Yehoshua may not be a rabbi, but with all of the religious association to Israel, with the constant mention of the Land of Israel throughout the Torah, throughout Morning, Afternoon, and Evening prayers, in the blessings on food, in the obvious obsession with Israel that religious Jews carry with them, he is right to question religious Jews as to how they can fail to apply this aspect of Torah to their lives.

Religious society is deserving of secular condemnation on this point. It takes quite a bit of rationalization, and I dare say, purposeful misunderstanding and misusing of the Torah, to ignore G-d's continual recommendation and even commandment to settle and protect the Land of Israel.

Don't excuse yourselves from the mitzvah of settling the Land of Israel just because other people do. Don't reject the Land of Israel just because secular Jews have accepted it.

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2. "That's So Israeli" By Jonathan Udren
From JTA

EFRAT, West Bank, May 22 (JTA) — When I think back on my pre-aliyah Israeli experiences, there were several that influenced my decision to immigrate. One of those palpable memories was marching around the Old City walls during the Jerusalem Day parade.

Instead of Jordanian snipers perched on the tops of the Old City walls, as was the case before 1967, Israeli soldiers smiling with pride waved down to the thousands below. Israeli flags flooded my vision as the crowd circled the east gates of the Old City dancing and singing together, celebrating a modern-day miracle.

The passion at the parade was contagious; after so long Jerusalem was again in Jewish hands, and I was determined to become a part of that miracle, to be another brick in the wall of the rebuilt city.

Now, after living as an Israeli resident for more than two years, I see that the beauty of the wall is also its greatest challenge. Immigrants from France, the former Soviet Union, the United States, Ethiopia and South America all come together here, each representing a brick in the new walls of Jerusalem. And we all come with our own vision of Jerusalem and the greater State of Israel. But we also come with our own cultures and habits. We come with our favorite foods and our idea of good manners. And many times, those visions stand in stark contrast to one another.

And beyond that, we are standing on the backs of those who have already set the agenda and the social customs. I'm not talking about the philosophical differences between right and left, or the seemingly escalating rift between religious and non-religious Jews. I'm talking about the simple day-to-day happenings that can wear down an immigrant's idealism and positive attitude.

In order to keep from getting overwhelmed, my wife, Dena, and I make a joke called "That's so Israeli." After enduring an hourlong bureaucratic battle between two Ministry of Education clerks over who is going to print up a one-page document for me, instead of getting angry, I just say, "That's so Israeli."

When Dena and I were recently rear-ended in a rental car outside Tel Aviv, the driver got out, and after checking to see if we were OK and seeing that there was no damage, started yelling at me when I asked for his name and insurance information.

"What, is this the first time this has happened to you? This happens all the time. Don't make such a big deal about it," he yelled. "Just get in your car and go."

"That was so Israeli of him," my wife said after we left the scene.

"I know," I answered.

Compared to my American cultural norms, the Israeli personality often seems so unrefined, harsh, inflexible and well, just plain chutzpadik. And the differences only become increasingly pronounced the more I interact with Israeli society.

But there is another aspect of the daily life here. For every obnoxious Israeli experience, I can tell a warm, touching story. The way that the older Iraqi man at the kebab restaurant with the scratchy voice calls me "motek," or sweetheart, warms my heart like I'm seeing family. And once when Dena and I walked into a Tel Aviv hardware store for a quick errand, we ended up staying for an hour while the owner, an older Yemeni woman and her daughter, gave us blessing after blessing for health, a happy marriage and a long life in Israel. Yes there is chutzpah here, but there are so many random acts of warmth and love as well. And feeling like family with so many strangers is one reason that I would make aliyah all over again.

When Jerusalem Day comes, it reminds me of all the good, both the small acts of kindness that I see, and the big feelings of inspiration. It reminds me that I'm living inside a miracle, and that being here connects me to the destiny of the Jewish people in such a tangible way. I am a brick in the wall and I can have my say in the direction that it's going to be built.

When I'm caught up in the minutiae of rude clerks and merging traffic it's hard to see what we are all building. From up close, the wall looks so flawed and grotesque. But when I step back, I see that everyone's piece is coming together toward part of a miraculous greater whole. Yes, the building is a slow and tiring process, and sometimes we lose direction. But there is nothing greater for me than being actively involved in that process.

As I march around the Old City walls this year on Jerusalem Day, and Dena and I march through the Lions Gate in the footsteps of the paratroopers that redeemed the ancient capital, I'm going to try to see the greater wall. I'm going to push aside the daily frustrations and cultural differences for a glance at the great wall that is the modern Jewish state and the city of Jerusalem, and feel blessed that I have the privilege of being annoyed, yet comforted, by its construction.

Jonathan Udren is a freelance journalist and editor from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He made aliyah in 2003.

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3. "Yom Yerushalayim" by Rabbi Yehudah Prero
From Torah.org

Friday is Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, the 39th anniversary of the liberation of Eastern Jerusalem by the Israel Defense Forces.

In the Mussaf prayer recited on the Shalosh Regalim, the Three Pilgrimage Festivals of Pesach, Shavu'os and Sukkos, we find the following expression: "Because of our sins, we were exiled from our land and distanced from our soil...." Why is there a repetition here - "exiled" and "distanced?" One explanation is that the term "exiled" refers to the actual physical expulsion from the land of Israel. However, the term "distanced" refers to something else entirely. One we were exiled and forced to live amongst the nations of the world, we eventually became accustomed to that way of life and in fact became quite comfortable with living in foreign lands. This had the effect of causing ourselves to become distanced from our homeland. This is very true nowadays, and it is therefore important that we do not forget the significance of the land of Israel and Jerusalem.

In Psalms, King David wrote "Halelu Avdei Hashem," "Rejoice servants of G-d." Who was King David referring to? The servants of G-d who King David was addressing his comments to were only those people who lived in the land of Israel. Only in the land of Israel can one reach true perfection in his or her service to the Almighty, rejoicing as a true servant of G-d. Conversely, our Sages tell us by the story of Purim, after the Jews were victorious over their enemies, the Jews were so respected and feared by their enemies that many Gentiles tried to convert to Judaism. Even at this pinnacle of triumph, the Jews were still considered to be "servants of King Achashverosh." Why? It was because the Jews at that time were still in exile and living amongst the nations of the world that they were called servants of Achashversoh. When the Jew lives in the Diaspora, the influence of his non-Jewish neighbors is strongly felt and has great effect on the Jew. In fact, Rabbi Yisroel Salanter said that if the nations of the world knew the effect that hearing the peal of church bells had on a Jew, they would ring them all day long.

In the tractate of Kesubos (100b), our Sages tell us that it is preferable to live in the land of Israel in a city populated mostly by gentiles than to live in the Diaspora and live in a city populated mostly by Jews. Why is this so? Surely one would think that living among his brethren would strengthen a Jew's commitment to the Torah and to performing Mitzvos! However, only in the land of Israel are we truly at home. In the Diaspora, even in a community of Jews, there is always others looking over our shoulders. In the Diaspora, we are always foreigners, strangers in the gentile's land, subject to the strong influences of his immoral ways. However, the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem are ours. It is our home, and it is where we belong. Even if we are surrounded by Gentiles, they are the ones out of place, not we.

