When Is It Time to Move Israel?

For over ten years I asked myself what has to happen to cause me to leave my comfortable life in Philadelphia to move to Israel. This question originated after my friend, Ari, and I met a teenager from France in 2004. The teen was religious, and he told Ari and me that in Paris it was not safe to wear a yarmulke in public. Ari said, “When that happens here (in America) I’m leaving.” Could that happen in America, I wondered? Or could something else happen in America along those lines? That prompted the question, “What has to happen for me to say it’s time to go?” (Incidentally, a decade later, in 2014-15, over 10,000 French Jews made aliyah and a poll in the Jewish communities in France during those years showed 80% were considering making aliyah.)

The benchmark event that I spent a decade considering I was never able to identify. Maybe because I didn’t want to draw that proverbial line in the sand which, when crossed, meant it was time to move. I guess I was afraid to make the move. Or afraid to deal with the reality that things would have to be really be bad if that event occurred...an event like not being able to wear a yarmulke outside. So I kept asking myself and my friends the question without having an answer myself.

In 2015, my question changed...as did my location.

In the summer of 2014, it became clear to me that the world was turning against Israel and the Jews...and the world was turning upside down. During Operation Protective Edge that summer, I watched in bewilderment and consternation as large parts of the world sided with Hamas in Gaza and raised their banners against Israel. The prophecies in the Torah and the improbable prophecies of our great rabbinic sages were being played out on news screens. Then, after reading about an anti-Jewish riot in France, my wife turned to me and said, “We should just go (move to Israel).” That week we started looking into “just going,” and after eleven months of planning and a million and one decisions, we boarded our one-way Nefesh B’Nefesh charter flight to Israel with our five little children and 200+ other olim (immigrants to Israel). We now live in beautiful Ramat Beit Shemesh, a largely Anglo suburb of Jerusalem.

Israelis say, “You’ve come at the right time.” They’re referring to End of Days and Moshiach. That is what lead to my new and improved question which I now ask you:

When do you want to move to Israel?

If you believe that ultimately the Jews are all going to live, once again, on the Land of Israel, practically speaking, when do you want to arrive?

1- Do you want to arrive with enough time to establish yourself (learn the language, find employment, own a home, get your kids set up in the school system) before the deluge of olim from the “four corners of the world?”

2- Do you want to arrive just before the messiah (Moshiach) reveals himself causing Jews worldwide to return to the Holy Land?

3- Do you want to arrive with the millions of Jews worldwide who will concurrently return with Moshiach?

4- Do you want to arrive after fleeing due to persecution, rampant terrorist attacks, or some other reason that forces you to run for your life...possibly that unnamed event struggled with for ten years?

Let’s explore each of these just briefly.

Scenario 1: You arrive with enough time to get situated, set up and established. When millions and millions of Jews come all at once, you and your family will already be established in Israel and you won’t have to compete for work, for classroom space for your kids and you’ll have a place to live. The flipside of the coin is that you have to uproot your life and move while things are presumably comfortable for you. However, you’ll be making aliyah by choice and with this option, you can choose to bring your belongings. This might not be the case with the other three options.

Scenario 2: Who knows when the Moshiach will come? There is a deadline, and as of the writing of this in the waning days of 2015 (5776), that leave 224 years til the deadline. We hope HaShem sends him before the deadline, and that could be any day from now until the year 6000. Nobody knows the exact date, so if you are watching the news and feel like that time is coming, then this is your time. But it takes time to plan this transcontinental transition. Passport processing alone takes several weeks, so waiting for the last minute is not a wise course of action. (Do you have passports for all your travelers...even your infant?)

Scenario 3: You will arrive with hordes of Jews who, like you and your family, will have to find a place to live...much less a place to sleep the first night. There are lots of cities and towns in Israel. Where do you begin? Do you go as far as your legs can take your smallest walking child after getting off the airplane or boat? I don’t know if this will be a hurry-up and leave situation where you get away with the shirt on your back or if you can pack bags or even send for your belongings later. (Incidentally: when we moved, we packed 15 huge duffle bags, and that was after we sent a 40 foot container with our furniture, clothes and toys.) We left our pet with my parents. : (  

Scenario 4: Like many a Jew who preceded us, you might have to flee persecution or worse. This might entail grabbing your passport and running...possibly even from America! (Speaking of passports: # 1 on your action list should be to get passports for every member of your family. It costs a pretty penny and it takes time to get them processed, and if you have to get out of Dodge in a hurry, you don’t want to get stopped at the airport because you don’t have passports for you, your spouse and your kids...plus your mother and father if they’re living with you.) This “run for your life” scenario is the worst, but it’s happened so many times before. I believe it’s wishful, blissful thinking to believe it can’t happen in America.

Therefore I ask you: When do you want to arrive?