Crossing the Yarden

By Yarden Frankl

Don’t They Know?

Where to begin? Rockets continue to land on Sderot. Families expelled from Gush Katif are still struggling. The British want to boycott us. Hizbollah is rearming, Hamas is arming, and the Iranians are building nukes.

The U.N. (United Nations) has just formally changed its name to the U.N.A.I. (United Nations against Israel). Corruption is rampant. Our Vice-Premier has been convicted of, eh, well… vice actually. And we have released 250 terrorists by making them sign a paper promising that they will no longer terrorize. (Yeah, that sounds like it will do the trick. Maybe they will all go into accounting now.)

So while reading the news today, I was simply shocked by the latest development. Apparently, this summer, a record number of Jews from North America will make Aliyah. The first plane has just arrived. Tired and bewildered Jews are at this moment trying to understand why they need to pay the post office to get a license to drive a car.

Don’t they know what’s going on? Don’t they read the news? Why on Earth would thousands of people decide that now is the time to move here? Are they nuts?

Then I remember. Two years ago, Israelis thought we were crazy. We moved at the precise moment the government was pushing people out of Gush Katif and bulldozing their houses. They were vowing to continue with this wonderful policy. Why would we want to move to such a place?

And last year, friends of ours made aliyah. As their plane flew through the air, missiles aimed at Israeli cities were also in the skies. What were they thinking? Did they somehow miss the fact that they were happily taking their kids and belongings and moving to a country that was at war!

But it’s always been that way. People made Aliyah while buses were getting blown up and people shot on the roads. People made Aliyah during the Gulf War (first take) when Saddam’s missiles were slamming into Tel Aviv, and Palestinians cheered from the roof tops. Some people came and were given gas masks at the airport as part of their welcome packages. Are we all clinically insane?

No, although it may seem that way, none of us are nuts. Those who make Aliyah do read the news, but they can also see the big picture. They know that not everything is reported in the news on a daily basis. Moonlit hikes along the same paths the Biblical Patriarchs walked are not in the news. Kosher food courts in malls where religious kids can eat anything they want are not in the news. Rosh Hashanah greetings on bottles of Coke are not in the news. And I am still waiting for mention of beautiful, spectacular sunsets from the top of Neve Daniel to be mentioned in the “news.”

There is nothing crazy about moving to Israel, even when some things don’t look so good. Moving to Israel is about a positive appreciation of all this wonderful land has to offer, and a sincere belief that the future will be even better for us and for our children. It is about a knowledge that children do not read the news, they just can be really happy here. Sure there are problems. But many of us who have come want to enjoy what is good and help fix what is broken.

Don’t they know?

Don’t worry, they know very well.

Welcome to all the new Olim from America and all over the world. You made the right decision. Come on over to my place for a beer.

Shabbat Shalom from our blessed nation

© 2007 Yarden Frankl