The land of Israel is the holiest of all lands, and the city of Jerusalem the holiest of all places in the land of Israel. Only when we are in that environment of holiness, our homeland given to us by G-d, can we truly and fully keep the Torah and fulfill the desire of G-d. In the merit of the Torah we learn, the Mitzvos we keep, and the love and care we express towards our home land and Jerusalem, may we merit to have them returned to us soon, so we may all return home to celebrate the construction of the Third Temple, at the time of the arrival of Moshiach.

May we merit to see the teaching of the Talmud, that "all who mourn the loss of Jerusalem will merit and see it in its happiness," be fulfilled speedily, in our days!

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4. "First And Foremost A Jew" by Yossi Beilin
From Haaretz

The storm in the Jewish world that has been whipped up by A.B. Yehoshua's remarks reminds me very much of the storm generated by comments I made a dozen years ago, to the effect that it is better for the Jewish world to invest money in Jewish continuity and funding visits to Israel than to give aid to the state of Israel, which is one of the world's wealthier countries.

Then, too, the remarks were interpreted as an Israeli desire to disengage, heaven forbid, from Diaspora Jewry, instead of being understood as an almost desperate call to work together to ensure the continued existence of the Jewish people, rather than making do with sending checks to people who can exist perfectly well without them.

This time, too, in response to Yehoshua's comments that only in Israel is it possible to live a full Jewish life, there were those who argued that without the Diaspora, Israel would not be able to exist, as it is Diaspora Jews who guarantee it financial and diplomatic aid. There is no greater nonsense than this.

A state with 13 million Jews is of far more significance to the future of the Jewish people than all the efforts of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) - some of which have indeed helped Israel, but some of which have done it very serious damage - and of more significance than all the aid from the United Jewish Appeal and loans from Israel Bonds combined.

Like Yehoshua, I am a secular person, and like him I believe that the true fulfillment of Zionism is normality - a normal life in the state of Israel, in the framework of which Jews can live like human beings able to fulfill themselves. Unlike Yehoshua, I see myself as first and foremost a Jew, and only afterward as an Israeli, though I must admit that this distinction is only intellectual: It does not have any practical significance in my private life because I have never been required, and I assume by now that I will never be required, to choose between the two.

My Judaism is my extended family, which I love and of which I am proud because I was born into it. I am always glad to meet a distant cousin, happy to listen to Hebrew, Ladino or Yiddish in unexpected places and am moved to tears to hear someone recite "Hear, O Israel" in the furthest corner of the globe, because this is the slogan of my extended family. Religion, tradition, the many Jewish texts - all these are part of our self-definition, and even if they are not the be-all and end-all, dealing with them is important, and deepens Jewish identity.

Israel's great advantage is that the majority of its inhabitants are Jewish, and therefore the danger of assimilation does not exist here. Anyone for whom Jewish continuity is important, as it is for me, must make great efforts to achieve this end in the Diaspora. Among other things, he will find himself in a synagogue belonging to one Jewish movement or another, even if he is not religiously observant at all.

In Israel, you can stay away from religious ritual and still know that your children will remain Jewish, because their environment is a Jewish environment, they speak Hebrew and from kindergarten through university they study subjects connected to Jewish heritage (even if we have criticisms of the quantity and quality of these studies).

But our role, the role of Jewish intellectuals and Jewish leaders worldwide for whom the issue of Jewish continuity is important, cannot be confined to making statements like "come to Israel or you will disappear."

We must reinvent ourselves both with respect to ideas and with respect to organization in order to ensure Jewish continuity in a world that, for all its anti-Semitic phenomena, is prepared to smile at Jews in a way it has never before smiled, and where a Jewish spouse is not a disaster but often even a great blessing.

Immigration to Israel is the most effective solution, but it is practical only for very few in the wealthy countries. When I initiated the birthright project, I did this in the conviction that Israel must be a meeting point for the Jewish people as part of the effort to ensure Jewish continuity. The project's success should convince the Israeli government and Jewish communities worldwide to expand it, so that no Jewish young person who wants to visit Israel will be unable to do so.

Secular Jewry must formulate for itself its own definition of who is a Jew, and it must not grant religious Jewry a monopoly on this definition. It is untenable that a person whose father is Jewish and who wants to be defined as a Jew should be rejected by us and required to undergo religious conversion. It is untenable that spouses who marry Jews and who see themselves as Jews are required to undergo religious conversion, even if they themselves are agnostic, for example.

We must make significant changes in the Jewish world. It is inconceivable that the global Jewish organization should continue to be the Jewish Agency for Israel, that the World Zionist Organization should continue to act as though the Jewish state had not yet been established and that the representative of American Jewry should be the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, many of whose member organizations are nothing more than an empty mailbox.

It is necessary to establish a global Jewish organization in which a real discussion about Jewish continuity will be conducted, and which will advance innovative projects suited to the technological developments of the 21st century and afford an answer to the question of our extended family's existence even in a situation in which it is not persecuted, does not live in a ghetto and is not facing numerus clausus laws.

The initiative that was proposed on this subject by President Moshe Katsav could well be an opening toward the establishment of such an important global framework. Yehoshua's contribution - whether or not we agree with it - has raised the subject of Jewish continuity from its slumber, and for this he deserves thanks.

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. "Dear Gilead" by Malkah Fleisher
2. "Never Again?" By Charles Krauthammer
3. "Olmert To Diaspora Jews: Come Home" by Attila Somfalvi
4. "Daniel Wultz Remembered In J'lem" By Joshua Brannon
5. "Israelis And American Jews: Still Talking Past Each Other" by Abraham Foxman

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1. "Dear Gilead" by Malkah Fleisher

Shalom! I received your e-mail from Yishai, and thought I would reply. You wrote:

"Dear Yishai, I'm really hurting. I have filled my Aliyah papers for my family and I, yet the more I read the news the more sick I become. I DO NOT WANT THE TAXES I PAY TO FEED MY ENEMIES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please give me some words of chizuk!"

Look - none of us want our taxes to feed our enemies. But ultimately, that's not what life in Israel is about!

There are many ways to think about your aliyah:

1. You can think about how your aliyah serves YOU - your children's significantly advanced Jewish/Torah education, raising them with a sense of community and belonging, never being without a minyan, signing your checks with the date on the Hebrew calendar, eating special milk and honey flavored yogurt around Rosh Hashanah time.

2. You can think about how your aliyah serves ISRAEL - increasing the Jewish presence, adding to feelings of Jewish pride/growth/strength, growing children who will grow their children, and their children, and their children... adding to the brain trust and the spiritual power of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.

3. You can think about how your aliyah serves THE MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE - Showing Him that you choose His land, that you buy into His Torah, that you love His people, and that you would rather spend your life fighting and struggling to bring His light into this world than sitting comfortably in America, far away from the birth pains of a growing Israel.

This is not a time for despair. Frankly, we don't have that luxury, and you should not allow yourself to give into those feelings (believe me, I know how much they want to suck you down into their vortex sometimes). When faced with such an evil impulse, you should smash those feelings and renew your determination to keep your eyes on the prize, to fully invest yourself in the biblical events we are undergoing.

