What An Israeli Yishuv Is Like – A Real-Life Account

Eretz Chemdah: An Inside View – Finding Our Place in Eretz Yisroel

Various Perspectives and Experiences of English speakers Living in Eretz Yisroel

Finding Our Place in Eretz Yisroel

In 1996, while we were in our late thirties, we moved from Baltimore to Eretz Yisroel with our six children aged sixteen down to one and a half.

Although many rabbonim do not recommend moving to Eretz Yisroel with children from ages eight through high school, we came with the blessing of our rav in Baltimore, Rav Mendel Feldman, ZT”L.

We spent our first year in an absorption center in Mevaseret Zion (just outside Yerushalayim), with no idea of where we would eventually settle. This temporary setup (which no longer exists there) enabled us to: live rent-free for the first half year; attend ulpan, with a free daycare on the premises; and send our children to schools in nearby Telz-Stone and Yerushalayim. Additionally, it gave us the opportunity to see many communities around the country, which was thanks to trips organized by the absorption center and by Tehilla (an organization that conducted pilot trips, organized field trips in search of communities, and provided emotional support to new religious immigrants in the days before Nefesh B’Nefesh). Moreover, we had the opportunity to meet many other new immigrants with whom we could exchange information about job and community searches and give and receive emotional support.
We discovered Ma’aleh Amos by taking rides with other absorption center residents who were looking at various communities. Many aspects of Ma’aleh Amos appealed to us.

The small size classes in the Bais Yaakov and Talmud Torah elementary schools were five to ten students on average. This was wonderful compared to the class sizes in Yerushalayim of up to forty students. Also, the fact that school was about a two-minute walk from home was appealing.

The relatively inexpensive cost of housing was also appealing. We first rented a four-bedroom home, and then eventually built our current home in the empty lot next-door, as part of a project that included eight homes, for a fraction of rental and sale prices in Yerushalayim.

We also appreciated the small and intimate community with only about fifty families at the time. The rav, HaRav Z’ev Wolf Charlop, Shlit”a, who is English-speaking, is an approachable talmid chochom who understood the issues faced by American immigrants. (Having an accessible rav was always of primary importance to us). Many of the families here were also immigrants from the U.S. or from the former U.S.S.R. Since we were all without family, we became each other’s family and support system. Even the Israeli families did not have family nearby, so they became part of this support system as well.

Ma’aleh Amos is an easy commute to Yerushalayim. It is about a half-hour drive to Gilo at the southern end of Yerushalayim, or about a one-hour bus ride to the city’s main entrance. When we moved here, my husband worked in a high-tech park in Yerushalayim, which made for a very reasonable commute for him.

Ma’aleh Amos is in a quiet area where the Judean Hills and the Judean Desert meet. It has a remarkable view of the Yam Hamelach and the mountains of Jordan. We see a lot of sky here. The amazing view, the quiet, and the feeling of being in nature and not in a congested city was very appealing to us. During a simple walk in the yishuv (small settlement), we can see sheep on the nearby hills, sometimes a family of camels, and many other interesting animals and plants. The quiet, calm, and small-town atmosphere is very conducive to ruchniyus growth through participation in yishuv life and having time to learn, whether in shiurim, with a chavrusa, or on your own. We don’t have all the conveniences of the city, but on the other hand, we do not have to deal with a hectic and urban pace of life. As I tell other people, the only time people rush here is to catch the bus—because the next one won’t be leaving for several hours.

We also liked the fact that there were enough English-speaking families for us to feel comfortable. At the same time, we did not want to live in an American “bubble,” but rather in a yishuv that operates in Hebrew, so that we and our children would pick up Hebrew quickly and befriend people of various nationalities.

Boruch HaShem, we felt comfortable here from the very first day—our children were already playing with neighbors their age while the movers were still unloading the moving truck!

Just a brief postscript on our employment: Aryeh is a CPA who currently works for Roth & Co., a frum NY-based accounting firm that recently opened up an auditing office in Yerushalayim. (They’re looking for more accountants.) I am a freelance translator, working from home.

Finding Work

Just as HaShem supplied Bnei Yisroel with all their needs in the desert, He has taken care of our parnassah needs here—in the middle of nowhere!

Several people from our area work in schools and day-care centers either in the local mosdos, in nearby yishuvim, or in Gush Etzion, Beitar, or Yerushalayim. They are teachers, rebbeim or assistants in the Bais Yaakovs, Talmud Torahs or preschools.

A few are employed by the yishuv in various positions, mostly part-time, in the capacity of handyman/gardener, secretary, klita (absorption) coordinator, youth directors, librarian, post office administrator, community coordinator, cultural and activity coordinators, security director, and cleaning the schools, offices and mikvaos.

Some work from home as architects and interior designers, by running businesses from their home, or in other types of work for companies with American hours.

Two residents are bus drivers. One resident owns and operates the makolet (grocery store) with the help of some part-time cashiers who fill in when he is not available.

Several new residents work in Yerushalayim, Beitar or in various Gush Etzion communities as medical or other secretaries, in stores, government offices, or in security positions.

Some women operate their own day care or preschool programs in their homes or in public buildings here, or work in day-care centers here or in nearby yishuvim. Several sofrim work locally, and one resident has a batim business for tefillin.

Some are independently employed, including a construction contractor and a painter.

Two male residents are nurses in Yerushalayim. Some people work part-time as chugim leaders for exercise or crafts classes, here or in other communities. There’s really something for everyone.

