Religion & Beliefs
This Just In: Not All Young Jews Want to Make Aliyah
By Tamar Fox / July 13, 2007
I just finished reading an article at Jpost about ‘The Conference on the Future of the Jewish People’ that took place in Jerusalem this week. Apparently the conference was opened with a speech about how “Young Jews don't identify with Jewish peoplehood and have no real sense of collective identity.” The woman who made that speech is getting her PhD at Brandeis, where, apparently, there aren’t any young Jews with a sense of peoplehood or collective identity. First of all, peoplehood is not a word. Second of all, what the fuck? Oh but wait, it gets worse:
Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the attendees of his vision of the Jewish world's future. He noted that not all Diaspora Jews intended to make aliya, and that Jewish identity within the State of Israel also needed to be strengthened.
Full Story Great Scot! Not ALL Jews want to make aliyah? Why on earth not? I mean, okay, Israel does have a government that the World Bank calls “inefficient, with high levels of corruption and a low rate of law enforcement.” And yes, the highest religious authorities in Israel sometimes turn out to be into bribery and kidnapping. And yeah, there are riots breaking out in the ultra-Orthodox communities of Ramat Beit Shemesh Aleph and Bet because police removed signs requesting that all women in the area conform to certain standards of modest dress. And fine, yes, simply having a bank account in Israel is a huge pain in the ass, but really, it’s hard to understand why every diaspora Jew isn’t clamoring to get on a Nefesh b’Nefesh plane. And that’s not even considering the security situation/Palestinian conflict. 
I love Israel. I really do. I’m a hardcore Zionist, I care deeply about “Jewish peoplehood” and I’m about as involved in the Jewish community as a person can be, but I’m totally uninterested in making aliyah anytime soon. There are, I guess, a lot of reasons for this, but mainly what prevents me from seriously considering life in Israel is the frustrating fact that in Israel, no matter where you go, you’re either a religious fanatic, or a complete heathen. It seems like the whole country is constantly positioning itself against whatever/whoever else happens to be present, and while I enjoy a contrary stance, it can be distracting and depressing to constantly have to identify oneself as not this, and not that. Whenever I’m in Israel, I feel like walking down the street in Jerusalem is just inviting the public to judge me, and inevitably everyone who walks by is either haredi, or secular enough that my covered shoulders indicate to them that I’m one of those obnoxious and weak religious people. And though I admit that there is a tangible spiritual intensity to being in Israel, I’m not sure it’s always a helpful or good thing. It makes people so much more combative and angry and convinced that God is absolutely on their side. More and more young people are seeking out spirituality in their lives, and I’m confident that lots of them are looking into Judaism. They may not have a sense of “peoplehood” because they’ve been alienated by the non-religious community their whole lives. Maybe they’re “half-Jewish,” or maybe the only synagogue they ever went to was huge and impersonal and decorated in avocado and brown in 1976. And maybe they don’t want to move to Israel because their family and friends live in Wisconsin, and Israel’s political leader has an even lower approval rating that America’s political leader. I’m not sure we need to despair for those young people. There are a lot of problems to solve in the Jewish community, but a lack of “peoplehood” and a lack of unanimous desire to move to Israel are not even in my top ten.
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I started out with a witty and insightful addition to this discussion….but ultimately think that its more important to give the low-down on trying to adapt to the lifestyle in Israel.
It can be horrible if you are not willing to accept change in every aspect of your life. From different standards for toilets, appliances, cleanliness at hospitals, pushing crowds to get on a bus to getting sick of shawarma….so much is different…that it can really wear a person down.
The biggest issue is Hebrew. Yes…anyone can learn if they put in the time…but its not a six-month program for fluency…that takes years….and if you have to find a job and function in the world…who has time for ulpan? If you can learn Hebrew before you go to Israel…DO IT.
For me, another issue is homesickness. I chose to live in the Galilee region because I knew that a desert climate would be too foreign for me….but I tell you….the Galilee has its pretty spots…but is still largely desert. I miss my autumn leaves from the Catskills in upstate NY. Nothing compares.
