Page 12 - HaMizrachi Rosh HaShana - Yom Kippur 5783 USA

“Why Should Ahavat

Yisrael Stop at the

Borders of Israel?”

An Interview with

Rabbi Hillel Van-Leeuwen

For the past seven years, Rabbi Hillel Van-Leeuwen has served as the head of World
(PHOTO: DAVID STEIN)
Mizrachi’s leadership programs. Today he leads World Mizrachi’s Center for Zionist
Shlichut in the Diaspora, where he coordinates the work of multiple shlichut organizations,
supports shlichim in the field, and trains the shlichim of the future. Last month, Rabbi
Aron White spoke with Rav Hillel to learn more about the world of shlichut.

Years ago, before you became the head of Mizrachi’s Center Being a religious Jew and a Zionist demands that we care for
for Zionist Shlichut in the Diaspora, you served as a shaliach the entirety of the Jewish people – not only those who live in
yourself. Where did you go on shlichut, and how did the the Land. More than half of world Jewry still live in chutz la’aretz.
experience impact you?
Diaspora Jewry have the right to choose where to live and it is
I was on shlichut twice! I first went in the mid-80s for two years as not our role to judge others. At the same time, the Tanach is very
a high school kid with my family to Detroit, Michigan, where my clear: it is ideal to live in Israel. Diaspora Judaism is the ‘side dish’,
father was the Rabbi at Akiva Hebrew Day School. Ten years later, while Jewish life in Israel is unquestionably the main course.
my wife and I, together with our three young children, served as If we don’t vote with our feet and show Hashem we want this
shlichim at the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto (CHAT) Land, we have a serious problem.
for three years. We also worked in the shul, at Sunday schools, This is why Religious Zionist shlichut is absolutely critical. Our
summer camps and the JCC.
shlichim highlight the centrality of Eretz Yisrael.
I was born in Chicago, but my family made Aliyah when I was
just a baby. I grew up bilingual, but culturally, I was Israeli. What are the goals of Mizrachi’s Center for Zionist Shlichut
in the Diaspora?
Our shlichut experience in Detroit opened me up to a broader
world. I always knew about communities in the Diaspora, There is a constantly growing need to help Diaspora communities
but it was a different experience to be there and experience find the right men and women to lead and inspire their
firsthand the differences between life in Israel and America. It communities – including in schools, youth movements and
certainly increased my awareness of the need to build bridges campuses. The challenge has only increased since the COVID
and connections between Diaspora communities and Israel. Even pandemic’s “great retirement”, when huge numbers of teachers
in Israel, I have primarily taught students from chutz la’aretz, left the field.
hoping to remove the fear of the unknown, expose them to Israeli When we speak with Diaspora communities, the first thing they
culture and bridge the gaps between them and Israelis. In that ask is “do you have shlichim for us?” They know that shlichim from
sense, our shlichut never ended, even after we returned to Israel.
Israel bring a unique, added value. Even with the cultural and
As Religious Zionists, we naturally consider Israel to be the language barriers many of our shlichim encounter, the value they
center of our world. Why is it a Religious Zionist ideal to leave provide is significant, and there is rising demand for it. This is
Israel and go on shlichut? what we aim to accomplish at the Shlichut Center.

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