Never forget the incredible love that brought you to consider making Aliyah in the first place - that revelation is one of the greatest truths you have ever experienced.

Good luck, and G-d speed. We look forward to seeing you soon.

All the best, Malkah

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2. "Never Again?" By Charles Krauthammer
From Jewish World Review

The creation of the Zionist state was supposed to protect the post-Holocaust Jew forever

When something happens for the first time in 1,871 years, it is worth noting. In the year 70, and again in 135, the Roman Empire brutally put down Jewish revolts in Judea, destroying Jerusalem, killing hundreds of thousands of Jews and sending hundreds of thousands more into slavery and exile. For nearly two millennia, the Jews wandered the world. And now, in 2006, for the first time since then, there are once again more Jews living in Israel — the successor state to Judea — than in any other place on Earth.

Israel's Jewish population has just passed 5.6 million. America's Jewish population was about 5.5 million in 1990, dropped to about 5.2 million 10 years later and is in a precipitous decline that, because of low fertility rates and high levels of assimilation, will cut that number in half by mid-century.

When 6 million European Jews were killed in the Holocaust, only two main centers of Jewish life remained: America and Israel. That binary star system remains today, but a tipping point has just been reached. With every year, as the Jewish population continues to rise in Israel and decline in America (and in the rest of the Diaspora), Israel increasingly becomes, as it was at the time of Jesus, the center of the Jewish world.

An epic restoration, and one of the most improbable. To take just one of the remarkable achievements of the return: Hebrew is the only "dead" language in recorded history to have been brought back to daily use as the living language of a nation. But there is a price and a danger to this transformation. It radically alters the prospects for Jewish survival.

For 2,000 years, Jews found protection in dispersion — protection not for individual communities, which were routinely persecuted and massacred, but protection for the Jewish people as a whole. Decimated here, they could survive there. They could be persecuted in Spain and find refuge in Constantinople. They could be massacred in the Rhineland during the Crusades or in the Ukraine during the Khmelnytsky Insurrection of 1648-49 and yet survive in the rest of Europe.

Hitler put an end to that illusion. He demonstrated that modern anti-Semitism married to modern technology — railroads, disciplined bureaucracies, gas chambers that kill with industrial efficiency — could take a scattered people and "concentrate" them for annihilation.

The establishment of Israel was a Jewish declaration to a world that had allowed the Holocaust to happen — after Hitler had made his intentions perfectly clear — that the Jews would henceforth resort to self-protection and self-reliance. And so they have, building a Jewish army, the first in 2,000 years, that prevailed in three great wars of survival (1948-49, 1967 and 1973).

But in a cruel historical irony, doing so required concentration — putting all the eggs back in one basket, a tiny territory hard by the Mediterranean, eight miles wide at its waist. A tempting target for those who would finish Hitler's work.

His successors now reside in Tehran. The world has paid ample attention to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's declaration that Israel must be destroyed. Less attention has been paid to Iranian leaders' pronouncements on exactly how Israel would be "eliminated by one storm," as Ahmadinejad has promised.

Former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the presumed moderate of this gang, has explained that "the use of a nuclear bomb in Israel will leave nothing on the ground, whereas it will only damage the world of Islam." The logic is impeccable, the intention clear: A nuclear attack would effectively destroy tiny Israel, while any retaliation launched by a dying Israel would have no major effect on an Islamic civilization of a billion people stretching from Mauritania to Indonesia.

As it races to acquire nuclear weapons, Iran makes clear that if there is any trouble, the Jews will be the first to suffer. "We have announced that wherever [in Iran] America does make any mischief, the first place we target will be Israel," said Gen. Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani, a top Revolutionary Guards commander. Hitler was only slightly more direct when he announced seven months before invading Poland that, if there was another war, "the result will be . . . the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe."

Last week Bernard Lewis, America's dean of Islamic studies, who just turned 90 and remembers the 20th century well, confessed that for the first time he feels it is 1938 again. He did not need to add that in 1938, in the face of the gathering storm — a fanatical, aggressive, openly declared enemy of the West, and most determinedly of the Jews — the world did nothing.

When Iran's mullahs acquire their coveted nukes in the next few years, the number of Jews in Israel will just be reaching 6 million. Never again?

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3. "Olmert To Diaspora Jews: Come Home" by Attila Somfalvi
From YNET

PM calls on hundreds of Jewish youngsters visiting country within framework of the Jewish Agency's MASA - Israel Journey project to make aliyah: 'Go back, stay a while, then pack up and come home'

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Monday on hundreds of Jewish youngsters visiting the country within the framework of the Jewish Agency's MASA - Israel Journey project to make aliyah.

During the project's closing ceremony, which was held at the Latrun Amphitheater, the prime minister was received with a round of applause, apart from a few chants of "traitor" and "a Jew does not expel another Jew."

Former Jewish Agency head Sallai Meridor and ministers Gideon Ezra and Zeev Boim were among those on hand for the event.

Olmert's associates mentioned that last year former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was greeted more harshly.

The prime minister was unfazed by the taunts, and resumed his speech once the hecklers were silenced. He praised Sharon for initiating the MASA project and called on the young Jewish people to come live in Israel.

"Go back, stay a while, then pack up and come home," Olmert pleaded.

"There is nothing we need more than to have you in the State of Israel."

Some 7,000 Jews aged 18-30 made aliyah within the framework of MASA. Lior Shilat, a former Sharon aide who is currently involved in running the project, told Ynet that 40 percent of all those who participate in the project eventually immigrate to Israel.

During the project's closing ceremony, which was held at the Latrun Amphitheater, the prime minister was received with a round of applause, apart from a few chants of "traitor" and "a Jew does not expel another Jew."

Former Jewish Agency head Sallai Meridor and ministers Gideon Ezra and Zeev Boim were among those on hand for the event.

Olmert's associates mentioned that last year former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was greeted more harshly.

The prime minister was unfazed by the taunts, and resumed his speech once the hecklers were silenced. He praised Sharon for initiating the MASA project and called on the young Jewish people to come live in Israel.

"Go back, stay a while, then pack up and come home," Olmert pleaded.

"There is nothing we need more than to have you in the State of Israel."

Some 7,000 Jews aged 18-30 made aliyah within the framework of MASA. Lior Shilat, a former Sharon aide who is currently involved in running the project, told Ynet that 40 percent of all those who participate in the project eventually immigrate to Israel.

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4. "Daniel Wultz Remembered In J'lem" By Joshua Brannon
From Jerusalem Post

The collective grief of some 400 mourners filled the Nitzanim Synagogue and spilled into the streets of Jerusalem's tree-lined Baka neighborhood Monday, as family, friends and strangers inspired by Daniel Wultz's courageous 27-day fight for life came to pay last respects to the American teen before his body was flown to his home in Weston, Florida, for burial.

The service was restrained, but murmuring among those assembled expressed satisfaction that IDF troops and elite border policemen had shot dead seven Palestinians Sunday - among them Elias Ashkar, the mastermind of the April 17 felafel stand bombing that claimed the lives of Wultz and 10 others.

