Should I move back to Israel?

Dear Rabbi, 

When I originally moved to New York I was a young man with big dreams. I planned to set up a business, amass a couple million dollars and then head back to my native Israel without a care in the world. Ten years on, the Big Apple is still my home and I haven’t quite hit the jackpot. Should I move back to Israel?

A regular in your shul

Dear Friend

I love Israel. What’s more, I’m proud of Israel. This week CNN reported on the Israeli effort in Haiti. Israel managed to erect the largest field hospital amid the devastation, utilizing state of the art equipment and treating up to five thousand patients daily. 

When I was growing up, my parents had close friends who were congregants in my father’s shul in South Africa. They were very traditional, keeping kosher and attending services every Shabbat. After several years, they decided to move to Israel. Once there, they struggled to fit into a community and slowly lost touch with their Judaism. Their marriage fell apart and today they are what Israelis call “chiloni”- totally irreligious. Unfortunately, this occurrence has become a trend. Why does this happen in the Holy land?

As one who associates with Israelis on a daily basis, I find that those of them living outside of Israel are far more inclined to get involved with the spiritual side of Judaism. The reason for this is because they feel that merely living in the country that defines Judaism provides sufficient spiritual sustenance. This past Rosh Hashana whilst blowing the shofar. I noticed a woman crying. She confided in me afterwards that although she grew up in Israel, she had never heard the shofar before in her life. It was such an emotional experience for her. Such stories are not uncommon among Israelis; indeed, many of our dear congregants would never dream of stepping into a shul were they living in Israel!

This week’s Torah portion details the Israelites grand exodus from Egypt after 210 years of bondage. It is a known fact that every word in Torah has a contemporary moral for each generation. How exactly do we define freedom in our day and age?

Ten years ago whilst still a Yeshiva student in Israel, I returned to South Africa to spend Pesach with my family. On the third day of this festival of freedom, my father was requested to visit Soweto’s maximum security prison to circumcise the baby of a Jewish prisoner. At the time, the township of Soweto was notorious for its riots. I remember passing through dozens of security checks as we made our way to the women’s prison.

Upon meeting the woman, she explained that she had been incarcerated for possession of drugs during the early stages of her pregnancy. As she handed the infant to my father, we were surprised to learn that his was an extremely dark color, unusual among the lighter locals. She had no idea who the child’s father was, but thought perhaps it might be an old Nigerian friend!

This was the child who entered the Covenant of G-d on that day. This was the child whom my father named Menachem Mendel, after the Lubavitcher Rebbe (as the mother did not know any Jewish names). This is the essence of freedom. Despite the fact that this child was born in the squalid cells of Soweto, he became free that day. For freedom has little to do with walls and barriers, and everything to do with religion and faith…

The Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August of 1969 began a revolution of what our depraved society terms ‘freedom’. The legacy of ‘free love’ and experimentation with unlimited quantities of drugs has been proudly upheld by our generation, only too eager to maintain this wanton behaviour. 

Judaism at its best has a far more different and deeper lesson to impart. Freedom does not entitle one to do as he pleases. Such a person merely becomes a slave to his desires and addictions. A Rabbi once summed up Judaism in one word: totality. True freedom is having instruction in every area of one’s life, be it business, relationships, getting dressed or simply eating. True freedom is waking up in the morning with a purpose and a guide as to how to fulfill it.

Perhaps children best illustrate the idea. Imagine a child were allowed to do as he pleases. He may go to bed when he chooses, eat what he wants and roam wherever he wishes. The only outcome will be mayhem and havoc! Children can only thrive on routine and order. Likewise, an ox who is allowed to roam free and unencumbered in a field will surely destroy it, but place a yoke on that same animal and guide it along, and eventually you’ll have perfect rows of lush and abundant produce. True freedom must contain restraint, for only then can beauty result. This is why G-d gave us the Torah, so that it should serve as our restraint, instructing every aspect of our lives, providing us with routine and liberating us from within.

Moshe Rabenu tells Pharoah in the name of G-d, “Let my people go that they may serve Me.” G-d may have redeemed the Israelites from Egypt, but their true redemption could only come about through their own actions. When a Jew abides by the Torah and Mitzvot, he follows G-d’s instruction to him and thus frees himself, revealing his essence, the G-dly spark inherent within him.

So yes, my friend, by all means move back to Israel. Just remember that living there is not enough to liberate you spiritually, only your actions can achieve that!

Uriel Vigler

Thank you to Efrat Schochet for her editorial assistance.