(no subject)

[crewgrrl]

"Live in Teaneck, make money, send money, feel guilty." - Menachem Leibtag (attributed)

The above question was an answer given to a student who asked his teacher what he should do if he didn't feel that he could hack it in Israel. But it seems like anyone can make it there these days. Providing, of course, that they don't really live there.

My brother coined a new phrase - "Aliyah lite." (For those unfamiliar with the Hebrew, Aliyah means immigrating to Israel.) He plans to do this one day himself. He want to move to Israel, live in an American (or just Anglo) community, visit America every summer (to make money), and avoid most of Israeli society. He wants his children to speak Hebrew, to spend shekels instead of dollars, but god forbid they should actually be Israeli. God forbid they join the army (especially the girls).

I can't decide which is worse - people like this or Americans who leave the best Jerusalem real estate vacant 80% of the year. Those are people who buy big expensive apartments in very nice neighborhoods, visit them three times a year, and leave them vacant the rest of the time. They drive up the cost of real estate so that native Israelis are having difficulty getting apartments.

What do we see Israel as? A nice vacation spot, but I wouldn't want to live there? Someplace to take advantage of when it suits us and leave behind when it doesn't? Or do we see it as a country, with it's own society, ethics and values. A country like any other. And when you pick up and move to another country, you LIVE there. You're not just visiting.


/rant

Comments

[levana-b.livejournal.com]

I take your point and I agree with you in some fashion.

Start counterrant, ignore as you see fit. Israel is not about moving to another country. You move to England because you like G.B. better than the U.S. Not so Israel. People move to Israel because they feel obligated to, DESPITE liking their own cultures better. Insisting that those who love Israel need to also love Israelis and Israeli culture would only be fair if people made aliyah in order to be part of it. But people make aliyah despite not wanting anything to do with a culture that is neither better nor worse than their own but different. Why should they culturally conform?

The army is different, but that's because if you're going to live in a place, you a) observe the laws and b) work to defend it.

As for Anglos buying apartments...well, they should rent them, which is the sensible thing to do, but this is a question of money, not of principles. Last I checked, Anglos and Israelis are not looking to purchase apartments in the same neighborhoods and while that is no doubt bue, in part, to the price of housing, most of these buildings would not exist for Israelis anyway since the Anglos created the market.

[trempnvt.livejournal.com]

I haaaaaaaaaaaaate all those empty apartments. It's impossible to find anywhere affordable to rent/buy in Jerusalem, and guess why? It's not just Americans who do it, though. French people are just as bad.

I don't mind people who live in Anglo communities and speak only English; at least they're living here. (Actually, it does bug me when people live here for a long time and don't learn Hebrew, but I can at least understand that learning a new language isn't an easy thing to do and I was privileged to have a Jewish day school upbringing.)

[skywalker363.livejournal.com]

Does this mean that you are warming to the idea of Aliyah? Maybe you should show him how its done