Dubbed Israel's most-wanted terrorist, Ashkar assembled the explosives belt used in the attack and is believed to have been behind all the Islamic Jihad suicide attacks during the past year, according to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).

"It will not bring Daniel back, but it will send a definite message to those that seek to kill Jews," said Menahem Kuttner, director of activities of Tzeirei Chabad Terror Victims Projects, who organized Monday's service. "It is not only the IDF's duty to defend, but to prevent and to retaliate after terrorist attacks."

"On one hand it's poetic justice, but it also shows the futility of it all," said a family member. "Daniel's still dead. Nothings changes."

"Our biggest revenge is showing that we are not stopping our lives," said Yuval Wultz, Daniel's cousin.

Those who eulogized Wultz chose to speak of the teenager's strength of character and his inspirational fight for life.

"Daniel was 16 years old, and I need 16 years to tell you about Daniel, because every day was different," said his father Tuly, who suffered wounds to his legs when the bomber blew up meters from where he and Daniel sat for lunch. "You left us, Daniel. You did a heroic, unbelievable fight, the fight of your life. But it was too much. I was honored to be your father, and privileged and lucky to have you for 16 years."

Others described Wultz a a deeply spiritual young man with a passion for basketball and for Israel. "Daniel was a person who radiated kindness and peace and love to anyone he was around," said Eitan Lukin, 16, who studied and played pick-up games with him at the David Posnack Hebrew Day school in Florida, before he made aliya with his family nine months ago. "He loved Israel, and he wanted to live here after he finished high school."

US Ambassador Richard Jones offered condolences to the bereaved family and placed a triangular folded flag on the casket. He also praised Wultz's strength in fighting to survive for 27 days, considering the severity of his wounds.

"Although the bloodthirsty terrorists took Daniel's life, they cannot deprive us of his spirit," he said.

Wultz died of complications associated with infections stemming from his massive injuries on Sunday to become the 11th fatality of the attack.

He will be buried on Tuesday following a memorial service at the Chabad Lubavitch synagogue in Weston.

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5. "Israelis And American Jews: Still Talking Past Each Other" by Abraham Foxman
From Haaretz

What most surprised and disturbed me about A.B. Yehoshua's remarks before the American Jewish Committee were the black and white images he projected. This is particularly unsettling considering the nuanced characters that populate his works of fiction.

Life in Israel and in the Diaspora is not so simple as to put it in terms of: one is good, the other is not, one has value, the other doesn't.

I believe that a Jew can fulfill his or her "greatest potential" as a Jew in Israel. I emphasize the words "greatest" and "potential" to make clear that despite Israel holding out the lure of the fullest Jewish life, it has tremendous challenges in order to reach that potential, while a very satisfying Jewish life is also possible in the Diaspora.

Yehoshua's description of what it means to an Israeli, alone among Jews in the world, to be in the majority, to make decisions on a governmental and societal level that affect ones life, indeed to have the totality of ones Jewishness in one's country, is compelling. His description, however, takes for granted the maintenance of one's Jewish identity simply by being an Israeli citizen.

This is an illusion. Yehoshua's shrugging off problems of assimilation among Israeli Jews is short-sighted. Particularly, if the Middle East someday becomes a more hospitable place to Israel, the question of Jewish identity will perhaps emerge in force.

It is in that sense that Yehoshua's dismissal of Jewish life in the Diaspora, as represented in his words by "texts and spirituality" is so inappropriate. It will not be enough to sustain the Jewish people by virtue of governance and judiciaries, though the existence of these institutions has fundamentally changed the Jewish condition. The unique values of Judaism and Jewish history, as well as the land of Israel, are what have sustained the Jewish people for thousands of years and will continue to do so in the future.

Far better to talk about how Israel and the American Jewish community can work together on their common challenge - maintaining Jewish identity -and what each brings to the table to meet that challenge and to help the other, rather than to revisit old rivalries about who is more important for the future of the Jewish people.

Israelis bring to the table their sense of self-confidence about who they are, that comes from living in their Jewish-dominated society. This sense of pride also benefits American Jews.

On the other hand, American Jews, engaging in much soul-searching over how to prevent assimilation in a society that has few limits, bring concepts and experience to the discussion about maintaining one's identity as a Jew without closing oneself off from the world. This subject may not appear to have relevance for many Israelis, but it does.

If Yehoshua was merely interested in stimulating a new discussion about Israel and the Diaspora, he has succeeded, and good that he has. If he truly believes all that he said, then it shows how much we are still talking past each other.

Abraham H. Foxman is National Director of the Anti-Defamation League and author of "Never Again? The Threat of the New Semitism"

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. "Pesach Sheini" by Malkah Fleisher
2. "The New Book of Exodus" by Jenna Portnoy
3. "Better Than We Thought" by Yair Lapid
4. "Alienated Jews" by Amiram Barkat

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1. "Pesach Sheini" by Malkah Fleisher

If Jewish holidays existed on a map of Jewish recognition, excitement, and participation, Pesach might be Jerusalem, Sukkot might be Beer Sheva, Hanukkah might be Tzfat. Pesach Sheini, however, would probably land somewhere around Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Even amongst the super-pious, Jewishly enthusiastic, Pesach Sheini usually slides by without so much as a thought, and nary a nibble of matzah.

However, the Torah gives us big clues into our relationship with G-d through the provision of this modest, unsung holiday.

In discussing the Passover festival and when to bring it, the Jews hit a snag:
There were, however, certain persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body and therefore could not prepare the Passover offering on that day... and they said: "...Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present G-ds offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?"… And G-d spoke to Moses, saying: "… Any person who is contaminated by death, or is on a distant road, whether among you now or in future generations, shall prepare a Passover offering to G-d. They shall prepare it on the afternoon of the fourteenth day of the second month, and shall eat it with matzahs and bitter herbs...." (Numbers 9:1-12)

Shavuot and Succot are also "inconveniences" for the Jews (G-d forbid!) – everyone has to drop what they're doing to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Why does Pesach get a special redo?

Perhaps it's because Pesach requires extra focus – not only do we remove all of our leavening and conduct a seder, but we make special efforts to reduce our egos into humbler sizes.

Instead of imposing harsher judgement on the Jews a month after this process ("Hey – you guys should be humbler by now? What gives?"), he exercises extra patience with us ("Listen, I know it's tough, and you didn't QUITE make it to the levels of humility and subservience to Me that I was hoping for, so here's another chance").

What do we learn from this characteristic? G-d will bend over backwards to forgive the Jews, both nationally and individually. He's aching to forgive us, looking for any excuse, any loophole to allow us to create merit for ourselves.

In times like these, we should take solace in this idea. In situations in which we feel disempowered to affect the national situation, we should do some inner housecleaning, yet again. In fact, we should do it again, and again, and again. G-d wants us to succeed. Let's start with ourselves, and work outward.

This Pesach Sheini, I will be sitting down to a delicious matzah-based meal, and reapplying myself to the values of Pesach. In turn, I believe G-d will remember His belief in second chances, and His desire to redeem his beloved nation.