If you feel the need to make aliyah…be smart…go with Nefesh B’Nefesh, why? because they have some amount of counseling available to inform you of programs that you may or may not be eligible for….without that support…its nearly impossible to find your way.
I made aliyah alone. No family or friends in Israel. The beaurocracy has worn me down. I finally came to a decision to leave and go back to the States. Of course, my story is not indicative of everyone’s…I made more than my fair share of mistakes along the way. I just wanted to inform folks that the changes that they are considering are huge…and just because you find a program on a website…does not mean that you will be able to sign up for it once you are in Israel. My caution is to PLAN ahead. Do not try to rush the process. Ask questions…and learn LEARN Hebrew before you come.
Pray tell, what word ought we use in lieu of "peoplehood"?
"Nationalism" conjures 19th century nationalistic movements, and while we might well put Zionism in that group, what then will we call pre-Zionist Jewish peoplehood without conflating them?
"Community" implies the Hebrew "kehilla", a more local organization. One can have a community in Vilna and another in Frankfurt and one in Izmir and another in Aden, but it strains credulity to speak of a Jewish "community" that stretches from Lithuania to Germany to Turkey to Yemen, without doing serious damage to that word’s meaning.
As for "humanity", this implies Jews and non-Jews together, "enoshiut". But while it is great to emphasize – with Ben Azzai – "ze sefer toldot adam" ("This is the book of man") as the quintessence of the Torah, nevertheless, we need an English term for "am yisrael" and the being of "am yisrael", and "people" and "peoplehood" seems to best fit the bill. The Jewish people are not a religion, not a nation-state, not an ethnicity, not a community, not a species – they are a people. If the gentiles can have nationhood, cannot we have peoplehood?
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As for the insanity that is Israel: indeed. After I read Moshe Feiglin’s Where There are No Men, which showed how Israel is essentially an elected dictatorship, I decided to do something about it. I’m also busy working on the problem known as "the Haredim".
For the record, the reason that I don’t wish to make aliya is that I’m an American, and very much attached to my country. I don’t much care for the suggestion (which I hear exclusively from my fellow Jews) that I belong somewhere else.
That said, the reasons given by Tamar for not making aliya seem just a wee bit self-indulgent (it’s "frustrating"). Is that it? No political or "peoplehood" issues worth discussing?
And, for the record, the article would be improved were the author to dispense with gratuitous use of the "F" word. Someone who teaches text study ought to be able to express herself without resorting to vulgarity.
there's a big difference between blanket criticism of 'occupation' (which usually calls Zionism and Israel's basic legitimacy into question, explicitly or implicitly) and point-by-point policy criticism of Israel which is voice from within a clear affirmation of Zionism and Israel's right to exist.
For example, Yossi Beilin, voice of the far left and architect of Oslo and Geneva, advocate of abandoning all territories, is still a proud zionist, and last year actually not only supported the war on Lebanon but thought Israel should have bombed Syria as well. Vs. Noam Chomsky or Adam Shapiro, who criticize occupation in a way which doesn't recognize any legitimacy to Israel's existence and basic right to defend itself.
…can find something to criticize about the occupation? As someone who supports the separation barrier and think most Palestinian problems are self-inflicted, I would still find it rather depressing to learn that only a small elite in Israel is capable of self-criticism. Fortunately, my own experience with Israelis indicates they have no such bland confidence, but are constantly doubting and criticizing their country's policies.
They have far more depth and curiosity than the typical American, exemplified by our "no time to read the newspaper" president.
I'd rather remain doubtful and insecure about my identity (is that what you mean by "self-hating"?) then succumb to an arrogant self-assurance with no basis in reality.
that's a shame, Tamar. I'm surprised you haven't found a way out of feeling that way in Israel. There's a hundred different subcultures, and ways of being, and ways to learn torah, and different colors and ways of being jewish, and sabras and immigrants from 80 countries who are all less conflicted about their identity than north americans.
israel is blue collar in some crucial ways. it's the only place in the world i've lived where i actually like the hicks. Self-hating, critical-of-the-occupation, powerlessness and victimhood Judaism is primarily the province of Jews who come from the academic elite– in some ways, the split among Jews is a class one.
