This essay will not explore the value of Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, nor its feasibility. Outlandish as it may seem, because of the vacuum of any other ideas, it may gain momentum and hang around for a year a two. Although the still sane-thinkers in Israel are aware of the plan’s dangers due to its over-reliance on America, in order to cement Trump’s support for Israel, going along with the plan in its early stages could give Netanyahu and his government the boost it needs to stay in power. While many questions and uncertainties surround the Trump initiative, one thing is for sure – it is the final nail in the coffin for American Orthodox Jewry.
If the great increase in anti-Semitism throughout the United States has awakened Orthodox Jews to the precariousness of their future in America and brought them to think seriously about Aliyah, the Trump plan to save Israel has now put Aliyah back into the closet. For decades, ever since the establishment of the State of Israel when Aliyah became possible for all Diaspora Jews, Orthodox communities throughout the world clung to a long list of excuses why they were free from the exalted mitzvah. While millions of Jews returned to rebuild the Cherished Land, Orthodox communities in the comfortable countries of the West reacted as if the dream of two-thousand years did not apply to them. Starting with Corona, followed by October 7th and the war with Hamas, followed by a tsunami of global Jew-hatred, their confidence in their gentile havens began to erode. Now, with the announcement of Trump’s plan to rescue Israel, the Diaspora Jew has been rescued from his plight. “We need to be here in America,” they happily proclaim. “To help Israel, our voice is needed here! Trump needs our votes! We put him back into the Oval Office and he needs us to keep him there!”
From Brooklyn to Boca, the cry, “Israel needs us in America!” thunders in the sky over Orthodox communities like the American bomber planes which will soon be flying over the Middle East. “We have a great obligation and mitzvah to stay in Golus!”
Of course, we have heard the cry before – when eighty percent of the Jews in Egypt refused to join the Exodus; and when the Spies in the Wilderness rejected life in Israel; and when the tribes of Reuven, Gad, and Menashe turned their backs on their brothers; and when the frum Jews of Babylon chose to remain with their villas and businesses instead of heeding the call to return and build the Beit HaMikdash.
Yes, history repeats itself. And Jewish history repeats itself even more. Wherever the Jewish People wandered they found a few generations of prosperity and calm – until the gentiles reminded them that they were unwanted strangers in a hostile foreign land. Jewish history hasn’t changed. Hashem hasn’t changed. The Master of the Universe has decreed that His children shall return to the Land He chose for them. And He will bring it to pass. Donald Trump will not be around forever. His plan for Gaza will turn to dust. For the Orthodox Jews in America the coffin has been sealed. The Excuse of all Excuses is hammering in the final nail. “We can’t make Aliyah! Israel needs us in America! That’s why Hashem has put us here! Long live America, land that we love… ‘G-d bless America, our home sweet home. G-d bless America our home sweet home.’”
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily the views of The Jewish Press Online0