Malkah's Matzah Lasagna

Four pieces of machine matzah
1 medium container tomato paste
2 zucchini, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 large onions, chopped and
Thyme, oregano, basil
1 package of Tnuva, unsalted farmer's cheese (comes in clear wrapper)
1 small container of white "Israeli" spreading cheese
1 and a half cups of shredded mozzarella

Fry the garlic, zucchini, and onions until the onions are just golden.
Mix the tomato paste, 3/4 cup of water, thyme, oregano, and basil to taste. Add garlic, zucchi, and onions, and stir.
In a separate bowl, mix the white cheese and farmer's cheese.

In square casserole dish, place a sheet of matzah, spread with layer of cheese mixture, cover with tomato sauce mixture. Repeat until the last piece of matzah lies on top. Cover this last piece with tomato sauce, and sprinkle with the shredded cheese. Bake at 350 until the cheese is golden brown.

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[The following is a small part of a huge article on American Aliyah. Follow the link for the full story- ed.]

2. "The New Book of Exodus" by Jenna Portnoy
From Philadelphia City Paper

Despite the danger, more Philadelphia Jews are making a one-way trip to Israel.

Are you Jewish?" the man asked. He had called to clear me for an interview with the consul general of Israel in Philadelphia. I assumed security might need my driver's license or want to perform a criminal background check. But not this. "Have you ever been to Israel?"

What could these questions possibly have to do with the story?

The next day, I arrived at a nondescript office building in the heart of Center City and someone buzzed me up. The elevator doors opened into a small, bomb-safe chamber with a metal detector, stool and bullet-proof glass window. From beyond the window, a male voice instructed me to empty the contents of my purse, take my shoes off and step through the metal detector.

Within seconds, a door leading to another small, sterile chamber opened revealing a stern-faced woman wearing latex gloves.

A muscle-bound man mumbled something and unfurled a curtain.

The woman passed a wand over my body and thoroughly patted me down. She even made me lift up my shirt. As the woman flattened my hair in search of explosives and examined my stocking feet, she traded a few terse words with the man in Hebrew. I picked up beseder, meaning "good," and let out a breath.

Satisfied I was not there to blow up the consulate, the man gave me back my stuff—minus an ID and cell phone—and led me to a waiting area.

"The consul general will be right with you," he said, finally cracking a smile. "Would you like something to drink?"

I shook my head.

In America, even where high-profile public officials are concerned, media security checks rarely include invasive searches or personal questions. Details about the reporter are irrelevant and should be. But Israel is different. Yes, it's a democracy, but Israelis don't mess around when it comes to security. They can't afford to. Anyone could be a terrorist. Even a reporter.

Israel has, of course, learned this lesson the hard way.

While Israeli civilian deaths from suicide attacks have steadily declined in recent years, a Passover bombing at a food stand in Tel Aviv killed nine and wounded more than 60. The April 17 attack was the first suicide bombing in the Jewish state since the radical Islamic movement, Hamas, took over the Palestinian Authority three weeks earlier, and the most deadly since August 2004. Hamas has called the bombing a "legitimate response to Israeli aggression."

The prolonged Israeli-Palestinian conflict has also been exacerbated by the war in Iraq and tensions with Iran. An Iranian senior commander recently told reporters Israel would be Iran's first target in response to any "evil" acts by the United States.

But despite the dangerous, volatile state of affairs in Israel, thousands of Americans and Canadians, and an increasing number of Philadelphians, willingly move there every year. Many feel it is their responsibility to strengthen the Jewish state, which was founded 58 years ago this month on the concept that Israel would be a home for Jews scattered throughout the world.

The process of immigrating to Israel is called aliyah (ah-lee-yah), which means "ascent" in Hebrew. Those who make aliyah are called olim (ol-eem). Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has shown no sign of emerging from a coma doctors induced after he suffered massive stroke on Jan. 4, has said, "Aliyah is the central goal of the State of Israel."

Founded in 1948 with about 600,000 Jews, Israel's population has swelled to 7 million people. Last year, Israel surpassed the United States as the country with the largest Jewish population. (About 206,000 Jewish people live in the greater Philadelphia area, according to a 1997 Jewish Federation-sponsored study.)

Unlike Jewish refugees who enter Israel to escape persecution or anti-Semitism, North American Jews typically make aliyah for religious, cultural and political reasons. Nearly 3,000 made aliyah in 2005—the biggest number in 23 years and double the number of olim in 2001, according to the Israel Aliyah Center (www.aliyah.org), an organization that helps people join the Jewish state.

This year, 60 Philadelphians are expected to make aliyah. That's three times as many as two years ago.

The majority of olim are Orthodox—a denomination of Judaism characterized by strict interpretation of Jewish law—but the rate of olim who identify with other religious movements, such as Conservatism, is growing.

Israel offers olim a cash payment of $3,300, a free one-way plane ticket, Hebrew lessons called ulpan, tax exceptions and academic scholarships. A family of four or five could be entitled to $15,000 to $30,000 through various programs, according to the IAC, which has stepped up education and marketing campaigns.

Nefesh B'Nefesh (nbn.org.il), an agency whose name means "Jewish souls united," also helps olim navigate Israel's bureaucracy and get jobs. On the condition that they stay in Israel for three years, olim may receive NBN grants averaging $5,000 each.

In addition to these incentives, in the global economy, it is easier than ever to live and work abroad. And after Sept. 11, American Jews who were hesitant to move to Israel because of terrorism suddenly realized no country is completely safe. Still, for most olim these factors do not play a significant part in their desire to make aliyah. The seeds are usually planted with a trip to Israel.

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3. "Better Than We Thought" by Yair Lapid
From YNET

There are many options open to you average Israeli. The fact that most of us choose to live here says a lot about this country

Here's a trivia question: What is the second largest Greek city in the world?

Don't run to the atlas. The second largest Greek city in the world is Melbourne, Australia. Only Athens has a larger Greek population. The reason that so many Greeks migrated to Australia is because they were unhappy in Greece and looked for a different place to call "home."

The second largest Israeli city is Tel Aviv; followed by Haifa, Beer Sheva, Holon, etc. New York would be somewhere on the list, but pretty far down. In the final analysis, the majority of Israelis prefer to live in Israel.

It's not that there are no alternatives. The average Israeli speaks better English than most Greeks. He has more years of schooling, uses the Internet more often and frequently flies abroad (Everybody knows we hold all the worlds' records for international travel.) and has at his disposal – one way or another – a fabulous network of Jewish communities. There is a synagogue in every major city; a Jewish community center, a B'nai Brith chapter or at the very least, Chabad. If they arrive with the children and a container, chances are there'll be someone there to meet them at the airport.

But most of us don't leave and that's not something to sniff at. In the not-so-roaring eighties it seemed that our numbers were shrinking. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin slammed Israelis who left the country as "wusses" and it did not come out of a vacuum.

Ultimate test

In 1987, when I worked in Los Angeles as a reporter, I was sent on assignment to a small street in the San Fernando Valley. Half of the residents of the street were from Kibbutz Beit Alfa. There was a neat row of houses, backyard swimming pool included, a nice home renovations business, three cars in the driveway. It seemed like they were waiting for the rest of the kibbutz to take up residence on the other half of the street. It did not happen.

Twenty years later, you can go to www.beit-alfa.com and reserve a charming cabin at the foot of the Gilboa Mountains, air conditioning and breakfast included. It's supposed to be charming.

