Shabbat Aliyah: Israeli communities that make aliyah possible come together to honor new olim

When Abraham, Sarah, and Lot arrived in the land of Canaan after a grueling trek from Haran, no aliyah representati  or government officials met them.

The story of their journey, their travails in the Holy Land, and the divine promise to give the land to Abraham’s descendants is the subject of this week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha.

Because of its proximity to the Shabbat Torah reading of Lech Lecha, Israel’s official Aliyah Day is observed on the seventh day of the Hebrew month of Heshvan, which this year corresponded to October 18.

While the day usually passes with little official fanfare or celebration, Young Israel in Israel and the Mizrachi-Young Israel Shuls Network will mark this coming Shabbat, when Parashat Lech Lecha is read, as a national moment to recognize those who have made aliyah.

Forty-two communities throughout the country will mark the day with special celebrations, such as a communal kiddush, oneg shabbat, or seuda shlishit in honor of their olim; an aliyah-themed sermon; personal reflections from olim about their aliyah journey; or classes by a Scholar-in-Residence on the theme of aliyah.

The participating communities range from Zichron Ya’acov and Mitzpe Netofa in the North to Karmei Gat and Beersheba in the South. They include Israeli communities with a small proportion of olim, as well as communities with large olim populations, such as Beit Shemesh, Gush Etzion, and Jerusalem.

THE KARMEI ZION community in Karmei Gat will observe its Shabbat Aliyah with guest speakers sharing personal stories and historical perspectives from ancient to modern times.

Elementary school-aged children will participate in an activity to discuss the story of Abraham and their own experiences of aliyah and becoming Israeli. The community is also distributing prompt cards for Shabbat table conversations to bring the themes of aliyah and “Lech Lecha” into members’ homes.

Katie Matanky, one of the local organizers, explains: “Taking one Shabbat a year to really appreciate the significance of our presence in Israel, and the vast contributions of a broad spectrum of Jews to the land and the state, is of critical importance – especially in today’s social climate.

“Personally, this Shabbat is a time for me to reflect with my family on our choice and privilege to be in this land and the opportunities it provides to my children and one day to their children, grandchildren, and generations to come.”

Rabbi Matanya Kaplan, rabbi of Mitzpe Netofa, a community made up largely of native-born Israeli families, says, “The great step these families have taken, the price they have been willing to pay to move to Israel, and the strength they project are all felt and talked about in our community.

“That is why, among the yishuv’s various committees, there is one called the Olim Support Committee, and every year it is important to everyone to mark a Shabbat in honor of the olim. On this Shabbat we celebrate together with them, engage with the subject through Torah study and speeches related to it, and, above all, salute them.”

Rabbi Yossi Goldin, director of Young Israel in Israel, explains that celebrating aliyah as a community gives the concept greater significance.

“It encourages those who have gone through this experience and have either found there to be challenges or have certain doubts about some of the decisions they made,” he says.

“When the community rallies around them and celebrates with them, it becomes much more meaningful. Also, when people who have gone through similar experiences share them, people feel validated.”

Goldin, who himself made aliyah in 2007, says that one of the most valuable commodities that olim bring to Israel is idealism.

“People who have changed their lives and uprooted their lives to come here are doing that because of a certain vision and a certain dream that they have. That’s something that people who have been living here all their lives might not fully see and might not fully appreciate. But there’s a real excitement that olim come with, and an idealism that they bring when they come.”

While this year’s celebrations focus on English-speaking congregations, Goldin hopes to add olim communities from other countries to next year’s observance so that the Shabbat of Parashat Lech Lecha will become an annual aliyah celebration for Israeli communities.

BEYOND THIS WEEKEND’S communal celebration of Shabbat Aliyah, the event points to a unique component of synagogue observance not always found in Israeli synagogues: a community structure centered on the synagogue itself.

Many Israelis see their synagogue simply as a place to attend prayer services, without any special communal significance.

By contrast, many synagogues in the Diaspora, particularly in North America, view the synagogue as the focal point of communal observance. Many olim have brought this concept to the synagogues they attend here in Israel.

“In America, the frame of mind is that the synagogue is the center of one’s religious life,” says Goldin. “In Israel, that’s not necessarily needed, but creating that sense of community, support, and companionship through the Beit Knesset is a great benefit, and it isn’t necessarily taken for granted here.”

