There is one word that many Zionist shlichim around the world are forbidden to say out loud, and this is exactly the time to say it again with full force and power.
Some years ago, we met a young woman preparing for a year of National Service at one of the Jewish schools in Europe.
During our conversation, she related that together with the excitement and the preparation, she was also somewhat surprised by the instructions she received when accepted to the position. Apparently, she was explicitly told that the community and school were happy about her arrival and looking forward to it, but she must understand that in her interactions with the community’s children, she must not under any circumstance mention the A word. She may not speak about Aliya.
“We are happy here,” they said, explaining that the focus of her role was on teaching Hebrew language, Jewish heritage and nothing beyond that. The families want to see their children growing and developing with them and beside them, with no extraneous talk about Aliya.
It turns out this was not an isolated incident. Since then, we have met many more emissaries who received the same messages.
The time has come to understand that this period has passed.
At an emergency conference on combating antisemitism held in Krakow and Auschwitz, the head of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, said the following:
“Today, people who look Jewish are afraid to walk around in the streets in Europe. People are walking around with a bodyguard. The current situation of the Jewish people in Europe is the worst since Kristallnacht. Today, every fifteen minutes there is an anti-Semitic incident in Europe.
We are in an emergency situation regarding anti-Semitism, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Therefore, we call on the European Union to declare a six-month state of emergency to wage war on anti-Semitism.”
Rabbi Margolin added at the same conference that in light of the genuine crisis facing Europe, Jews require emergency protocols: “There must be a resolute iron hand that will put a stop to anti-Semitism. If this does not happen now, there will be no Jewish life on the continent.
I was not surprised by what happened in Amsterdam. I warned about this. There is an insane level of hatred. It is not only from Muslims. When you look at the protests, you see an absolute majority of white European Christians. The impression that it is only from Muslims is mistaken. Muslims might be more violent.
If I were not a rabbi responsible for the community which I lead, I would leave the continent. I feel like the ship is sinking, but I am obligated as a Jewish leader, to remain.”
We read Rabbi Margolin’s statement as cited in the media, and the profound feeling is that this is a disappointing and even difficult to understand statement. Were someone to arrive from another planet and read his statement, they would be convinced that Jews are a wretched people without a country, without a land, without an army; a people subject to the mercy of nations. There is not a single word in his statement, at least the one cited in the media, that relates to the existence of the State of Israel and the need and obligation to make Aliya.
To tell the truth, the statement is not just strange but outrageous. It turns out that even today, despite the pogroms, harassment of Jews, exclusion of Jews, slandering and attacks on campuses, demonstrations in support of terrorism, cries for a “Free Palestine from the river to the sea,” marking Jewish businesses, and more; despite all this, Jewish community leaders in Europe are doing everything possible to avoid uttering the A word.
The time has come to speak candidly to our beloved brethren abroad: We are no longer in the year 1933. There is no longer any need for emergency protocols to protect European Jews, because there is nothing for Jews to look for in Europe. There is no future for Jews in Europe, nor should there be a future there for any Jew. The future of the Jewish people in general, and of each and every individual Jew in particular, is exclusively in Israel. Therefore, community leaders in Europe must proudly, openly, and without fear or concern, declare: “Thank God, today we have the State of Israel. The time for Aliya has come!”
They should say this and immediately set a personal example and begin to pack. Members of their communities will follow. The Land of Israel awaits them.
Our appeal is also to the Government of Israel. It must urgently prepare an emergency plan for the aliya and absorption of a million or more of our brethren still in exile. This will not be a plan of transit camps, but an attractive plan that ensures olim (Jewish immigrants) will have dignified work, corresponding to their skills and abilities, suitable housing, warm absorbing communities, an education system prepared for their arrival, and more.
The days of the "maabarot" transit camps are over. Israel is mighty and powerful, and has the ability to absorb its children returning from afar in a suitable and dignified manner that will clarify to each of them that in their decision to make Aliya, they have made the right choice for themselves, their families, and their people. We must ensure that they all feel they have returned home in every sense.
The mass return of the Diaspora Jews to their Land is relief, deliverance, and success for all parties. Israel is in the midst of a difficult and complex war, and in times like this, the addition of one million olim will provide a refreshing impetus of unadulterated Zionism, Judaism, redemption, and hope.
The arrival of Diaspora Jews in the Land will also serve as a response to the demographic challenge involved in the imminent process of applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.
If so, dear brethren, we are once again invoking the A word, in a big way. The time for Aliya has arrived!