Some people in Israel act like they have G-d on their side but some don’t. I guess my problem is I don’t really understand why spirituality has anything to do with it. I see Israel as the place that will keep the Jewish people alive. For all Israel’s faults it is an oasis for Jewish culture from all over the world. The reason I want to move there is because I like Jewish culture and considering what our ancestors went through I feel I owe it to them to do my very best to not let Jews just become a footnote in a history book. More over like I said the problems you seem to have with Israel will only change if someone changes it. The reasons you state for not going seem to me like more reasons to go because we can all change Israel for the better. But if you just stick it out in America nothing will happen.
Anonymous–I didn't mention non-Jews in Israel just because the issues they present have little to do with spirituality, and this is a spirituality blog. I promise I'm not one to ignore Israeli-Arabs, Christians, or Palestinians. However, I'm not making aliyah because of Jews, so I didn't think bringing the others into the fray was as relevant.
Mauser– To me, the excess ends up being a void. Everyone in israel seems to think he or she has God on his or her side. Everyone walks down the street in a state of ecstatic spiritual bliss, and is plunged into the icy waters of reality when they see Dalia Feingold of LA walking down the street, chatting loudly on her cell phone while her birthright group whoops at all the cute israel boys. Suddenly spirituality is the reason we can justify hate and harming others, and to me, that's not real spirituality. I agree that Judaism and Jewish identity are a big part of my life, and it would seem like Israel would be the only place to live, except that I'm never more self-hating than I am in Israel. I don't feel spiritually enlightened in Israel–I just feel angry and sad.
did you ever get off the plane, Tamar? I mean, I know you did, so how could you say that? You admit there's a tangible spiritual intensity to just walking down the street in Israel. If there's a problem with spirituality in Israel it's the excess of it– land that somehow, despite its having been invaded 400 times and having its topsoil stripped several times by past civilizations, inspires people to fanatical attachment. Inspires Jews, whether haredi or secular or anywhere in between.
Jerusalem just ISN'T IN AMERICA. Neither is Hebron, nor Meron, nor Tiberias, nor Beit El, nor Beit Lehem, nor Svat, nor Bnei Brak, nor the Gilboa, nor Yavne, nor Shechem. The sacred geography of Judaism, the places of pilgimage, the tombs of the patriarchs and prophets and many of the scholars and saints, are here.
I'm a young Jew who made Aliyah, and I will grant that until, for my own reasons that had more to do with what i learned from American Indians, I came to learn about Judaism, it didn't make sense to me to want to move to Israel.
But once one grants Judaism and Jewish identity a major role in one's life, to live anywhere but Israel is "bedi'avad"– not the ideal, or second best. There's no getting around the centrality of Israel to Judaism and Jewish identity.
Another article that paints a picture of an Arabless Israel. In the fantasy land of diaspora Jews and — astonishingly — a whole bunch of Israelis too, Israel exists as an entirely wall-to-wall Jewish entity. For Tamar, everywhere you go it’s either Haredim or secular folks (but all Jewish folks). About 1 in 5 Israelis are non-Jewish, but in dreamscape utopian and dystopian Israel they don’t exist.
The “Arabs” or Palestinians are somehow transmigrated in the collective imagination to Outer Mongolia anti-Israel, even when they live in Haifa.
I once met an Israeli who told me about how wonderful life was on her holistic, sustainable Kibbutz in the Negev. I asked, “Are all the members Jewish?” She looked at me as if I was from Mars and replied, “In Israel EVERYONE is Jewish.”
Anonymous–You're talking to the daughter of the linguist. Though I see your points, basic morphology does not a word make. Usage indicates viability, and peoplehood is indeed used, so yes, I admit it's a word. I just hate the WAY it's used. It's like when people say signage instead of signs. Why not just say signs? because signage sounds fancier. Which is dumb.
