I INSIGHT
ZE'EV CHAFETS
Israel Correspondent
O
n the day after
Passover, Israel's
half million strong
Moroccan community
celebrated its traditional
Mimuna festival in
Jerusalem's Sa_char Park.
This year, the community
cast the holiday as a show of
solidarity with the immi-
grants currently flooding the
country, and invited them to
take part in the event. "We
have everyone here," a
spokesman for the festival
told a radio interviewer.
"Not only Moroccans, but
Soviets, Ethiopians,
Romanians, Argentinians,
Americans . . . "
"Americans?" asked the
puzzled reporter.
"Sure, Americans," said
the spokesman. "You know,
tourists."
In fact, the vast majority of
American Jews who arrive
at Ben Gurion Airport are
visitors. This year, experts
predict that no more than
two thousand Jews from the
United States will make
aliyah (that is, emigrate to
Israel) — fewer than the
number of Soviets arriving
each week. These same ex-
perts say that of that tiny
figure of .03 percent of
American Jewry making
aliyah each year, more than
half of the newcomers will
eventually return to the
United States.
The Association of Ameri-
cans and Canadians in Israel
(AACI) estimates that, since
1948, 150,000 American
Jews have settled in Israel,
but only 70,000 or so are still
here.
Why do so many American
immigrants fail to adjust?
According to Naomi Raz, the
daughter of a Mississippi
rabbi who provides culture-
shock therapy to American
immigrants, the reasons are
primarily personal.
"The average American
oleh (or, immigrant) goes
through five distinct
stages," she says. "Initially,
there's euphoria. Then
comes depression. People
start to miss family, friends,
More Soviet olim arrive in a week than American olim do in a year.
Why Few
Americans
Make Aliyah
And more than half of the tiny
percentage who do move to Israel
go back.
food, events. At this stage,
they often begin to express
negative attitudes about
Israelis. Stage three is one of
gradual adjustment, when
the new immigrant begins to
feel more competent and
more positive. And then
comes stage four — a time of
really deep disillusionment,
a feeling of, 'Is that all there
is?' Stage four typically sets
in after a year and a half,
and it is during this period
when most of the drop-outs
leave.
"If people make it through
stage four, they reach a new
plateau." Raz continued.
"Stage five is a transition to
being bi-cultural, able to fit
in emotionally in Israel."
Raz said that it usually
takes three years to reach
this level, and even then,
success is not assured.
"There are relapses," she
said. "Everybody has their
stage four days."
Many who return blame
economic problems for their
unsuccessful aliyah, saying
they simply could not make
a living in Israel. Raz be-
lieves that temperament,
rather than objective condi-
tions, is the main element in
determining who stays and
who leaves. "Studies have
found that the obvious
things — coming with
enough money to live well, a
prior knowledge of Hebrew,
or family here, are not the
primary factors. The suc-
cessful oleh is usually some-
one with a sense of adven-
ture, flexibility, humor and
the ability to reach out and
form intimate relations with
others. And, they have to
hear a little voice, remin-
ding them of why they came
in the first place, and why
they should stay."
That little voice has
changed over the genera-
tions. In the early years of
the state, most American
immigrants were idealistic
labor Zionists, many of
whom moved to kibbutzim
and sought to participate in
what they saw as a historic
social experiment.
"Of course we were ideal-
ists," said Haim Sanderson,
who came to Kibbutz Kfar
Blum from Boston in 1948.
"We took literally the idea of
a 'Chosen People,' and we
believed that a Jewish state
could be different. The truth
is, we wanted to create a so-
cialist utopia."
Sanderson admits to being
disappointed by modern day
Israel; he and a group of
other veteran immigrants
meet regularly to discuss
ways to promote better
government.
"There are a lot of things I
don't care for," he said. "But
if I had to do it over again,
knowing then what I know
now, yes, I would do it all
again. I've had a very
challenging life, and I feel
I've made a contribution. If
I'd have stayed in Boston, I'd
have been a lawyer, and
maybe I'd have a few more
bucks. But how many cars
can you drive, how many
houses can you live in?
We've built something
here."
A second wave of Ameri-
can aliyah began to arrive
following the 1967 Six Day
War. Between 1969 and
1971, 26,000 Americans set-
tled in Israel — the largest
group in history. According
to Olga Rachmilevitch, an
official of the AACI, these
immigrants were young,
unattached (about 40 per-
cent were single, compared
to less than 20 percent of
today's olim) and searching
for identity. "Unlike the real
veterans, they were less uto-
pian than euphoric," she
said. "They didn't want to
change the world, only their
own lives."
David Krizelman is a
member of that generation.
He came to Israel from Long
Island in 1969, served as an
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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