As Israel begins its 59th year of independence the country passes the ultimate test of any nation, with flying colors: Israelis love to complain but wouldn't live anywhere else. They make due with the high taxes, the security problems, the widening social gap, and the country's embarrassing body politic. They are even willing to gamble on the country: Close to 75 percent of the apartments in Israel are owned by the people who live in them. This is a higher percentage than in England, Canada, the US, Japan, Germany and Holland. The big question is why? What is this country giving them that does not show up in the statistics?

There are several standard answers: the Holocaust is one, fear of anti-Semitism, a Jewish identity, Friday afternoon reading the newspaper and eating sunflower seeds. Each of these answers is correct but none of them is enough. I have another explanation:

Perceptive economics

The Hebrew translation of the best-selling book "Freakonomics" by Steven Levitt, Stephen Dubner came out this month. It's one of the most perceptive studies of economics I have ever encountered. It talks about – amongst other things - something that was tried here in Israel: A Haifa child-care center was having trouble with parents arriving on time to pick up their children. To combat the phenomenon, management imposed a 10 shekel (two dollars) fine on parents who were late in picking up their kids.

After several months of this policy a clear trend became evident. What do you think happened?

The number of late parents tripled.

How do you explain it? Before the policy was introduced, parents were embarrassed to arrive late to pick up their children. Everyone is familiar with the feeling - you are stuck in traffic, sweating, imagining your child is the last one left behind, crying, feeling abandoned. You are the worst parent in the world.

As soon as there was a tax for lateness, parents did the math. Better to leave in the middle of a meeting where your promotion is being discussed or pay the ten shekels? The answer is clear.

Levitt's example (Dubner just helped with the writing) proves, and not for the first time, that people will do a little more in order to feel they are good people. Other incentives – money, promotion, comfort – are less powerful.

Needing people

In recent years, I have had the opportunity to take part in a number of televised charity drives benefiting various causes – children at risk, education, meals for the needy – but the campaign strategy was always the same: people sitting at home are asked to pick up the phone and make a donation.

Socially, they have no incentive to give: their names aren't mentioned, no one outside of the members of their families knew they were making a contribution. There was no immediate gratification or glory. And despite this, each charity drive raised more money than the organizers anticipated.

This is because people know how to appreciate the fact they are needed. It doesn't always need to be as dramatic as Churchill's "I have nothing to give you but blood, sweat and tears" or Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."

Earning vitality

But we have lived in this country for 58 years. We know it. We love it. We are ready to do almost anything for it.

The prime minister is wasting his time and ours when he promises us that in another four years this will be a wonderful place to live. We have chosen this place. We have chosen 30 days (at least) of IDF reserve duty a year, income tax, religious - secular tensions, the Palestinian threat. We have chosen and we continue to choose every day. This makes us better people because we matter and that allows us to feel that between our birth and our death, something vital and real is happening to us.

There aren't many countries that give their citizens that kind of feeling.

This year, Israel's Independence Day coincided with the forming of a new government. A lot of empty promises were scattered along the way. Empty and unnecessary. If instead of those promises, someone tells us what he wants us to do as a nation, then we will do the best that we can.

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4. "Alienated Jews" by Amiram Barkat
From Haaretz

Members of the American Jewish Committee, who identify with Israel and care about its welfare, were astounded and offended to the depths of their souls this week when they heard author A.B. Yehoshua say he feels no sense of identification with them and their fate. Yehoshua's "I have no brother" speech is doubtless harsh-sounding and infuriating to anyone for whom belonging to the Jewish collective means something. But rather than attack Yehoshua, those "good Jews" should direct complaints at themselves, for having done almost nothing to find out how they are perceived by their brethren in Israel.

Had the American Jewish Committee people displayed an interest in the intellectual discourse that has been taking place in Israel for some time, they would have known that Yehoshua's words express a widespread and accepted way of thinking. They would have learned that prominent intellectuals in Israel view relations with them as a harmful anachronism that undermines the efforts of Israeli society to grant its non-Jewish citizens a sense of belonging. They would have discovered that the philosopher Menachem Brinker, for example, thinks the Arabs of Umm al-Fahm and Lod are part of his nation much more so than the Jews of Manhattan or Chicago - the connection with whom, in his eyes, is a thing of the past. They would perhaps have been surprised to know that journalist Yaron London views foreign workers who wish to settle in Israel more worthy than themselves to be considered members of his people, since those migrants, contrary to them, speak his language and share in his destiny.

Israel fulfills a central role, for good or bad, in the Jewish identity of Jews in the United States. Because of this, many of the Jews there mistakenly think the attitude is mutual and that Israelis, too, are interested in them and anxious for their future. According to the report in Haaretz, the commonplace response to Yehoshua's words was to ask, "Does everyone in Israel think this way?" But while the Jewish establishment in the U.S. constantly checks the strength of American Jews' emotional ties to Israel, the ties going the other way have never been seriously checked.

There seems to be no need for an empirical foundation to answer the AJC people's question. Indifference, ignorance and alienation characterize the attitude of the Jewish public in Israel toward the Jews of the U.S. The indifference is reflected, for example, in the minuscule number of Knesset members who bother to participate in the many forums dealing with Diaspora-Israel relations: Yossi Beilin, Natan Sharansky, Colette Avital and Rabbi Michael Melchior.

The ignorance is shown by the fact that pupils in Israeli schools do not learn anything about the existence of Jews in the world today. The country that had no trouble absorbing billions of dollars from Diaspora Jews does not see fit to devote even a single hour of class time to teach its citizens about the existence of those Jews and the problems troubling them. A lone study program, which was initiated by the AJC, aims to change that situation.

As for the alienation, American Jews need not go as far as Israel to grasp the degree of detachment Israelis feel toward them. It is enough for them to ask themselves why the vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in the U.S. do not participate in the life of the Jewish community, do not attend its institutions and do not contribute a thing to its existence.

Zionism and Orthodox Judaism alike instilled in the Israeli public ignorance of and alienation from the Jews of the Diaspora, in no small part because of anxiety about the wealthy and attractive alternatives to Jewish existence on offer in foreign fields. On the Israeli left, hostility to Diaspora Jews is growing in tandem with the belief in a state of all its citizens and the more the country's Jewishness is perceived as political incorrectness.

Israelis are not solely to blame for this detachment, but also U.S. Jews themselves. The heads of the American Jewish organizations do almost nothing to alter the perceptions common in the Israeli public. Their leaders who come here several times a year return to their country brimming with delight having heard the prime minister, foreign minister and chair of the Jewish Agency pay lip service in speaking about Israel's obligation to the Jewish people and its future.

The Jews in the U.S. who are worried about the future of ties to Israel should ask themselves what is done with the funds they transfer every year to the Jewish Agency and other bodies in Israel. Why does only a tiny percentage of these find its way into programs that deal with studying the Diaspora or conducting a genuine dialog between Israelis and Jews living overseas. The detachment and alienation between the world's two largest concentrations of Jews may be a fact, but certainly not an inexorable fate.