RABBI SHLOMO SOBOL, spiritual leader of Kehillat Shaarei Yonah Menachem Congregation in Modi’in, which is participating in the Shabbat Aliyah, is the co-founder of Barkai, a rabbinic association that certifies Israeli rabbis in counseling, abuse recognition, sensitivity training, mediation, and other pastoral skills.

A 10th-generation Jerusalemite, Sobol spent four years leading the Torah MiTzion kollel in the Detroit area. Torah MiTzion’s kollels in the United States are religious Zionist learning centers where Israeli emissaries study and teach Torah while strengthening local Jewish communities’ ties to Israel.

Before coming to Detroit, Sobol had never left Israel. Adjusting to life in the US brought its own difficulties, but what surprised him most was the concept of a synagogue-based community.

“I arrived in Southfield, Michigan, and for the first time in my life I saw what a community could be. I also saw what it meant to have a community rabbi. I suddenly saw this whole structure: a community with a rabbi, committees, and activities.

“I saw a form of communal rabbinic leadership I hadn’t known before. I knew heads of yeshivot, yeshiva teachers, and city rabbis [in Israel], but I hadn’t encountered this concept of the community rabbinate. It impressed me enormously.

“The other thing that impressed me – I’m not sure exactly how to define it – was the mutual responsibility and the resilience. You could feel it in the air: there was a community here, and it had strength. I knew synagogues and Torah classes, but I had never encountered this power of community.”

Four years later, Sobol and his family returned to Israel, determined to adapt the Diaspora synagogue model in this country. He suggests that the establishment of the state led many Israelis to see less of a need for a synagogue-based community.

“Precisely because we had gathered together and established a Jewish state, the communal structure that had sustained the Jewish people through thousands of years of exile gradually faded.

“The state was now providing services, including religious services. But I felt that wasn’t enough. It’s wonderful, and thank God that the state provides eruvin, kashrut supervision, and so on. But we still need the strength that a community provides.”

SOBOL HARBORS great admiration for olim and the sacrifices they made to come to Israel. “As an Israeli, I admire new immigrants. I’m not just saying that – I truly admire them.

“Part of that comes from being Israeli, and part comes from having spent four years abroad and discovering how difficult it was for me to live within American culture. Then I see people moving to Israel. Generally speaking, life in the United States is more comfortable than life here in many respects.

“People come here and struggle. A child comes home from second grade with homework, and the mother or father who used to help with everything suddenly can’t understand the wording of a math question in a second-grade workbook.

“It requires tremendous dedication and sacrifice. People need to help one another and offer encouragement.

“Every year, when Parashat Lech Lecha is read, we speak about how the people in our community heard the divine call that first came to Abraham – a call that continues to echo through the world, asking the Jewish people to return home.

“They chose to leave successful countries – the United States, Britain, Australia, South Africa. We have many immigrants from all those English-speaking countries. They chose to make aliyah.

“I think immigrants both deserve encouragement and need it. They absolutely deserve to have their aliyah recognized. They also bring enormous blessings. They deserve support, they need support, and they contribute so much. Look at how they run a community.”

Sobol says that the Israelis in Modi’in learn from the example set by olim, simply by observing how they act.

“In our neighborhood, for example, the immigrants’ influence extends beyond their congregation. You see Israelis learning from them. Not through a formal class, but simply by observing.

“People throughout the neighborhood see that our community is warm and welcoming. It has a chesed committee and other committees. During the war, it organized extensive support for soldiers. Israelis learn from that.”

Shabbat Aliyah is an opportunity to present aliyah as a positive accomplishment and encourage Jewish communities living in the US, Goldin adds.

“The approach here is to recognize and take those who have made aliyah and celebrate them and celebrate what they’ve done and celebrate their accomplishment. I think it can have an effect largely on aliyah in general.

“By creating a movement, an initiative where communities across the country celebrate olim and aliyah, it creates a conversation around aliyah that I think raises the bar for how we look at it and how people feel about it.”

Abraham, Sarah, and Lot had no welcoming committee waiting when they reached Canaan. Thousands of years later, those following in their footsteps can hope for a warmer reception – or at least a communal kiddush.

Whether you come from Haran or the Five Towns, the journey still takes courage, a little luck, and some divine help – and a welcoming community makes it easier to call your destination home.■