Yesterday, I sat down in a comfortable armchair in my local Aliyah Office, and began to fill out a form. "I declare... that I request citizenship of Israel... I intend to attain Immigrant status upon my arrival in the country" (paraphrased). As I read these words and filled out my details, I marveled at the profundity of what I was doing: Here I was, attaching myself to the State of Israel, and advancing the process of becoming a citizen of Israel, and even, perhaps, an Israeli :) ...
I've been reading Exodus, by Leon Uris. From a historical perspective, I've found it incredibly enlightening, broad in its settings, vivid in its descriptions. From an emotional perspective, I've found it to be moving, gripping, and deeply intense... From a Jewish-historical perspective, I've gained a much broader view of the beginnings of the epic drama of the final return of the Jews to their Homeland, after millenia of wanderings and exiles in many forms and reincarnations. And this has shed a new light onto my forthcoming Aliyah... Here are a couple of things I've personally gained through reading and digesting this book:
- A deep admiration for the Jews who gave so much to build the State, including Herzl for all his tremendous efforts on the part of Klal Yisrael (this despite his Torah-disconnected vision and point of view; despite his faults, he really had great mesirut nefesh (dedication and self-sacrifice) for the sake of the Jewish Nation)
- An appreciation for the State itself, our sovereignty over Israel, and the systems that are in place to allow easy and convenient Aliyah... to think of shiploads of Holocaust refugees turned back to perish by the British in the waters of then-Palestine leaves me feeling greatly privileged....
- As Dan has said recently, (it's a concept that Rav Kook deals with) the Jews who turned their backs on the traditional Torah lifestyle as practiced by the Jews of the ghettos in Eastern Europe, and were drawn into the Enlightenment, and specifically the socialist and Zionist movements, were not simply rebelling: they were seeking very deep and essential aspects of Judaism that did not -- and could not -- find real expression in the crushed, downtrodden Jewish existence in the bitter exile in Eastern Europe. They were searching -- consciously or subconsciously -- for a connection to Eretz Yisrael, and for the social and communal expression of Jewish life, as a nation, in the Land of Israel. Unfortunately, because they did not find this in religious Torah life in Eastern Europe, they turned their backs on Torah to a large degree. (We still feel the ramifications of this process today.) I have learnt how these Jews were answering deep spiritual yearnings, callings from within, which led them to undergo so much work, toil, sweat and blood, for the sake of the Jews in the Land of Israel. Without their efforts, wars, swamp drainages, and developments, we would almost certainly not have a State of Israel today.
- Perspective: I have a clearer understanding of Israeli politics today from a deeper understanding of the origins of the State. And, in line with insights I have gained over the Yom Ha'atzma'ut period, I more deeply realize that this Redemption that we are privileged to be part of is a process. A dramatic, incredible process. This time is called Chevlei Mashiach - the Birthpangs of Mashiach. When a baby is born, the mother goes through excruciating pain, and indeed, her life is in danger. Of course, this is an essential part of the creation of new life; the process is traumatic, difficult, painful, but the results are rewarding and the greatest blessing. It happens in stages, and we have to be patient: the end result is not yet here, but we're getting there.
- We have to take action. This is perhaps one of the most defining aspects of the Religious-National outlook: we know that G-d is running the world and orchestrating His plan, but we understand that a great part of the 'responsibility' for its success rests squarely on our shoulders. We are not privy to His plans, and we must look at the world through the only eyes we have: our own. We need to be practical, pragmatic, and also idealistic, hopeful, and faithful; just like Ya'akov's ladder, which stood firmly on the ground, while its top reached the Heavens.
Coming back to my Aliyah, I'm filled with more inspiration, more hope, and a deeper feeling of personal and National destiny. We're still trying to turn a hodge-podge of many different returned and returning exiles and wanderers back into ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, a kingdom of priests (teachers and exemplifiers) and a holy nation, and I do believe it's happening, slowly but definitively.
We're still trying to reconnect with our Holy Land, our G-d, and ourselves -- personally and nationally. And, slowly but surely, we are getting there; whether we see it today or not.