I don't want to move to Israel for a number of reasons, only one of which is its lack of spirituality. Since, this is a spirituality blog, though, I thought that was the most pertinent.
D–I would love to make aliyah at some point in time, just not in the forseeable future. But I'll be discussing that more soon.
Tamar,
When you speak of not wanting to make Aliyah, it sounds as if you don’t want to move to Israel under the current circumstances, but would want to move to Israel provided Israel were better–as opposed to not wanting to move to Israel because you identify with your current domicile and don’t feel like you are in exile. Is that a correct reading, that you perhaps wish you could make Aliyah but don’t feel comfortable doing so under the existing circumstances?
I fall into the other camp–I do wish Israel all the best, and I strongly identify as Jewish and care about being part of the Jewish community. But I have no interest whatsoever in moving to a strange, alien country– my Americanness is at least, if not much more, as central to my identity as being Jewish. I love Passover, but I always feel uncomfortable at the end wishing Next Year in Jerusalem (I try to think of it just as abstract utopian desire) and am extremely uncomfortable with the suggestion that I am in exile in America.
On the one hand, you don’t like imprecision. On the other hand, you figure “[n]ationalism, community and humanity are all words that can be substituted for peoplehood depending on the context”.
None of the latter have precisely the meaning of the former, though. So: pick a hand. Either hand.
(Basic morphology, by the way, tells us that “peoplehood” is certainly a word. It adds to the singular noun “people”, which functions as the root, the first-degree derivational suffix “hood”, in a manner that generates an abstract noun pertaining to status. I would be stunned if you could find good linguistic authority to suggest the opposite.
Lack of inclusion in a popular — or, for that matter, massive — dictionary does not, of course, constitute such authority. That would be confusing dictionaries of words in use, for closed lists of possible words. Such confusion is not consistent with a basic knowledge of the English language.)
Quite separately, while it’s charming to discover that Tamar finds Israel to be a place where spirituality is wanting and therefore not a good place to move to, I must say that there are lots of us for whom spirituality is not a big motivating factor for lots of us in choosing where to live.
Lots of people won’t make aliyah. Some people will make aliyah. A few people want to figure out how to make it more compelling for people to make aliyah. Uh, didn’t we already know all that?
I can understand your reasons against making Aliyah but the only way anything is going to change is if someone changes it. All large groups of immigrants leave their mark on Israel and I can only dream what Israel might be like with a million Jewish Americans there bringing some of America’s best values.
Tamar, all I have to say about this post is, I couldnt agree more! You rock!
Judging from my numerous encounters with all the Israelis flooding every youth hostel in South America, I would say Israelis of my generation are very decent people, but are just as confused and spiritually wanting as American Jews. So obviously the answer to life's greatest questions does not come from your zip code (imagine what the world would be like if everyone really took that notion to heart!).
Also, it's fine if you don't like peoplehood, but PLEASE don't use MS Word SpellCheck as your criteria for what's English. If that were true our language would have about the same sophistication of a tribe of chimpanzees.
Educational is a word I use to make sense out of experiences I could have lived without, but wound up undergoing anyway. Meeting stoned nihilists misquoting Arendt in Tel Aviv, early in the morning, for instance.
Now that I have spent far more time in Italy than Israel, I really think the thing most irritating about life in Israel was this absence of what Aristotle would have called the Golden Mean…
Peoplehood is all over the place these days, but MS word spellcheck doesn't like it, and I don't either. Nationalism, community and humanity are all words that can be substituted for peoplehood depending on the context. If there's anything I hate, it's a lack of precision.
As for the cultural disparity, I agree that it's educational, but educational in a way that teaches me I don't want to live in Israel now…
I think an angry fight I once watched outside of a McDonalds just out of the Old City's walls between some goth-ish kinds and some of the Jewish Quarter's residents vividly summarized the cultural polarity in Israel, and as a student I think it was a very important part of my education (along with getting lost in the lower Negev).
"Peoplehood," while not being a real word, seems to have been accepted in academic discourse. One wonders exactly what one does with a sense of "peoplehood" and why the good old-fashioned term "nationalism" does not work?
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