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September 09, 1983 - Image 110

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1983-09-09

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

110 Friday, September 9, 1983

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

A Letter to Jewish Parents About Aliya

An eye can threaten like a
loaded and levelled pistol,
or can insult, like hissing or
kicking; or in its altered
By DVORA WAYSMAN
World Zionist Press Service
mood, can, by beams of
to all
kindness, make the heart
JERUSALEM .— "You're
dance with joy.
our friends
doing a terrible__thing to
your parents!""
and relatives
Do the words sound famil-
Best wishes for a
iar? Maybe you've even
happy, healthy
used them yourself if your
New Year
children have come to you
saying that they want to go
BARBARA & CHARLES TOBIAS
on aliya — to come home to
DAVID & ESTHER SILVER
Eretz Israel. Several young
people contacted me after
reading my book, "To Any
We wish our family and friends a
Jewish Teenager," in which
very healthy, happy and prosperous
I explained the centrality'of
Israel and Zionism to Jews,
New Year
and offered aliya as a chal-
lenging adventure, and the
MAE FINK & FAMILY
most worthwhile thing a
young Jew could do with his
life.
We wish our family and friends a
The response from all the
very healthy, happy and prosperous
young people was identical:
New Year
"The hardest part of coming
on aliya is persuading your
MARLENE & PHIL OZROVITZ &
parents to let you do it."
SONS AARON, STEVEN & KEVIN
Why are so many parents
afraid of the word aliya?
We wish our family and friends a
The word simply means "go-
ing up" — a spiritual ascent
very healthy, happy and prosperous
when a Jew comes to Eretz
New Year
Israel. Many of you think of
yourselves as strong sup-
MR. & MRS. PAUL L. SHERIZEN & FAMILY
porters of Israel. You donate
money; work for Israeli
causes, use your political
pressure in Israel's inter-
ests; visit frequently as
tourists; and send your chil-
Wishing all our family and
dren to summer camp, on
kibutz working holidays, or
friends a year of
even for a year of study in a
health and happiness
yeshiva or for college cre-
dits.
But when your son or
BILL & ANN ZIMMERMAN, Hollywood, Fla.
daughter wants to make
a real commitment,. then
you panic and use all
kinds of emotional
A Very Happy and Healthy,
blackmail to get them to
their minds.
New Year to All Our. Friends
• change
Of course it is under-
standable. Aliya is not
and Family
possible for all parents —
you may have businesses or
jobs that can't be left; other
children who are married,
at school or simply satisfied
to stay put; even elderly
parents to care for. You feel
that you are too old to learn
a new language and a new
lifestyle; to trade in the fi-
nancial and emotional secu-
A Very Happy and Healthy
rity you now have for a big
step into the unknown.
New Year to All Our Friends
These are all valid
arguments and you may of
and Family
'
course be of help to Israel
from your home in the Dias-
pora.

1111D71 111111 Mtn

DORA & LOU GREEK



tut your children . . .
that is something else. You
cannot understand why
they would want to leave a
loving home with every

HANNAH & TED SPITZ

To All Our
' rIlty
. Relatives
rIZ1t
and Friends,
Our wish for a ---- 1 :11 nril
-,
year filled with (- -
happiness,
health and prosperity


,

.

material comfort, for a new
life so far from the family
circle, where young men
and women will also have to
share the military burden.
The whole thing frightens
you, and although you can
come to terms with the idea
of them going away to col-
lege, or even of having their
own apartment, aliya is a
terrifying concept.
Most young people who
want to come on aliya
have already spent some
time in Israel. This what
they found. First, they
were no longer a minority
in a gentile society. The
whole of Israel was their
extended family . . .
supportive and caring
when they needed them.
It is a magnificent feeling
to feel solidarity with
everyone • else. You celeb-
rate the Jewish festivals
and the national holidays
together with the whole of
Israel — a Jew in a Jewish
land. It is not a matter of
being religious. It is a mat-
ter of identity, of knowing
who you are; what you be-
lieve in; what you stand for.
It is a matter of sharing a'
common destiny with
everyone — a year of peace
for one will be a year of
peace for all; and it is a thrill
to hear everyone in Israel
greet each other and say
goodbye. to each other with
the word "Shalom," peace.
Next it is an adventure
and a challenge. There is
nothing your son or daugh-
ter can do with his life more
meaningful than using it to
help build a new country, a
homeland. Everything that
happens in Israel he will be
involved with, from the
opening of a new road to the
I discovery of a new breed of
tomato.
When you're here, you
bask in the reflected
glory of every good thing
that happens; just as you
grieve communally for
the bad. But you are part
Of it, of everything that
happens, in a way you
never could be anywhere
else. It is your country,
your people.

No work that your chil-
dren undertake in Israel is
considered menial. In fact
there is an admiration and
respect for the people who
work the land on moshavim
and kibutzim like the early
pioneers when it was still
Palestine. After all, the
Jews were once an agricul-

tural people and in Israel
many are finding fulfill-
ment in this way.
Of course, there is also the
academic life and univer-
sities of world stature; as
well as vibrant technology,
industry and the arts. You
are needed here, your con-
tribution is valued, as
nowhere in the world.
And you as parents . . .
you will gain, not lose. For
one thing, you can almost
stop worrying about inter-
marriage — it is so rare in
Israel as to be negligible. ;
Not only will your children
stay Jewish, you will have
Jewish grandchildren and
great-grandchildren to per-
petuate your name and yoir
traditions, generation, after
generation.
Certainly your chil-
dren will have to do their
share in the defense of
their country, but you
can be proud of this fact.
The boys and girls that
serve in the IDF finish
their tern of duty as ma-
ture and disciplined
adults, able to cope su-
perbly in society and
with values and ethics of
the highest degree. You
will be proud of them!

THE LESHMANS
MARTIN, PHYLLIS, ROBERT & KAREN

French Jews were re-
ported to have visited Ire-
land in 1062.

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

MR. & MRS. CHAIM
BLUMENKOPF

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

JOHN & RUTH JENSEN

Tucson, Ariz.

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

MR. & MRS. JOE BERKOVIC

THE SIMON JOSEN FAMILY

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

Best wishe's for a
happy, healthy
New Year

LISA.& GERALD BRODY

ZOLTAN & BOZSI KREISMAN

Best wishes for a
happy, - healthy
New Year

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

MR. & MRS. HERMAN H.
(GOLDIE) DELIDOW

MR. & MRS.
BENJAMIN NAGEL

Best wishes for a
. happy, healthy
New Year

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

MARVIN, LYNN, BRUCE &
-
RICK DUBIN

HENRIETTA RUDA & FAMILY

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

ANITA & ALLAN
GILBERT - & FAMILY

ADELE & JOE RUTMAN

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

CAROLYN GREEN & FAMILY

AARON & JAN SALZBERG

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

GERTRUDE & MYRON GRODIN

BEVERLY, ARNIE &
CINDY WEISS

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year

MR. &. MRS. MANUEL M.
GROSSMAN

THE ZABNERS, JEFFREY, CIN-
DEE, LAYNE & ZACHARY

-

,

When you visit Israel —
and it's no longer such a dif-
ficult thing to do — you -
won't be mere tourists. You .
will be coming to your own
land and you will have a big
stake in its future. Not just
a piece of real estate — but
the biggest gift you can give
to Eretz Israel.
There is a saying: "When
you love something, let it
go free." Let your children
take this step. Give them
your blessing. It is the
greatest mitzva you "cando,
and you will go on being re-
warded every day of your
life!

.

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