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. "Stop Whining and Start Eating' by Malkah Fleisher
2. "Got The Fire, Now Light The Menorah" by Yishai Fleisher
3. "Unrest Spurs Venezuelan Jews' Interest In Aliya" by Ruth Eglash
4. "Israel And The Diaspora: A Post-Yehoshua Response" by Steven Bayme
5. "Dating Strategies Survival Tips for the Single Oleh"

*Dedicated to the Refua Shlema of Leah bat Faiga
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1. "Stop Whining and Start Eating' by Malkah Fleisher

In this week's Torah portion, the Children of Israel hit one of their all-time whiniest moments. Just one parsha after a series of beautiful nation-wide offerings through the princes of the 12 tribes, the Jews descend into epic crabbiness and faithlessness. Chaos insues - Moshe begs Hashem to free him from the hell of dealing with over a million abused slaves, Hashem starts burning down the camp - it doesn't look like good times will be coming around any time soon (sneak peak: they eventually do).

One of the most shameful moments in the collective tantrum occurs in response to Hashem's miraculous manna. Despite the fact that the Hebrews don't have to work for food, they're not starving, and that G-d personally selected their food source, they start to complain "Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish that we would eat in Egypt free of charge; the cucumbers, and the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our life is parched, there is nothing; we have nothing before our eyes but the manna!" (Bamidbar 11:5-6)

Flash forward 2500 years, to a little Passover seder at the home of Yishai and Malkah Fleisher in the holy city of Beit El. Seated together with friends and their children, we reminisce on our liberation from Egypt and our miraculous return to the Land of Israel. With words of Torah and personal anecdotes, our seder this year exemplified the commandment to personalize the coming out of Egypt, the belief and understanding that this event happened to us personally.

Now that I live in the Land of Israel, I can see first hand how truly faithless and embarassing our outburst in the desert really was. With all of our wild fear and frantic impulse to return to Egypt, we were so short-sighted, almost shutting ourselves off from the blessings which were flowing down to us. What's worse, some of us continue this unseemly behavior today. On the national journey to the Land of Israel which the ENTIRE Jewish people is taking part in today (whether they know it or not), there are those who dig their claws into their Egypt, almost irrationally denying any goodness or survivability in Israel, refusing to make themselves a part of something which they adamantly attest is certain death, or at least, certain misery.

At our Passover seder this year, as a testimony to the joy and bounty of the Land of Israel, as a form of thanksgiving to the Master of the Universe, who has taken so much care to sweeten our lives with variety and quality of so many things here, we made a meal based around certain foods: meat, fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. For all those Jews who were so convinced that G-d was abandoning them in the wilderness, leading them to a terrible, baren life in the Land of Israel - eat your heart out.

Here is one recipe from our seder:

Brisket in Wine Sauce, with Leeks, Onions, and Garlic.

1 hunk of meat (you can use something really fancy, or the cheapest piece you can find), at least one kilo.
2 bottles of dry red wine (you can use something really fancy, or the cheapest bottles you can find, but make it Israeli!)
2 leeks, sliced (discard the fibery green parts)
2 large onions, sliced or chopped
10 cloves of garlic, sliced or chopped
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil (from olives grown in the Land of Israel!)
salt to taste

Sweat the onions and half the garlic in the bottom of a large stock pot. Add the meat, and lightly brown on all sides, stirring occasionally. Pour in one bottle of wine, and half the leeks. Cook open until the liquid reduces, turning the meat every 15 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, and cook until the liquid is reduced and the meat is dark brown on all sides. Slice carefully and serve hot after the fish, with a slice of melon, a cucumber salad, and a smile.

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2. "Got The Fire, Now Light The Menorah" by Yishai Fleisher

"Hashem spoke to Moses saying: "Speak to Aaron and say to him: BeHaalotcha, When you raise the lamp, toward the face of the Menorah shall the seven lamps cast light."

However, if you look at most translations the word BeHaalotcha "when you raise", is usually translated as "when you kindle".

Why?

Rashi offers one explanation:

Rashi to Numbers 8;2: "BEHAALOTCHA - WHEN YOU KINDLE - Because the flame rises, Scripture writes of their kindling using the term "Aliyah" [Behaalotcha] an expression of "rising"; for one must kindle until the flame rises by itself."

Indeed the connection between Aliyah and candle lighting is deep and meaningful. Each Jewish person is a candle unto himself, but in the Galut that candle is dim and the light is dispersed. When a Jew decides to bring his light up, to make Aliyah, that candle joins up with the fire of the entire Jewish people to make a great conflagration. As the verse tells us: "The house of Jacob will be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame."

The Menorah is the symbol of the Jewish people's status as "A light unto the nations." The light of the Menorah represents the light of G-d that shines unto this world through the Jewish people. To make Aliyah, to go up, to make the mundane holy, is the great mission of this generation.

While we are surely responsible for our own physical and spiritual Aliyah, our job is also to inspire and facilitate the Aliyah of others - to ignite the flame of Aliyah passion in the hearts of our brothers and sisters. Encouragement, tips, and actual aid are all part of the package. However, the easiest and most important thing we can do is to speak well of Eretz Yisrael and to count its blessings. "For my brethren and friends, I will say, Peace be within thee. For the sake of the house of Hashem our God I will seek your good." (Psalms 122) By speaking good of Israel, we will turn on our fellow Jews to the wondrous gift of Israel, and undo the damage done by the Sin of the Spies who spoke ill of the Good Land.

In this week's Parsha we also find the only mention of the word "KUMAH" in the Five Books of Moses:

"And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Kumah, Rise up, O Hashem, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee."

Some people say that this passage and the one after it, which are separated from the rest of the Torah with upside down Nuns at the beginning and end of the paragraph, constitute a separate book of Moses, dividing the book of Numbers into three and bringing the sum total of the Books of Moses to seven. Why would this paragraph be its own book? Because these two verses are actually an uncompleted book, a book that is being constantly written, the book of the wanderings of the Jewish people. This week Steven Bayme, the noted Jewish historian wrote: "For the first time since the destruction of the First Jewish Commonwealth in 586 B.C.E., there will be more Jews living in the Jewish homeland than in the Diaspora." Well said! Our long exile is coming to an end, and our job is to speed that process along, and thereby bring an Aliyah to this world.

One illness that is prevalent in Israel today is post-Zionism, the feeling that "we are here, so now what?" So many people refuse to see is the reality of the Prophetic Return. However, when the Jewish people will all return, there will be no more room for post-Zionism, rather we will enter the era of post-Cynism. There will come a time when the people will understand that the prophecies are actually coming true and that Judaism is not just an ancient religion. Whenever a Nefesh plane, full of Olim, lands in Israel, it inspires people, it makes them believers, if even for a moment.

The Torah has a built-in guard against post-Zionism and cynicism and - you guessed it - it's called Aliyah! Even when the Jewish people all live in the Land we will always keep making Aliyah - we will always continue to go up!!! Three times a year, we will go en-mass on Aliyah to Yerushalayim. There, we will see all the Jewish people together in celebration, and we will witness the light of the Menorah shining bright. Shabbat Kumah Shalom!

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3. "Unrest Spurs Venezuelan Jews' Interest In Aliya" by Ruth Eglash
From the Jerusalem Post

A delegation of Jewish community leaders from Venezuela arrived here this week as part of a mission intended to explore options for Venezuelan Jews who want to leave the troubled South American country and move to Israel.

The members of the mission, including the 16 community leaders and their partners, met Wednesday with President Moshe Katsav in Jerusalem. They discussed issues ranging from Israeli politics to economic concerns. The visitors also told Katsav of the growing unrest in Venezuela and their fears for the future of the 15,000 Jews living there.

The trip was supposed to have been conducted under a low profile following growing friction between Venezuela and the US, as well as an alleged anti-Semitic statement made by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in December.

"The situation in Venezuela is very difficult," said Edwin Villamicar, 24, who moved to Israel in January. "It is a very violent country with many murders, and we have to work very hard to make a little bit of money."

Villamicar said that back home he did not feel connected to the Jewish community and that in Israel it was easier to connect with his Jewish roots and meet other young Jews.

Nathalie Mizrachi, 26, made aliya four years ago, leaving all her close relatives in Venezuela.
"They did not want to leave their lives and their jobs over there," she told The Jerusalem Post. "If something happens and Chavez says they might not be able to leave, then they will get out quickly."
"Venezuelan Jews are not really interested in coming to Israel," she said. "Most of them prefer to go to America, I think it is good that they are now encouraging Jews to come here."

"The situation over there is not good, but not specifically for the Jews, but in general," said Mizrachi. "There are no jobs and it is hard to make a living. Jews are now looking for other options."

"There is not a great feeling of anti-Semitism," she said. "There have been a few anti-Semitic remarks but nothing over the top."

Earlier this week, there were media reports that Chavez was planning to sell his country's fleet of 21 US-made F-16 fighter jets to another country, perhaps Iran. The reports were denied Tuesday by Venezuelan Defense Minister Orlando Maniglia. Previously, the US announced a ban on arms sales to Venezuela.

The visiting group, led by Freddie Pressner, president of the Confederation of Jewish Associations of Venezuela, visited a Tel Aviv University program for Spanish-speaking students on Wednesday, and on Thursday they will tour Kfar Saba, which has been designated by the Jewish Agency to absorb the growing number of Jews immigrating from Venezuela.