– Aryeh and Shoshana Weinberg, Ma’aleh Amos

This article is part of Matzav.com’s Eretz Chemdah series featuring English speakers, living in, settling, and building up Eretz Yisroel. For more info please contact info@naavakodesh.org or visit naavakodesh.org/eretz-chemdah

Reprinted with permission from Naava Kodesh.

Yes, Russian-Hoax Humor During ELLUL!

Putin Declares Victory In Israel Elections

“Today marks a victory for democracy as cover for my machinations.”

Moscow, September 18 – A long night of vote-counting, speeches, and tension culminated this morning in an announcement by Russia’s president thanking Israeli citizens for voting into office the candidates and parties of his choosing.

Vladimir Putin congratulated Israelis Wednesday morning on voting the way he had manipulated them via social media trolling, bankrolling elements to sow division, and fomenting uncertainty on the Jewish state’s northern border to undermine any sense of security.

“I would like to take this special moment to show my appreciation for the victory the Israeli electorate has handed me,” pronounced the autocrat-in-all-but-name and former KGB operative. “We can now move forward with the fractured polity, political stalemate, hyperpartisanship, and mutual mistrust that best suits the policy I have been pursuing for Russian interests in the Middle East and beyond. Today marks a victory for democracy as cover for my machinations.”

“Together, or it will appear that way at least, we can work to build a region and world as I have envisioned,” continued Putin. “This mandate to continue undermining democratic institutions and sentiments in the West and elsewhere forms an important building block in Russia’s long-term strategy for hegemony. I would say we couldn’t have done it without you, but that is not strictly true; what we could not have done without you, the voters, is give the result the veneer of democratic legitimacy. So thank you for that.”

Last night’s electoral triumph marks the second time this year that Putin has achieved the desired outcome in Israeli elections. In April, the divided electorate chose enough parties with mutually exclusive core demands that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu proved unable to form a majority coalition in the 120-seat Knesset. The political stagnation and loss of faith in Israel’s democratic system – as demonstrated by low voter turnout and increased apathy in polls before the election – serve as a key element of the Russian leader’s global strategy to distract the US and its democratic allies with internal strife while Putin pursues an imperialist agenda without American, European, or NATO interference that would otherwise make his designs unattainable.

Putin declined to reveal whether his near-term strategy calls for more inability to form a coalition, necessitating yet another round of elections in Israel early in 2020, or whether such a move would backfire as dissatisfaction with the status quo deadlock drives enough Israelis to vote for an outcome out of line with Russian interests.

From PreOccupied Territory, here.

Pesak Halacha Is Reduced to ARITHMETIC…

Two New Halachic Fallacies Defined

It’s time to add two more halachic fallacies to our ongoing list. Remember, ideally, these types of arguments should not be made when trying to arrive at the true halacha.

1. Lagur Mip’nei Ish (Fearing a Man): Moses himself instructed the judges he appointed to “fear no man” (Deuteronomy 1:17), and this rule is based on the language of the verse. The basic meaning is that the judges should not fear potentially dangerous and vengeful individuals they may have to put on trial. But, on another level, the sages point out that (Sanhedrin 6-8) when rabbinical judges and decisors are called upon to render their opinions, they must be willing, when necessary, to disagree with precedent exposited by someone else, no matter his stature. That is, they should not fear any of their predecessors. For example, there are many around me today who will not entertain any opinion that goes against one of the explicit opinions of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Now, if they wish to follow the rabbi’s decisions all the time, I can not fault them, but ideally they should at least consider disagreeing with Rabbi Yosef, much like they would consider any side of a dispute, despite those throughout the ages who held otherwise. Another example was the case of Rabbi Eisenstein, who believed that Rav Elyashiv could not be disagreed with. Of course, he does not have a problem with disagreeing with the opinions of, for example, the Shulhan Aruch and other great decisors on occasion. It is only with regard to Rav Elyashiv that he applies the fallacy.

2. In Bava Bathra 36b we find what I will dub the Plurality-Precedent Fallacy:

R’ Bibi inquired of R’ Nahman: What is the reason of those [authorities] who hold that ploughing a field [year after year] confers a presumption of ownership? — [He answered:] A man will not watch someone else plough his field without objecting. [He asked further:] And what is the reason of those who hold that ploughing a field [year after year] does not confer a presumption of ownership? — Because the owner says to himself, ‘The more he ploughs, the better it is for me.’ The inhabitants of Pum Nahara sent the following inquiry to R’ Nahman son of R’ Hisda: Will our master please instruct us whether ploughing a field [year after year] confers a presumption of ownership? He replied: R’ Aha and all G’dolei Hador, the great minds of our generation, hold that ploughing a field [year after year] does not confer a presumption of ownership. R’ Nahman son of R’ Isaac said: Is it greatness to count men? For Rav and Samuel in Babylonia and Rabbi Ishmael and Rabbi Akiba in the land of Israel hold that ploughing does confer a presumption of ownership.

Note that there are three Amora’im by the name of Nahman in this passage. R’ Nahman son of R’ Hisda followed a known ruling by many great Rabbis, and the latter R’ Nahman challenged him, pointing out that although his opinion was well-precedented, it did not take into account that the other side of the argument also had its supporters. When a true decisor is asked a question of halacha, he is not merely supposed to start counting how many authorities would side with his ruling; he must consider all of the sides, and actually draw his own objective conclusion. And yes, it would be good if his conclusion has been reached by others in the past, but that can not be the only factor. Sometimes, I get mentally frustrated reading responsa that reach their conclusions by using R’ Nahman son of R’ Hisda’s methodology without trying to show which opinion best fits with the Talmudic sources.

From Rabbi Avi Grossman, here.