ALIYAH COMMITTEE
AMTON Newsletter
Fall 2000
Dear Readers,
Three years of shlichut to the Conservative
Movement — to Tnuat Am, MERCAZ USA, and the Israel
Aliyah Center of the World Zionist Organization —
have passed. It's hard to comprehend. It seems like
only yesterday that it was the middle of August, 1997
at 8:30am, that I was sitting on a bench at Madison
Square Park, waiting for 9:00am, so I could begin my
first day at the MERCAZ offices. But no! It was not
yesterday, and not the day before yesterday, but it
was about 1100 yesterdays ago. My encounter with the
American Jewish community in general and with the Movement
for Conservative Judaism in particular has reminded
me of this wonderful midrash of our Sages:
"Ye...are alive every one of you this day"
(Devarim/Deuteronomy 4:4). When are you described
as "alive"? As [on this day], when "every
one of you" is joined together in one Agudah/cluster.
[When His cluster is one, He will establish it upon
the Land". (Amos 9:6] In the way of the world,
when a man picks up a cluster/agudah of reeds,
can he possibly break them all at one time? But if he
picks up the reeds one by one even a child can break
them. Thus you find that Israel cannot be redeemed until
they are one cluster/agudah achat: "In those
days the house of Judah shall walk with the House of
Israel, and they shall come together in a cluster out
of the land of the north" (Jer. 3:18).
As an Israeli, I was granted an extraordinary experience.
I was fortunate to be in touch with the real source
of strength for the Jewish people which is the solidarity
and the brotherhood linking the Jewish community in
Israel with the Diaspora, and particularly, the community
in North America. Indeed, each and every one of us is
a reed, easily broken but when we are together —
and we must remain together as one agudah/cluster,
the cluster of Judaism, Zionism and the land of Israel
— then we are undefeatable.
Three years is a long time. During that time, I have
tried, with of course the help of many others, to bring
my Israel, the Israel that I know and love, to the awareness
of American Jews, and to promote aliyah to Israel, whether
in stages or all at once, within Conservative congregations,
as the prophet Amos said: "When His cluster is
one, He will establish it upon the Land" (Amos
9:6). I have tried at all times to convey the message
that you, and we, we're not alone, we're together in
one cluster, and the land/eretz is our land and
yours.
In the Conservative Movement, I've been fortunate to
meet with professionals and lay people, young people
and seniors, men and women who are devoted to Israel
and committed to Zionism. I have found here so many
people for whom Israel and what it represents is a part
of their body, part of their neshama/soul. Israel
is theirs, like it's mine, despite the arguments, despite
the frustrations. Israel is our home, Israel is our
family. We may fight and we may disagree, but our commitment
to one another is unconditional, we are one cluster.
In the last three years, Tnuat Am, together with the
Israel Aliyah Center has helped hundreds of Conservative
Jews to move to Israel. With our various Zionist/Israel
oriented activities, we have strived to strengthen the
kesherim (ties) and gesherim (bridges)
between the American Conservative and Israeli communities,
we have developed the base of MaroM/KOACH (the student
and young leadership division of Tnuat Am) and with
our little "Curious
About Living in Israel?" graphic which has
been reproduced in several synagogue newsletters, we
have been expanding Tnuat Am's base (as evidenced by
the telephone responses we have had from interested
readers from synagogues across the country).
In this issue, we are continuing with our Album
of Activities, our Hebrew/English
Glossary, and another glossary of Israeli/American
cultural differences "What
Are They Thinking?" which is fun to read, but
which can also help us to recognize and understand our
cultural differences. We also have a moving personal
story by Joe Romanelli, who made aliyah from
Brooklyn 28 years ago, that vividly portrays his reason
for aliyah as well as the importance of the Conservative
Aliyah Movement. Finally, for those of you who are interested
in aliyah, we have put in a preliminary "Aliyah
Timetable" to help you get started.
Todah rabah/thank you to all of you, who helped
us in Tnuat Am so that we came closer to our common
goals. And bruchah ha'ba-ah/welcome to the new
shlicha, Karni Goldshmid-Lahav, who will go forward
with you on the road to achieve the goals of Tnuat Am
and MaroM/KOACH. Karni will be coming with her husband
Uri from Jerusalem where she has been working as the
Education Director of the Masorti Movement. Karni is
also completing graduate studies at the Schechter Institute,
and she and Uri are active members of the Masorti Movement.
It is said in Kohelet/Ecclesiastes: "A
time for planting, and a time for uprooting the planted,
A time for tearing down and a time for building up,
A time for wailing and a time for dancing." And
so I add, it is time to say shalom u'l'hitraot/hoping
to see you soon in Israel.
Hezi Nir
Shaliach to the Conservative Movement in North
America
Masorti —
means "traditional" and is also the name of
the Movement for Conservative Judaism in Israel....
Aliyah —
means "ascent" and refers to immigration to
Israel.... Oleh (Olim)
— immigrant(s) to Israel, literally,
one who has "ascended".... Tnuah
— Movement .... Am
— means "people" and is also
the abbreviation for Masorti
aliyah.... — representative from Israel
serving in communities outside of Israel. The Tnuat
Am shaliach is also a shaliach of the Israel
Aliyah Center.... Ulpan
— Hebrew language class.... Kehilla
(Kehillot) — Congregation(s).
Tnuat Am and MaroM/KOACH members
gathered under the umbrella of Tnuat Am to say farewell
to Hezi Nir and welcome to
Karni Goldshmid-Lahav (3rd and 4th from left).
At MERCAZ USA farewell party for
Hezi Nir, Hezi receives a gift from Kalman Grossman,
Director of Israel Aliyah Center while Evelyn Seelig,
MERCAZ President, and Rabbi Robert Golub, MERCAZ Executive
Director, look on.
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