This Week
Following His Conscience
Akiva graduate who had been working in New York dedicates himself to Israel.
B
DEBRA ISAACS
Special to the Jewish News
en Beres isn't in search of the extraordinary.
But he's doing something extraordi-
nary for a young American: settling in
Israel, searching for work, and perhaps
serving the country if it needs him.
He left a good job at Goldman Sachs last week, gave
up his apartment in Manhattan and left for Katomon,
outside Jerusalem, on Jan. 15. In Israel's shaky econom-
ic climate, he figures he'll be without a job for a while.
"My friends are unemployed and you know what?
So will I be. I don't have a choice," he said.
Beres, 27, a Southfield native who graduated from
Yeshivat Akiva, plans to undergo basic training with
the Israeli army and become a reservist. The age ceil-
ing for army recruits is 28, so he figured he'd better
go now. There were other motives, too.
The Sept. 11 attacks on New York City,
Washington, D.C., and the skies over Pennsylvania,
he said, shook him out of his complacency.
"It put everything in perspective. My job was
stimulating, but I wanted to make a difference. I
didn't feel I was making a difference. I didn't feel
like my fate was going to be decided by bond
traders. So I quit," he said.
Beres, who spent a few years at Yeshivat Sha'alvim
in Israel after high school and describes himself as a
Zionist, is among a tiny number of North
Americans making aliyah.
According to Israel's Ministry of Immigrant
Absorption, slightly more than 1,300 U.S. citizens
moved to the Holy Land last year, the lowest num-
ber since 1967. The rate of aliyah from the United
States has slowed to a painful crawl.
"I think people in North America, even 70 to 80
percent, never visit Israel as a tourist," said Dan
Biron, executive director of the Israel Aliyah Center
in New York. "It's not easy to move from one place
to another. Then there's the language barrier."
A Lonely Decision
Selling Israel to Americans is a challenge that might
be surmounted only by war or a massive cultural
change, Biron suggested. The highest numbers of
aim (immigrants to Israel) came after the Six Day
War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
Those also were years in which many young
Americans fancied themselves compatriots in a
struggle against capitalist values and came to volun-
teer as bulwarks in a fledgling nation.
A decline in the numbers, which hovered between
6,000 and 8,000 from 1967 to 1972, began after
the 1973 war.
Today, the socialist kibbutz is nearly extinct, and
the ongoing violence between Israeli Jews and
Palestinians has none of the romance that the con-
flicts in the last century held for young idealists,
Biron said. Few people have
Back In Michigan
the stomach for a civil war that
Beres' decision to go was signif-
has no geographic bounds.
icant enough to merit a men-
Death is as likely in a pizzeria
tion by Young Israel of Oak
as at an Army checkpoint.
Park Rabbi Reuven Spolter
Beres doesn't view himself as
during the Shabbat service two
an offering for the cause. But
weeks ago. Beres' family,
he can't sit by any longer and
including his parents Mary and
watch the bloodshed from the
William, are longtime mem-
safety of America, he said.
bers of the synagogue.
"My fight is not in Kandahar.
"Let's be honest: Americans
My battle is the battle for
are very comfortable," Rabbi
Jerusalem," he said. "It's the evil
Spolter said later. "We pray for
in the world that needs to be
Israel, give money to Israel and
fought, but my fight is in Israel.
support it politically, but it's
As much as I love America -
important for us to take note
and I am a patriot - my loyal-
of those who put their own
ties lie in Israel."
lives on the line and make the
His colleagues at Goldman
decision to move to Israel."
Sachs, most of them not Jewish,
Beres' parents say they sup-
could not fathom this "meta-
port their son; after all, they
physical" connection he feels for
raised him with a deep love
Israel. His Jewish friends were
Ben Beres with his parents, William and Mary. of Israel.
impressed, but incredulous.
His mother said that if her
Unemployment in Israel is
son is called to military duty, he'd most likely be
staggering, and Beres was making a very good living in
given a computer. He doesn't know anything about
New York. Plus, people have wondered why he would
artillery" she said.
place himself in the line of danger.
Beres, who graduated from Yeshiva University and
Beres doesn't really see it that way.
Columbia University in New York City with a
"I grew up hearing about early pioneers. They had
degree in electrical engineering, thinks he may have
it hard. They were in a minority, there were no
to find a job in Tel Aviv or environs, but he'll see.
police. They came with pitchforks and worked the
"I'd love to say I have a job. But the truth is, I'm
land. Now, shucks, I've got an apartment in
unattached. This is my final calling. I feel like I've
Jerusalem, an army to defend me," Beres said.
maxed out in America." 17
•
N\N,' N't‘s,
\WW.,
The number of U.S. and Canadian citizens
making aliyah is steadily dropping. A look at
the last 15 years:
1986:
1987:
1988:
1989:
1990:
2,179
1,986
1,700
1,533
1,546
1991:
1992:
1993:
1994:
1995:
1,703
2,068
2.280
2,398
2,503
1996:
1997:
1998:
1999:
2000:
2,262
2,057
1.788
1,697
1,400
•
1989: 24,340
1990: 200,170
1991:176,650
1992: 77,320
1993: 77,850
1994: 80,780
1995: 77,630
1996: 72,140
1997: 67,890
1998 58,200
Source: Israel's Ministry of Immigrant Absorption
1999: 78,000
2000: 61,500
2001: 41,318
Total: 1,094,90
-
2,500
2,000 -
1,500 -
1,000
500
1
Source: Hagshama Department of the World Zionist Organization
Overall, the total number of immigrants is
on the decline, particularly since 1996. Most
olim came from the Former Soviet Union. A
look at the last 12 years:
.4
200,
150,000
100,000
50,000
§
D „ v
•-•
11.4 1,11