Fifty years have brought us not only debts and grey hairs, but countless s’machot. Children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Extended families full of birthdays, brissim, upsherin, graduations and weddings. And soldiers. Many soldiers.
When did you decide to come on aliyah? people ask. We never decided, I answer. It was always understood, taken for granted. The moment we finished school and had enough money in the bank to buy the necessities, we took our two babies and left.
But don’t you miss America? they want to know. The only thing I can think of is the occasional evening drive along the shoreline of Lake Michigan in Chicago. Nothing else comes to mind.
After having spent most of your life and raising your family here, is there anything you regret? No, I answer simply. Nothing at all. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Being so far from my family was the most difficult part of making aliyah, yet the end result was that our families eventually followed in our footsteps, bringing more families in their wake.
Fifty years also hold a storehouse of sweeping vistas and soul-stirring landscapes. Trips from the Lebanese border in the north down to the southern tip of Eilat. From the Golan to the Galil, across verdant valleys and the dry, Negev deserts; down the twisting Jordan River and west to the “Yam Hagadol” – the Mediterranean Sea. And of course, Yerushalayim, center of the universe, which is in a category of its own. G-d’s Land is our back yard. It is Home.
Life in Israel is undoubtedly more intense – the joys, the sorrows, the things you are grateful for, the things you pray for. Nothing is taken for granted. Blessings abound, but so do failures, disappointments, hardships and new challenges. But isn’t that what life is all about? Every Jew is responsible for his or her own individual life, but only in Eretz Yisrael are we creating the future of a nation. Only here are we attempting to be, not only righteous individuals, but a mamlechet kohanim v’goy kadosh – a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation. Pasteurized milk and direct dialing don’t seem all that essential when you think in these terms.
After generations of prayer and longing, we feel privileged, fortunate and blessed to be here, at home. And we are privileged to see the generations of our family grow and multiply as the Navi said: ur’ay vanim l’vanecha.Not only in our own family, but generations of G-d’s children in His Land. There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that the golden dome presently standing on the site of Har HaMoriya is only a temporary structure, placed there to cover the holiest site in the world with an impressive landmark until the time comes to construct Hashem’s true House.
Ashreinu mah tov chelkeinu, u’mah naim goraleinu, u’mah yafa y’rushateinu. We are fortunate – how good is our portion, how pleasant our lot, and how beautiful our heritage! Baruch Hashem, we have been blessed with fifty years of plenty. B’ezrat Hashem, another fifty are beginning. Won’t you come and share them with us?