Page 52 - HaMizrachi # 23 Sukkot Simchat Torah 2020 USA

THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND ISRAEL INSIGHT

David M. Weinberg

Aliyah Anniversary Reflections

hen my wife and I moved But overall, my ledger is positive and net energy exporter. Israel is a world
to Jerusalem 30 years ago forward-looking. leader in desalination, which (along
Wthis summer, TV ads were with this past winter’s abundant rains)
for drinking milk and eating oranges, Israel is nine million people strong, has largely solved the country’s water
not for 40” flat TV screens and “Fauda.” a poignant riposte to Hitler’s Holo- problems.
Shimon Peres was on the right-wing of caust. The birthrate is well above the
the Labor Party. English was the coun- Western average, and Israel remains a In the grand strategic perspective,
try’s second language, not Russian. family-oriented society. Against many the regional security architecture is
expectations, religious tradition (with moving in directions that strengthen
Pesach and Sukkot vacations were unique Israeli flavors) and values-edu- this country, where Israel is a linchpin
for hiking the streams, mountains, cation are making healthy comebacks. of stability for the West and an ally for
and flower fields of the Galilee, not 1.5 million immigrants have moved to the Arabs in combating radical Islam.
for shop-till-you-drop excursions in Israel since 1990, boosting the country Only Iran and Turkey threaten Israel,
air-conditioned mega-malls or for in every way. and their comeuppance is coming.
flights out to the casinos of Greece. Israel’s diplomatic horizons have never
We danced the hora, not trance. According to all polls, Israelis are been broader. The American Embassy
overwhelmingly proud and happy to is finally in Jerusalem!
Zionism was considered the coun- live in this country, even if many are
try’s heroic and defining ideology, not hurting now because of the corona On a personal level, we arrived in
a chauvinist and politically incorrect crisis and they feel the government is Israel 30 years ago with one baby
prejudice. Draft dodgers were people not functioning well. daughter. Since then, my wife and I
who closed their front doors when the have been blessed with five more kids
evening breeze started. “Settlement” The economy is fundamentally (born in Jerusalem!), several sons-
was not a dirty word. healthy, and fortunately, interest rates in-law and a daughter-in-law, and
are the lowest ever. Israeli hi-tech beautiful grandchildren. Almost all
“Withdrawal” was a financial term and biotech are benefiting billions of have studied in yeshiva and graduated
(something you did with money at people around the world. And despite university, including PhD and MBA
the bank), and disengagement meant severe underfunding, medical care in studies, and even post-doctoral fel-
breaking someone’s lovesick heart. Israeli hospitals is second to none.
Even the intellectuals were unabash- lowships. Three have been senior IDF
officers, two are front-line combat
edly patriotic. Israel’s leadership ranks are no longer
a White-Ashkenazi-Labor-Socialist medics. They are proud of their long
The Western Wall was where Jews preserve, but more representative of periods of service in defense of Israel.
went to pray, not protest. The Law the diverse population. Many youths
of Return brought Jews to Israel. still want to serve their country in the In retrospect, moving to Israel was one
The Chief Rabbinate sought to build best and most difficult military units, of the best decisions we ever made. We
thank G-d for accompanying us along
bridges for religion with secular Israe- and their determination to fix the
lis. The Supreme Court dealt with social-economic ills of the country is the way. We feel fortunate to be part of
legal issues and left it to you and me stirring. a meta-historic, grand drama of Jewish
national renewal and redemption. The
and the Knesset to decide what is
“reasonable.” Israel’s universities and yeshivas are next 30 years can only be even better.
first-class, with tens of thousands of David M. Weinberg is vice president of the
Indeed, Israel has dramatically students. The good L-rd has granted Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security,
changed in recent decades, in both this country major natural gas offshore jiss.org.il. His personal site is davidmwein-
encouraging and disconcerting ways. deposits, with Israel soon to become a berg.com.

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