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26

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 1991

two years is considered a
yored.
"That just means that
when they come back
they'll have extra z'chuyot,
or rights, as a returnee, or
toshav chozer," she said.
"Hundreds of Israelis are
studying or working
abroad. No one has ever
conducted a study to de-
termine how many left
permanently and how
many are abroad tem-
porarily."
Shaul Lilach, who super-
vises 20 community
shlichim across the United
States, said the role of a
shaliach is to strengthen
ties between the Jewish
communities and Israel,
and prevent Jews and
Israelis from disappearing
into American society.
"We're finding out that
Israelis are as much, if not
more, at risk of this hap-
pening," Mr. Lilach said.
"Older Israelis tend to be
more secure with their
Judaism and Israeli
background. They're used
to living in a country as a
majority. But their chil-
dren are slipping away.
"Most Israelis come to
the United States or
Canada thinking their
children will never forget
where they came from even
if they put them through
the public school systems
without attention to Jew-
ish education.
"They're taking it for
granted that their kids will
feel as Jewish as they do
because they know how to
speak Hebrew," he said.
Mr. Lilach said shlichim
discuss ways in which they
can encourage Israelis to
become more active in
their new communities.
"Many Israelis think
that they need money to
join the Jewish commun-
ity," Mr. Lilach said.
"Israelis don't have a cul-
ture of giving money to
organizations."
Recognizing that Israel
loses hundreds of citizens
every year, the govern-
ment is unofficially at-
tempting to change its at-

Meir and Ayala Jedwab
from the deck of their
West Bloomfield home.

titude regarding yordim,
Mr. Lilach said.
"Too many Israelis have
family and friends who left
the country now," he said.
"The issue has moved
away from the principle to
the personal."
Mrs. Maas, who discuss-
ed the term yordim at a re-
cent assembly of shlichim,
said she no longer uses the
term.
"Ten or 15 years ago, you
could ask somebody when
he or she was going back to
Israel," Mrs. Maas said.
"Today, I never raise the
question. It makes too
many Israelis uncomfor-
table."
Sasson and Gila Natan,
who moved to Detroit a
year-and-a-half ago,
believe every Israeli living
abroad has a point of no
return.
"I think anyone who's
been away from Israel for
more than 10 years has
reached a breaking point,"
Mr. Natan said. "By 10
years, you should know
whether or not you're go-
ing to be staying where you
are, or going back to
Israel."
The Natans said if it
weren't for Robomatics, the
Israeli company that
employs Mr. Natan, they
probably wouldn't have
come to the United States
at this time.
"My company sent me to
Detroit for two or three
years," said Mr. Natan, the
father of Adi, 10, Maayan,

.

8, and Yishai, 7. "Even if
it's only for a few years of
our lives, we believe the
interaction with American
Jewish children will be
positive for our kids."
The Natans, who bought
a house in Southfield, send
their children to Akiva
Hebrew Day School. They
said they're happy with the
level of religious education
their children are receiv-
ing.
"The Jewish community
here has been wonderful,
very warm and inviting,"
Mr. Natan said. "That was
probably our biggest worry
when we left Israel. It's
hard to duplicate the quali-
ty of religious life you take
for granted in Israel."
The Natans said their
main concerns were edu-
cation and religion.
"For us, it's the religious
life in Israel that will bring
us back. If we didn't
believe in that, we'd prob-
ably have no problem stay-
ing on in the United States
indefinitely. From a purely
economic point of view, it
hardly makes sense to go
back."
Mr. Natan, who spent
seven years in the Israel
Defense Force, said there
was a time in Israel when a
move like his would have
been labeled as yeridah.
"There's nothing wrong
with wanting to try an-
other way of life for
awhile," Mr. Natan said.
"The world today is open. I
never thought of people

who made yeridah as losers
or betrayers of their coun-
try.
"If more and more
Israelis want to leave, then
the shame is on the country
and not on the persons
leaving," Mr. Natan said.
"A country is like a com-
pany. If it can't satisfy its
workers, they'll leave the
company and look
elsewhere."
That's what Mr. Natan
said his maternal and pa-
ternal grandparents did
when they left Baghdad
and came to Israel.
• "They came during the
country's first big aliyah,"
Mr. Natan said.
"They left wealthy
homes in Baghdad to live
in ma'abarot, tent cities,"
said Mr. Natan, who was
born in the Jerusalem
neighborhood of Katamon.
Mr. Natan said that in
the beginning, his grand-
father, a wealthy fabric
broker, was unhappy in
Israel.
"They were poor and
didn't understand the
language," Mr. Natan said.
"They didn't know what
was going to happen from
day to day. My mother was
used to servants and new
clothes every Jewish holi-
day. Suddenly, she was
lucky if she got to eat an
egg once a day."
Mr. Natan said his
grandfather, upset by his
family's impoverishment,
threatened to set his house
and family on fire if the

Photos by Glenn Triest

one complain. When we
met people on the street,
we'd always say yiyeh tov,
it'll be OK."
Mrs. Jedwab, who said
many Israelis lived
without refrigerators, said
few missed them.
"We didn't know any
better," Mrs. Jedwab said.
"When you don't have
anything to compare it.to ,
you don't feel you're
deprived."
Mrs. Jedwab said it
wasn't until she got to the
United States that she
understood what different
choices meant. She said by
the time her husband felt
ready to go back to Israel,
she asked for another five
years.
"We had air condition-
ing, two cars, the kids had
their own bathroom," Mrs.
Jedwab said. "I got a good
job, I could go to the
market and buy anything."
Mrs. Jedwab taught Heb-
rew at United Hebrew
Schools for 12 years before
working in the retail bridal
gown industry. Mr. Jed-
wab, a retired builder, said
that Howard Elias, a
Detroit builder, took
responsibility for the in-
itial welfare of his family.
"He stood by me, morally
and financially, signing af-
fidavits for my family,"
Mr. Jedwab said.
Despite their good luck,
Mr. Jedwab can't shake the
guilt.
"I think every Israeli far
from home feels a little
guilt," he said. "I still hope
we will go back."
Sivan Maas, who runs
the Aliyah Desk in Detroit,
said most Israelis fall into
one of three categories.
"There are those who
believe that Israel can only
survive with a Jewish
majority, and there are
those who also believe in
freedom of choice," she
said. "People leave their
countries of origin every
day. Why should Israel be
any different?" And
there are those who fall in
between.
Israeli representatives
have no official numbers
when it comes to
calculating-how many yor-
dim are living in the
United States, according to
Tsviya Shimon of the Israel
consulate in Chicago. She
said any Israeli citizen who
leaves Israel for more than