What Will It Take?

Dear Yishai,

I realize there are lots of American Jews that live in the U.S. that support Israel in a lot of substantive ways. There also seem to be a lot of American Jews that don't care. Period. Just don't care. Which brings me to a thought...but there needs to be a digression and I hope you don't mind.

I am literally the only full time staff person at the library where I work who is Jewish. My supervisor once wondered about my connection to Israel. I told her, and it's true that if the anti-Semitism ever got to be as bad in the U.S. as it is in Europe that I would feel unsafe. I would have to leave and come to Israel. That seemed to take care of whatever concern was driving my supervisor's question. I could have copped out I suppose and pointed out my elderly parents who would be unable to survive the move to Israel or my mortgage or my age (I'm 53 just recently), but the right "spin" to put on my answer to my supervisor's comment seemed to be the way I answered (you'd have to know the supervisor to understand that last).

My thought though is that what about American Jews? What would it take for them to say, "Hey we may have comfortable lives here, but enough is enough!" and then make aliyah...en masse??? I'm not just talking about traditional Jews or Chabadniks or the Satmarim, but the reform Jews who live in Bloomfield Township in their million dollar houses. The ones who have intermarried and drag their bored or acting out children to "Sunday school." Who join a shul just long enough for the bar or bat mitzvah and "confirmation." What would it take, I wonder, to get them off their duffs and on to a NBN plane?

Just a few thoughts...and a question that I think is worth exploring...

Jerri