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. "Israel Calls" by Riva Pomerantz
2. "Move-to-Israel Filters" by Amy Eisenstein
3. "A. B. Yehoshua Sparks Uproar In US" By Nathan Guttman
4. "Report: More Jews in Israel Than In Any Other Country" by Seth Freedman

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1. "Israel Calls" by Riva Pomerantz
From AISH.com

This summer, our family will be leaving Cleveland and moving East, and I don't mean the East Coast. We'll be going very East -- right on over to the Middle East. In July, with God's help, we'll be making aliyah to Israel.

At first glance, we are certifiably insane. In Cleveland, we live an almost idyllic life. We are blessed with wonderful schools for our children, where they receive excellent Jewish and secular educations. My husband and I both enjoy good, stable jobs that challenge and enrich us. Real estate is wonderfully inexpensive, and we could easily afford to buy a large house in the warm, supportive neighborhood that we currently live in. We have friends and family who we depend on and delight in. In our four-floor rented house, we have amenities like a dishwasher, instant hot water, and sprawling front and back yards. We own two cars (okay, they're '92 and '88 respectively, but a car's a car!) that get us where we need to go quickly and efficiently. We are involved in a fair bit of Torah study and are committed to living reasonably God-centered, spiritually-enhanced lives.

So why are we leaving our great life in North America and moving to a region battered with terrorism, bloodshed, and civil unrest?

We've been asked this question, accompanied with looks of sheer astonishment, many times since we announced our plans.

I can understand their reaction. Life in Israel is fraught with difficulty and an elevated level of danger. Many of the amenities enjoyed by Americans are difficult to obtain in Israel. Salaries are notoriously low; the shekel seems to fall lower each day, despite the fact that mortgages and rent are paid in US dollars. The educational system is very different from that which Americans are used to, as is the healthcare system, the political infrastructure, and even the tax system.

In Israel, people pay high prices for small apartments with no front lawn to call their own. The Cornflakes taste different and the "diet" cheese weighs in at 12 fat grams per slice. People take buses that make hairpin curves down crowded streets. There is an undercurrent of fear, and school children are trained to be vigilant for suspicious packages.

Believe you me, when the subject of moving to Israel came up, I tremulously voiced the above complaints to my husband. He looked at me for a moment, and then he said something that changed my viewpoint.

"Riva, we have only one life to live. How do we want to live it?"

His statement brought the Telma Cornflakes and the bureaucratic nightmares crashing down at my feet faster than the falling shekel. He was right. It was time for me to look at Israel vs. America from a completely new angle.

If life were about instant hot water and building fancy new homes, then there's no question that I would be jeopardizing my life by moving to Israel. But it's not. Life is about working towards achieving personal potential, and doing God's will. And I firmly believe that God wants me -- and all the Jewish People -- to live in the Land of Israel.

I am not going out on a limb with this thought. The famous French commentator, Rashi, explains that God chose to begin the Torah with an account of Creation in order to give legitimacy to the Jewish People's right to the Land of Israel. The same God who created heavens and earth chose to give Israel to the Jewish nation from time immemorial. This Holy Land is the place God designated as our nation's home.

ISRAEL VS. THE DIASPORA

But it hits me on a more personal level as well.

I am privileged to have lived in Israel for three-and-a-half years, together with my husband. When we moved back to the United States, I recall standing in the airport feeling like an alien from outer space. I could physically feel the difference between the holy, predominantly Jewish land of Israel and the cold, vapid atmosphere of the Diaspora. What was I -- a Jew -- doing out of my natural environment?

When I am in Israel, I feel like a new person. Perhaps it's the gorgeous scenery and historic sites. Maybe it's the connection I feel with nearly everyone I meet -- from grocer to bus driver to customs official; they are all fellow Jews! When I am in Israel, I feel that my soul is elevated, and my "ordinary" day is extraordinary.

What I am experiencing is nothing new. Our Sages tell us that "the air of Israel makes one wise." There is a tangible aura within the Land which affects all its inhabitants.

When I compare and contrast Israel with the Diaspora, I see a vast chasm between both worlds. Somehow, the pull of materialism and trivial pursuits seems greater in the Diaspora than it is in Israel, although the Holy Land definitely features some decidedly unholy elements. Yet there is a certain innocence and beauty inherent in Israel that is both indescribable and undeniable. There is a spiritual pull in Israel -- a feeling that spirituality and holiness is ripe for the picking. This sensation -- although present in various communities across the world -- is largely watered down by the larger American culture. It's as if Israel is tuned in to a spiritual frequency that the rest of the world cannot access.

So we're moving to Israel for its spiritual richness. By consciously making this decision, we feel that we are following in the proverbial footsteps of generations of committed Jews who have followed the call that Abraham embodied when he did God's will and traveled to Israel. Yet unlike countless Jews who risked life and limb, traveling for months on difficult, hazardous journeys, the privilege of moving to Israel has never been easier. Organizations like Nefesh B'Nefesh and AACI voluntarily hand over the gift of Israel on a silver platter to all those who desire it. We are happy to be counted amongst those who desire it.

VOTING WITH OUR FEET

We are taught in Jewish tradition that when a soul returns to its Maker, it is asked three questions, one of which is: Did you wait expectantly for the Redemption? This is a reference to the coming of the Messiah, when the entire world will recognize the reality of God and strive towards spiritual perfection. Our family regards moving to Israel as a form of "voting with our feet." There is a general consensus amongst contemporary Torah leaders that we are living in the End of Days when the ultimate Redemption seems just around the corner.

We dream of being there in the Holy Land when the Third Temple is rebuilt. Our family talks about what life will be like with the Temple in our midst. We are building a different reality, one that is God-centered, hopeful, and precious; a reality that could not exist in the Diaspora. When we first talked to our children about plans to move to Israel, our five-year-old son asked, "Will we be going on an airplane or on an eagle?" (He was referencing the famous verse "I will carry you [after the Messiah comes] on the wings of an eagle.")

We are going to Israel with our eyes wide open. We know about the dangerous security situation. We are concerned about the political instability and pained by the in-fighting between Jews. We know it will take a fair amount of conformity if we are to "fit in" and become part of the culture. Learning Hebrew will at first be difficult. It will be hard to adjust to living without a car. Sending a lift of our personal belongings is an exhausting and expensive undertaking. We are aware of all these challenges, and yet we know that God will help us deal with them. The expression "Nothing good comes easy" comes to mind, and we are experiencing what our sages meant when they said, "The Land of Israel is acquired through hardships."

But what keeps us going is the guaranteed spiritual returns on our investment. Through committing to doing God's will by living in the Land described as "the Eyes of God are upon it," He is sure to help us in our endeavors. We know that living in Israel is a valuable mitzvah -- every four steps a person walks, he receives reward for observing the positive commandment of settling in the Holy Land. Where else in the world does one receive eternal reward for simply walking the streets?

So our family is moving East. We are a family like thousands of others. We have no special circumstances or advantages that make moving to Israel easier or more appropriate than anyone else. We don't have a large financial cushion; we don't have dazzling jobs set up for us. We're really just a regular, down-to-earth family who has decided to alter our future by making a spiritual move.

The same opportunity that we have grabbed is available to every Jew today. We urge you to take it and come with us to our true home, where the streets are abundantly paved with spiritual gold. There will be pitfalls and inconveniences, but that's where the Nike approach kicks in: "Just do it."

