אריאל גליאן Ariel Galian

For the 1.6 million Jews in the Big Apple, New York is not seeming like ‘home sweet home’ these days. 24 years after 9/11 and just two years after October 7th, the city of New York last week elected as mayor a Shiate Muslim, who refuses to condemn the Intifada, defends Hamas, and is a virulent Anti Semite. Not to be swayed by his recent overtures to the Jewish community, this man is dangerous and,if capable, would probably do everything he could to harm the Jewish people.

Now, it’s possible that Mamdani will realize that it is not in his best political interests to start up with the Jewish community in New York. However, the bigger issue here is not Mamdani but the troubling trend that he represents. His victory is an expression of a new generation that is taught to respect and tolerate everyone, with the exception of proud Jews who are committed to their holy, ancestral land.

So the option to move always exists. Many Jews from New York have already moved to Florida and Cleveland. However, it needs to be emphasized that, once you’re picking up your bags, the main place that a Jew needs to come to is our home: Eretz Yisroel.

Ideally, one should move to Eretz Yisroel in order to fulfill the great, constant mitzvah of settling the land. One should come to Eretz Yisroel in order to benefit from its great kedusha. There are also those who follow the path of the Gra and Rav Yissochar Sholomo Teichtal, who want to come to Eretz Yisroel in order to hasten the path of Israel’s redemption. However, these are all nice spiritual ideas. The sad truth, however, is that more people will be moved to come to Eretz Yisroel as a response to Anti-Semitism and physical insecurity. This is something most people connect to more.

There is a tragic misconception, however, regarding Eretz Yisroel that pervades many of the Jews in the Diaspora. They view Eretz Yisroel as a great place to visit, or even to study for a year or two. However, to move there? We’ll wait for the Moshiach. However, when looking into the matter briefly, the situation is quite different. All the major Poskim ( even the Rambam, cf. Chazon Ish Yore Deah, 65) hold that there is a mitzvah to live in Eretz Yisroel even when there is not yet a Beis Hamikdash. Chazal understood that, besides the great loss of the Temple, the loss of the Holy Land is also a great tragedy. This is why they instituted the fast day of “Tzom Gedaliah” which occurred after the Temple was destroyed on Tisha B’av. Yes, the loss of the Beis Hamikdash is an enormous tragedy. However, the Jews not being in Eretz Yisroel r”l, which occurred after Tzom Gedaliah, is also worthy of a fast day.

In Shir Hashirim ( 5:7), the verse describes the great suffering of Am Yisroel in exile. The pasuk uses two expressions to express our suffering. First, it says that the guards, which refer to the Non-Jews, hit us. Then it says they caused us to have wounds. The Vilna Gaon in his commentary on Shir Hashirim explains that the first expression הכוני, refers to the destruction of both temples. However, the next expression פצעוני refers to the destruction of Eretz Yisroel. Yes, not having the Beis Hamikdash is a great tragedy. However, it is a much greater tragedy, if beyond not having the Beis Hamikdash, we also don’t have Eretz Yisroel

So Hashem is sending us a wake-up call. And we all have the choice of how we will respond to it. It is much easier to just stay put. And in certain situations, that may even be the right decision temporarily. However, the question of moving to Eretz Yisroel should not be a question of ‘if’, but rather a question of ‘when’. Yes, there are many people in the diaspora whose present situation may preclude aliyah. But what will we do when the situation changes? Now is the time to start preparing ourselves, physically and spiritually, to be able to make the big move.

Each one of us has limited energy. Should we utilize our limited resources into building up a country that one day may spit us out, as happened to the Jews in Spain and Germany? Or should we use our energy to build up the land that Hashem has promised to the Jewish people? The late historian, Rabbi Berel Wein, in an interview a couple of years ago in the Israeli weekly ‘Bakehilla’, was asked to give his prediction for how the world will look 50 years from now. I sure hope that Moshiach is here by then. However, if we are not yet zoche, chalila, Rabbi Wein predicts that in 50 years Israel will be run by the Charedim and America by the radical left.

The writing is on the wall. The real question is how we will react. May Hashem Yisborach help us all come back to His holy land with peace and kedusha!

– Ariel