This Year in Jerusalem

How about some good news for a change? In a time when there appears to be a deluge of news ranging from unsavory to horrific, I need to refocus my perspective and make a better effort to cherish the positive news around us. There are plenty of positive and heartwarming developments happening all the time; it just tends to get overlooked as there is so much other eye-grabbing news. One news item that I came across this week that I am unsure is getting the proper attention it deserves is the number of Jews from North America making Aliyah to the Land of Israel. Over this week alone (August 20-28) some 600 newcomers will make Israel their new home via 14 group aliyah flights offered by Nefesh B’Nefesh. This latest wave of immigrants is part of a larger movement that has seen 2,000 olim—ranging in age from just 2 months old to 97—embark on their journey to Israel this summer. The new citizens hail from an array of states and provinces across the United States and Canada. It’s important to note that these numbers of Olim are only from North America. This does not include the thousands of other Jews from around the world returning to its ancestral homeland. This development would be remarkable under any circumstances. In a time when Israel is embroiled in an existential seven-front war, it is even more astounding! We are seeing the previously thought unbelievable words of our prophet Tzephania unfold in front of our very own ways. בָּעֵ֤ת הַהִיא֙ אָבִ֣יא אֶתְכֶ֔ם וּבָעֵ֖ת קַבְּצִ֣י אֶתְכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־אֶתֵּ֨ן אֶתְכֶ֜ם לְשֵׁ֣ם וְלִתְהִלָּ֗ה בְּכֹל֙ עַמֵּ֣י הָאָ֔רֶץ בְּשׁוּבִ֧י אֶת־שְׁבוּתֵיכֶ֛ם לְעֵינֵיכֶ֖ם .אָמַ֥ר ה Translation (At that time, I will gather you, and at that time, I will bring you home, for I will make you renowned and famous among all the peoples on earth. When I restore your fortunes before their very eyes, said G-d.) If one would have told my great grandparents in a European shtetl that planeloads of Jews would be arriving in our ancient homeland, that would have been dismissed as sheer fantasy. It is now a reality that is happening in front of our eyes! Our weekly Parsha of Eikev teaches us the special quality of the Land of Israel that has caused Jews for thousands of years to wistfully yearn for our ancestral homeland. The Torah states “ אֶרֶץ אֲשֶׁר־ה אֱלֹקיךָ דֹּרֵשׁ אֹתָהּ תָּמִיד עֵינֵי יְיָ אֱלֹקיךָ בָּהּ.” (Translation: A Land which G-d always seeks out. The eyes of G-d are always on it.) The relationship that one can have with G-d on this land is more compelling and intense than any other place in the world. For thousands of years, we have concluded the Pesach Seder and Yom Kippur with the declaration of “Next Year in Jerusalem.” For more and more Jews, the modern-day miracle is enabling them to say, “This Year in Jerusalem.” Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch