Aliyah Here We Go!!

Many family and friends just joined us in Riverdale for our Aliyah farewell
brunch. It was very nice. It was sponsored by
Tehilla and they only expected 30-40 people to show,
but in the end there were between 80-100 people. I
wish our actual aliyah was sooner than it is, but it
was still nice to have the gathering. I enjoyed the
event, not becuase it focused upon us and our aliyah,
but because it was important in order to get our
friends and families up and doing something to connect
with Israel and thinking about aliya. At the event I
actually thanked everyone for coming, not for us, but
for showing their support for the state of Israel by
supporting those of us who are tying our fates with
the People of Israel in the Land of Israel. I also
mentioned two messages that I wanted to leave
everybody with: 1. That the aliyah process would be
much easier if our friends and families would join us
in Israel (That was my soft-sell approach to pushing
aliyah, even though everybody was expecting me to give
them a hard-sell "fire and brimstone" mussar approach
to aliyah) and 2. The need for the Jewish community
to return to dreaming and desiring to return to live
in Israel. Not to give it lip service, but to really
feel the desire to one day live their, even if they
don't go their immediately.

I liked what I said and I enjoyed having an event
focusing upon Israel and Aliyah. It's a tough topic
to speak about nowadays, but i believe davka today,
beause of what is going on, it is a very opportune
time to speak about it.

In anycase, I wanted to update you on some exciting
news. My company has officially decided to open up an
office in Israel!!! No timing has been announced as
of yet, but I feel that I'm working at this company at
a critical juncture that will allow me to take
advantage of the opportunity to work for the company
in Israel. Nothing is set in stone, but there is a
possibility that a job will open up in Israel at the
beginning of the year 2002. However, I find myself
caught in a dilemma. On the one hand I want to return
to Israel as soon as possible, which I have right now
set to be November. And the possibility of working
for my company in Israel might make me push back our
plans a couple of months. Now, I know that a couple
of months is very much worth it to push off, in order
to return to Israel with a stable job, in a very
unstable economy and job market. But of course, it is
still not an easy decision to make for me, considering
that my place is in Israel, and I want to get there as
soon as possible. Any time I push off our return I
feel as if I'm betraying myself and values and ideals
that I hold so dear.