"The city of Kfar Saba is happy to be affiliated with the Venezuelan Jewish community," said Kfar Saba Mayor Yehuda Ben-Hamo, who is scheduled to visit Caracas next week. "I see this initiative as an important Zionist endeavor of which Kfar Saba is very proud." Ben-Hamo said that 25 families have settled in the city in recent months and that more Venezuelan immigrants are scheduled to make Kfar Saba their home this year.

The city offers new Venezuelan immigrants housing assistance, a program where families "adopt" older immigrants, extra assistance for children in the school system, information on work options and a network of immigrant organizations to help ease the transition into Israeli society.

Jewish Agency officials estimate there are around 2,000 Venezuelan Jews living in Israel and that just over 100 Venezuelan Jews arrived here during the past year.

"We expect that number to rise," one official told the Post.

In January, the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center accused Chavez of making anti-Semitic comments during a Christmas Eve speech. The Wiesenthal Center even wrote to Chavez demanding he apologize for what it said was a negative reference to Jews.

At the time, The Forward reported that Venezuelan Jewish leaders had defended their president and criticized the Wiesenthal Center.

"You have interfered in the political status, in the security, and in the well-being of our community. You have acted on your own, without consulting us, on issues that you don't know or understand," they wrote in a letter.

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4. "Israel And The Diaspora: A Post-Yehoshua Response" by Steven Bayme
From The Jewish Week

Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua provoked controversy at the American Jewish Committee's Centennial Symposium in Washington, D.C., last month when he accused diaspora Jews of "playing with their Jewishness" and lamented the great failure of American Jewry in not immigrating to Israel in droves. The resulting debate, covered at length in the Israeli media, has stimulated salutary discussion both of the reality of American Jewish life and how Israel and American Jewry need to relate to one another. AJCommittee convened the symposium as part of a yearlong centennial program designed to foster precisely such a "battle of ideas" and hopefully identify fresh communal policy challenges and directions.

What about Yehoshua's actual arguments? First, they are hardly novel. Twenty years ago, Yehoshua described the diaspora as the "neurosis" of the Jewish people. However, a decade ago he claimed to have modified his position, affirming the importance of diaspora Jewry and urging a joint agenda on behalf of achieving literacy in the Hebrew language and advocacy of Jewish social values. Yet at the recent AJCommittee meeting Yehoshua seemingly reverted to an outdated position that affirms Jewish identity exclusively in the Jewish state.

These arguments and even accusations are by no means entirely without merit. The birth of Israel in 1948 changed the meaning and map of Jewish peoplehood and identity in irrevocable and unqualifiedly positive ways. The return of the Jews to sovereignty and statehood constitutes the single greatest success narrative of modern Jewish history. To be a Jew in the 21st century necessitates a relationship with the Jewish state.

Yet, sadly, Yehoshua is correct in charging American Jews with failure. First, as AJCommittee research on young American Jews recently demonstrated, in pronounced contrast to the narrative of the Holocaust, the narrative of Israel has not penetrated the consciousness of young Jews today. The very same young people for whom Holocaust memory is critical to their Jewish identity know astonishingly little of modern Israeli history and culture. Courses on the Holocaust have proliferated on American campuses while Israel studies have remained very much in incipient stages.

Secondly, we are witnessing a demographic ascendancy of Israel over the diaspora. Within our lifetimes, for the first time since the destruction of the First Jewish Commonwealth in 586 B.C. E., there will be more Jews living in the Jewish homeland than in the diaspora. To some extent that demographic shift represents only the normalization that Yehoshua champions. However, it also confirms an age-old truism of Jewish history that Jewish immigration is driven primarily by economic conditions and opportunities. Affluent Jews, living in a relatively secure America, in turn make poor candidates for aliyah save among those ideologically committed to it.

In addition, Yehoshua correctly perceives an increased detachment from Israel among American Jews. As assimilation proceeds unchecked, a growing distancing of Israel occurs as part of a general distancing from matters Jewish. The very strength of American Jewry, namely its success as Americans, thus belies its weakness as Jews, translated as decreased attachment to Israel. Perhaps the best evidence of the detachment lies in the fact that fewer than 40 percent of the most affluent Jewish community in history has ever set foot in the Jewish state over the first six decades of her existence.

Yet Yehoshua erred in trivializing American Judaism. The resurgence of Orthodoxy, contrary to so many predictions of its demise, constitutes a remarkable statement of the viability of Judaism in the diaspora if Jews are indeed committed to its perseverance. The presence of diverse and pluralist options in defining one's Judaism in America constitutes a statement of Jewish vitality and strength rather than strictly a tribute to American democracy and separation of religion from state. Full-time Jewish education in a broad network of Jewish day schools is now available to more American Jews than ever before. Jews who avail themselves of these opportunities receive a strong Jewish education precisely at a time when leading Israelis are concerned about the weakness of Jewish education within Israel's school system.

