Linda Radin
truth. I never worked in Israel so I
don't know what it's like . . . Most of
the Israelis in Detroit are ambitious
people. It's a little easier to expand
themselves here." Zvi says he feels
Israel's market is just too limited for
the number of enterprising Israelis.
"How many garage door companies
can you have in Israel?"
It is not only business oppor-
tunities that have kept the Shevachs
in Detroit. Says Zvi, "You say you're
going to work a couple years, the time
drags and that's it." Yaffa adds, "The
longer you're here the harder it is to
go back."
What is so astonishing is that
despite the time they have spent
here, and despite the wide oppor-
tunities of which they have happily
taken advantage, the Shevachs still
speak of moving back to Israel.
"I would not give you a date, but
Israel is still my country," says Zvi, to
which Yaffa amends, "My home."
No Israeli interviewed for this
article would declare that America
was now his permanent home. No Is-
raeli expressed out loud that he
would live his life here and die here,
except the Israelis whose spouses
were American. In fact, many seem
surprised that they are still here,
rather than surprised that they still
speak of returning to Israel.
"When I came here, if you would
have told me that I would stay here
ten years, I would send you to a very
good psychiatrist," said one. He was
not the only one to express this sen-
timent.
There are deeper layers to this
story than just a stream of Israelis
out to make it rich in America. Mass
emigration is rarely caused by "pull"
factors. Rather, it is the endless circle
of army and reserve service and con-
stant economic uncertainty which
has pushed Israelis out of Israel.
. "The economic pressure has
many factors," explains Baruch
Cahlon. "It's not because you're not
making enough money. The situa-
tion is not stable, because the gov-
ernment can change policies over-
night."
Cahlon, his wife, Lili, and their
three boys came to Detroit in 1979.
Baruch is a mathematics professor at
Oakland University.
"Always you're under pressure
to protect yourself economically," he
said. "You can take it for a year, two
years, three years . . . but not forever.
It's not safe, it's not secure, you're not
sure what will happen."
Even so, Israeli expatriates are
not ready to give up on Israel.
"We really live a double life,"
remarks Nira Lev, a teacher at the
Midrasha College of Jewish Studies.
Nira, her husband and two young
sons came to Detroit so her husband
could take a post-doctoral position in
physics at Wayne State University.
"We planned to stay for two
years," she explains, "to get experi-
ence and until we found jobs in Is-
rael." That was 14 years ago.
After the initial two years, jobs
in Israel were still unavailable and
both Nira and her husband found
work here which suited them.
Meanwhile, "the kids found friends;
the school was excellent."
So the Levs began a practice, fol-
lowed by many Israelis: they visited
Israel every summer instead of mov-
ing back. The Levs even went a step
further: for six years they sent their
sons Ron and Ori, now 20 and 16, to
school in Israel two months out of the
year. The two would leave school
here several weeks early and finish
out the year in Israel. The Levs
wanted their sons to keep up with
their Israeli peers, even while they
lived in America.
"That's wild," Nira says as she
recounts the lengths to which she and
her husband went to maintain their
family's Israeli connection, "but we
were very sure that we were going
back."
"Do Italians go back to Italy like
Israelis go back to Israel to visit?"
Ruth Carmel muses. A member of the
local Israeli Community Organiza-
tion's coordinating committee, Ruth
likened the yearly sojourns to Israel
to the Aliyot Laregel, the thrice-
yearly pilgrimages our ancestors
made to Jerusalem in the days of the
Temple.
"I don't say 'we'll go back' " she
declares. "It's an illusion. As long as
we're here, we're living a normal life.
But if you say, 'I'll go back,' it doesn't
mean anything unless you do it.
"It's not good for the children.
And Israelis won't believe you unless
you do it."
What keeps the Israelis here?
Nira Lev describes "circles that close
in little by little so you don't break
out." Those circles include social ties,
as well as a job and home.
"I think people get attached to an
environment because of the relation-
ships they create," she says. "Al-
though we miss our family in Israel,
we have a semi-family here too. We
found very good friends here . . . Now
if I go back, I feel that something will
be lacking.
After 14 years in the U.S. Nira
Lev is still unsure where to call
home. "Although we love America,
Israel is equally our home," she ex-
plains after much soul searching.
"We never made a decision to stay (in
SHALOM AND MIRA LEV:
"There's nothing you can say
to justify being here . . . That's
not how I was brought up."
15