Imagine what would happen if Jews from all over the world joined forces together in the holiest place on earth? Imagine how it would change the spiritual landscape of the entire universe!

There's only one way to find out: Follow your heart and come home.

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2. "Move-to-Israel Filters" by Amy Eisenstein
From AISH.com

"But, but, but ... that's a souvenir... from my trip to Japan!"

"Are we going to hang this in our home in Israel?"

"No, I guess not."

I tossed the fabric wall hanging of a Japanese geisha onto the pile of things heading for Goodwill. My husband, Mike, was a little sad, but knew he had made the right decision. Next we sifted through old cassettes, posters, tchachkes, and a bizarre statue of a gorilla that used to grace the mantle back in Mike's bachelor days. They all ended up in the Goodwill pile. You may be wondering why this event was worthy of documentation, and I'd love to tell you.

We don't have any immediate plans to move to Israel.

We dream of moving someday, but we're definitely not at the point where we would even think of starting to pack our things. I look at the photos on the Nefesh b'Nefesh website with tears in my eyes. We talk to friends who have made the move. Mike even met with a builder who is developing a new town next to Ramat Beit Shemesh. But, we're just not ready to take the plunge. Four generations of my family live near us here in Seattle. I love that my kids have their grandparents and great-grandparents in their lives. I've tried to convince them all to move with us, but no one is budging. And thus our dream remains a dream.

Why do we keep dreaming? Because we would like to live in a country where our holidays are the national holidays. In Israel we wouldn't get strange looks from passers-by while walking around the mall ("What's that beanie thing on your head called?"). Mike wouldn't have to explain to his boss about taking time off of work for a holiday, or not answering emails on Shabbat. He occasionally says he feels like he needs a passport when going back and forth between work and home, and it isn't because of the time it takes for him to commute! At business dinners he'll find himself sipping a coke with empty table space in front of him, while his colleagues enjoy their meat and wine ("They have a dish that's vegetarian. You can eat that, right?"). And don't even get me started about the fact that I have to drive 20-30 minutes to get to the nearest kosher butcher! We also like the idea of living our daily life around sites and landmarks that have historical, religious and cultural significance to us. History seems almost palpable in Israel.

Eretz Yisrael is a special place. Most people I know have a story about how a taxi driver/bus driver/stranger on the street did something kind for them, simply because they are a fellow Jew. The US has been wonderful and for the most part hospitable towards the Jews. We've prospered here, but at the end of the day this is not our country.

So, why are we knee deep in junk in our basement, deciding what we'll pack, if we won't be leaving for years? This is my new litmus test. This is how we clean house. This is how we keep the dream fresh and alive. There are a few facets of this test: First, how many of our material possessions are important enough that we would be willing to schlep them to another continent? (This was my argument against the gorilla.)

Second, how many things do we have in our home now that we would not want in our home in the Holy Land? (The Geisha.)

Third, if something doesn't pass through these two move-to-Israel filters, why keep it in Seattle? Why not get rid of it now? Why not make our home in Seattle a place where careful thought is put into what is seen, heard and sat upon? If something is not meeting the standard for our home in the Holy Land, why is it okay to have it in our current home? Away go the piles of old paperbacks, clothes, mismatched wine glasses, junky old stereo equipment, love letters from college boyfriends or girlfriends, and on and on.

This project has also begun to affect what I purchase. For example, we've been married for four years now, and I'm still using a folding TV tray as my nightstand. I had been watching for sales, trying to coordinate with my antique dresser, deciding on color, style, etc. But just this month, it occurred to me; why buy a nightstand, and then have to pay to have it shipped to Israel someday? I'll make-do with my TV tray, and buy myself a nice nightstand when I get to Israel. A little reminder that we are living in the Diaspora is good to have around.

This has been more than a cleaning project for us. By having the bottom line be "Is this coming with us to Israel?" we're reshaping our current priorities and needs. While scrounging around in our Seattle basement, we're redefining what we will surround ourselves with spiritually, culturally and physically when we unpack our boxes in Israel, someday...

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3. "A. B. Yehoshua Sparks Uproar In US" By Nathan Guttman
From Jerusalem Post

Author A.B. Yehoshua stirred controversy at the opening panel of the centennial celebration of the American Jewish Committee after saying that only the State of Israel can ensure the survival of the Jewish people. Yehoshua's passionate presentation took other panelists by surprise and became the talk of the conference, which is taking place in Washington all week long.

"For me, Avraham Yehoshua, there is no alternative... I cannot keep my identity outside Israel. [Being] Israeli is my skin, not my jacket. You are changing jackets... you are changing countries like changing jackets. I have my skin, the territory," the author told the audience, adding that Israeli Jews live a Jewish life in a totality that the American Jews do not know.

Yehoshua's statements echoed through the other sessions with many participants expressing their disagreement with the Israeli author's views. On Wednesday, former head of the Mossad, Efraim Halevy, also speaking to the AJC, distanced himself from Yehoshua's arguments and said that the fact that Israel goes to great effort to help Jewish communities around the world proves that Israel sees importance in the Jewish Diaspora.

Yehoshua himself told The Jerusalem Post that he was surprised by the uproar over his arguments. "It seems to me obvious that our Jewish life in Israel is more total than anywhere outside Israel," he said, adding, "I think this is common sense. If they were goyim they would understand it right away."

An activist in a major Jewish organization who attended the opening panel said Yehoshua's arguments "took us back to the Fifties and Sixties," adding that "we are not used to hearing this kind of approach any more."

The American Jewish Committee's centennial events will culminate Thursday with a gala event honored by US President George W. Bush, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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4. "Report: More Jews in Israel Than In Any Other Country" by Seth Freedman
From Jerusalem Post

For the first time since the first century, there are more Jews in Israel than in any other country, and within 30 years the majority of Jews in the world will be living here, according to one of Israel's top demographers.

Ahead of Independence Day on Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced that the country's population stands at 7.03 million, of which 5.64 million are Jews. This is more than the number of Jews living in the US, until now home to the most Jews.

"If current trends continue, there could be an absolute majority of world Jewry living in Israel within 25 to 30 years," Prof. Sergio DellaPergola of the Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

He attributed the increase in Israel's Jewish population to higher birth rates rather than a population increase due to immigration. The difference between the birth rate and the death rate alone added around 70,000 to the current figure, he estimated. "Israel is the only country in the world with a natural increase in its Jewish population," said DellaPergola.

Immigration, however, was relatively insignificant, he said, adding that this year, after taking emigrants into account, new immigrants swelled the Jewish population of Israel by only "a few thousand".

The Jewish population of the United States, in the meantime, is notoriously difficult to measure, DellaPergola said.

"The last surveys were taken in 2001, and even then the figures are not as accurate as the numbers provided by Israeli statisticians," he said.

A survey taken then found that there were around 5.3 million Jews in America, but DellaPergola expects that number to have declined somewhat over the last five years.

"In 1990, there were an estimated 5.515 million Jews in the US; in 2001 there were only 5.3 million," he said, suggesting that this decline could be extrapolated to estimate a lower 2006 figure.