Lastly, the growth of academic Jewish studies on virtually every American university of note underscores the intellectual attractiveness of Judaism within elite American culture while making possible the advanced study of the treasures of Judaic civilization for the overwhelming majority of today's Jewish youth.

Moreover, Yehoshua errs profoundly in dismissing the political significance of American Jewry. The special relationship between Washington and Jerusalem owes much to the vigilance and constant activism of the American Jewish community.

Most importantly, however, Yehoshua ignores time-honored Jewish values of peoplehood and mutual responsibility between Jews. Rather than advocate synergy between Israel and the diaspora in an effort to enhance the collective Jewish future, he effectively challenges American Jews either to move to Israel and become serious Jews, or stay in the diaspora and continue to "play with Jewishness."

In this context, Yehoshua inadvertently poses the correct challenge to the Jewish future: how seriously do we take our Jewishness? That challenge applies no less to Israelis than it does to diaspora Jews. In an age of freedom and volunteerism, Jews will survive as Jews only to the extent they seek to intensify their Jewishness and live creative Jewish lives.

Jewish identity needs to be constructed upon a language of Jewish values and traditions and pride in Jewish achievements. It is that challenge of creating a vital Jewish identity that should form the common agenda between Israel and the diaspora. In that sense, rather than lament the conflict provoked by Yehoshua's comments, we need to expand the dialogue and confront our common challenges as Jews seeking to give meaning to the concepts of Jewish identity and peoplehood in the 21st century. n

Steven Bayme serves as director of the Dorothy and Julius Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations, the American Jewish Committee.

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5. "Dating Strategies Survival Tips for the Single Oleh"
From Sasson vSimcha.org

You've dreamed of building your life in Israel, and you hope you might meet someone there to share that life with. Before you pack, read some tips that canhelp you achieve a successful move and a great personal life.

Be as prepared as you can by learning the difficulties most olim (new immigrants to Israel) encounter during the first two years of aliyah (immigration to Israel). Advance knowledge of the challenges you may have to face (many of which may never materialize) and how you can effectively deal with them is half the battle for any oleh, but it is especially important for someone who doesn't have a spouse to lean on for mutual support.

Learn Hebrew. Aliyah will be a more positive experience if you at least have a working knowledge of Hebrew before you arrive. Once you're in Israel, enroll in an ulpan if your Hebrew still needs work. You'll experience a double benefit; your Hebrew will improve and you'll form mutually supportive friendships with other olim.

Leave your extra "baggage" behind. Your lift will be heavy enough. If you are weighed down with "baggage" from old relationships, have low self-esteem or struggle with depression or excessive anxiety, work on eliminating these obstacles to a successful klita (absorption) before your move. Don't hesitate to obtain the help of a qualified therapist, if necessary.

Set up an Israeli support system before your aliya. The first year or two of aliya is a challenge for everyone, and people who can rely on a support system fare better than those who have no one to turn to for advice, friendship and moral support. If you are one of the many olim who don't have close friends or relatives in Israel, work on developing contacts several months before your move. Approach friends, friends' friends, relatives, relatives' relatives, rabbis, teachers and acquaintances, and ask for the names, phone numbers or e-mail addresses of recent olim who may be willing to share their experiences or give you advice. many olim are happy to do so.

You should develop a long distance relationship with a core group of people in the months before you move, and touch base with them as soon as you arrive. If your relationships with the people in your support system grow into mutually beneficial friendships, as so many do, you will have caring, supportive friends whom you can turn to in good times as well as tough ones.

If you want to find a future spouse, don't rely on the social structure of densely populated singles neighborhoods to help your dating situation. The "singles scene" is self-perpetuating. Minimize any "group dating" and instead make dating a one-one-one process. We suggest you develop a network of people who can introduce you to suitable, marriage-minded members of the opposite sex.

Start with the people who first helped you acclimate to your new life. In addition, get to know rabbis, teachers, co-workers, relatives, friends, and acquaintances from your neighborhood and synagogue and ask them to keep you in mind when they look for matches for people they know. Ask to meet members of some of the grass-roots "matchmaking" committees that have formed in many communities. You can also take advantage of some programs that enable singles to meet in a friendly, small-scale atmosphere.

We also suggest that you find one or two shadchanim whom you feel comfortable working with and use them as a resource. (See "How to Make A Matchmaker Work For You"). You may also want to ask one of your married friends to be your "dating advisor" – to help you meet new people and to be available for advice and "handholding" should the need arise. (You'll find that your married friends add a perspective on dating that you won't get from a single.)

Keep and open mind. Aliyah is an amazing experience. However, if you come with unreasonably high expectations, you will be disappointed. If you are willing to be flexible and consider new options and ideas about both your personal and professional lives, you can make a great life for yourself in Israel.