All over Europe the debate about immigration rages and the prevailing mood is that the indigenous people in the countries of Europe want less of it. All over we see a rise of political parties, such as UKIP in the UK or Front National in France that stress a firmer line on allowing more immigrants into their countries.
Israel isn’t without interracial and sectarian divides between immigrants from different origins but there is one thing that is just not on the horizon. Nobody within any kind of sane mainstream political platform would do anything to prevent Jews from returning to their indigenous lands here in Israel.
And on a day to day level this is what new immigrants, such as my own mother, encounter:
Went to take the clothes that I wore day in and day out in London before we left. Big queue in the cleaners, when I got to the front the man asked if I was in the computer or was I a new customer.
I said I was new and had just made Aliyah. The response Mazel Tov erupted from all the people in the shop. I thought they were all going to kiss me.
Amazing feeling, wherever we go and say we have just made Aliyah, without fail there is always a warm welcome and Mazel Tov.
Immigration is great when the new immigrants aren’t really new: they’ve just been away from home for a very long time.
Shabbat Shalom to all, here and abroad, and if you’re a Jew, thinking of returning home, keep this story in your mind. If you want it, you can have it.
