Is leaving Israel so bad?

amother

Thu, Jul 30 2009, 6:10 pm

I've been living in EY for the past 4 years, and while I really appreciate being there for many reasons (the chagim, certain shiurim I've had the zchut of attending, special mitzvahs like shmittah), I feel like I'll be happier returning back to the US. Not because of the better shopping options, but because I'm dealing with some health issues, and I miss my friends and family, and the slower pace of life.

But I hear a lot about the end of days, and how EY will boot out those who don't have the zchut to be there, Obama will bring on Gog uMagog, and a rebbetzin once told me to stay put because Moshiach is nearly here. One friend tells me that many rabbanim are saying that Moshiach is coming right now, the US will soon be destroyed and only in EY will we be safe. But I don't want to live there out of these fears. B"H we'll merit geula very soon, but what about all the good frum Jews who live in the US and elsewhere? Don't they stand a chance if indeed these predictions come true?

mandksima

Thu, Jul 30 2009, 6:19 pm

This question can start a great discussion but in the end, the answer is...ask your LOR. You should not leave without a Rav telling you it is okay anyway. Are you asking us about that?

I agree about the Moshiach stuff. Now is the time to come here and I am already concerned for my family in chul. Things can get bad here, of course, but at least I'll be here, with the rest of the Jewish people. My dh and kids are my family now as most of my family is in the States. Friends are great support for me here.

The health issues are important and should be addressed to a rav. We left the first time for that reason but now I see that it could have been taken care of here just fine but I was too scared. It would have to be a very big C"VS reason to even have me consider that now. It depends on the health issue, of course.

Tamiri

Thu, Jul 30 2009, 6:50 pm

I think it's very important for a person to be happy. Fulfilled. Able to keep up her life. I don't think a person has to turn into a loony tune just to stay here. There used to be benefits to living in chu"l. I frankly can't see them too clearly now, but YMMV. If you are a rav-asking type, then this is something which needs to be discussed.
Life here can be very, very hard. We've been hit, too. It's not like everything is hunky-dory. I can't believe we are where we are now in several aspects. But when I look at the big picture, I think that Israel is a very good solution for Jews.

merelyme

Thu, Jul 30 2009, 6:55 pm

I heard a mashal about a man who makes a kiddush in shul. He invites his friends who live nearby, but he doesn't really have to invite the people who daven in his shul because of course they'll come to the kiddush - they're right there in his shul already.

The nimshal, of course, is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will bring Moshiach and invite His "friends" to join Him in Eretz Yisrael for the geulah sheleimah ... And of course the people in Eretz Yisrael are invited. After all, they're already there.

creativemommyto3

Thu, Jul 30 2009, 6:58 pm

For me, I feel it in my neshama. I belong here and can't fathom ever going back to the US to live. We were told we have to go visit for sukkos and that was such a HARD decision for us as we really don't want to leave for even a second.. We made the trip as short as possible so that we can get back to EY right away..

Living here is worth ALL the struggles and anything hard.. for 2,000 years there have been people yearning to get back home.. I live here and I am staying NO MATTER WHAT!! it's worth EVERY AMOUNT of hardship!

amother

Thu, Jul 30 2009, 7:47 pm

I'm the anonymous poster. My situation isn't as simple as I initially posted. Moving to Israel was a commitment I made to DH (who's Israeli and always planned for us to return), though I didn't want to move there, esp. after becoming frum (which caused a huge riff in my family) and being postpartum - lots of change in a short amount of time.

But I was willing to give it a chance and I have. One of the big issues is that DH has become a Chabadnik, and I'm not quite there yet. Where we live there's not really a Chabad community (the men are together and the women are trying, but it'll take a long time), and I find it hard to feel connected when many of my friends are DL or Litvish, and they have their own primary communities. I just feel like an outsider in many respects. Where I came from in the US, there's a small Chabad community where I could fit right in, with a good mix of BTs, shluchim and Chabad-from-birth types. I need to find out more info. about other communities in Israel, but this is just one piece of the puzzle. You can't replace your family and you can't replace the friends with whom you have such a history and with whom you connect to on a deeper level.