I have decided to veer off of the Graphic Design topic, just for the next few entries. You see, our family made Aliya in the Summer of 2015, and the more I network with people, and the more I reach out of my comfort zone to gain more clients and increase to my freelance business, I am often asked the question, "Why did your Family Make Aliyah?"
The reason we made Aliyah had nothing to do with what we left behind; rather, it had everything to do with the future.
I grew up in Toronto and raised my kids in Southfield, Michigan. The transition from Canada to the US was easy: common language, similar culture, active Jewish communities, same bureaucracy – in one word: seamless.
I can honestly say that both are super nice places, yet also very different. Toronto offered a close link to family. Detroit offered us affordable housing and amazing friends. I had a significant community-oriented job.
So when I’m asked why I left North America to make Aliyah, the answer, while not complicated, might seem hard to understand. The reason we made Aliyah had nothing to do with what we left behind; rather, it had everything to do with the future.
The True Meaning of Zionism
We chose to send our children to a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school. It not only offered a curriculum of high level of general and Judaic studies, but it also conveyed the true meaning of Zionism. Israel was brought into the daily curriculum of the school.
Over time, Israel was being brought into the daily language of our home. What has become typical of religious day school graduates (much to the chagrin of their parents’ wallets) is spending a post-high school year at a yeshiva or seminary in Israel. When our eldest began searching for the right school in Israel, all I could think about was the monetary expense; I had never spent time on the why she needed to be there, just on the how was she going to get there.
Rather than choosing to spend a year in a learning institution, she decided she would rather do Sherut Leumi – national service. To my daughter, all the schooling, extra-curricular and summer activities that inculcated a loved for Israel, including the influence of Sherut Leumi girls from Israel bonding with students in the Diaspora, meant not loving Israel from afar; it meant being there. It meant living there.
I was thrilled because I wouldn’t have the staggering bill of a seminary. And that’s where this story all changes. That’s when I knew. That’s when I knew the “WHY”….she loved Israel, she was going to make Aliyah. And when she completed her first year of National Service, she proudly joined the ranks of new olim (immigrants to Israel).
Jews From All Over the World Need to Be Here
So, how does that change the picture? One of our kids lived over 5000 miles away, but I had three others; they would grow old with me in North America, right? When our daughter came home for a short visit the following summer, it dawned on me. I envisioned a future in which my husband and I were in our lovely home, secure in our good jobs, enjoying our amazing community, socializing with our fabulous friends, but all our children would be in Israel. And that’s when I realized the big picture. Our family needed to be in Israel. Not in 10 years. Not in 20, but now. Now, when my children can benefit from learning their history from inside the Tanach (Bible), then walking a few kilometers away to where the events happened. Now, when I can still appreciate that life in Israel revolves around the Jewish calendar. Now, when I have the perspective and understand that Jews from all over the world need to be here. And we did it. In August 2015, our family made Aliyah.
After nearly 5 years here....I still am not the right person to give words of wisdom about life in Israel. There have been many “immigrant moments,” and I foresee that we will continue to face struggles as we adapt to this varied, vibrant and dynamic country. But what I can tell you is this: I don’t regret my decision. When my family sits together for Shabbat, and we have the shared experience of living in the same country – the Jewish country – in the same time zone, it’s priceless. And for me, that’s all I need.
This blog appeared on February, 22, 2016. For more personal stories, and amazing uplifting inspiration about living in the Land of Israel, please visit: http://unitedwithisrael.org/israel-the-jewish-future/