The fact that many Israelis have left the Jewish state to find new homes and opportunities in the United States has long been a source of tension for Jerusalem. In the past, some Israeli leaders, such as the late Yitzhak Rabin, castigated emigrants as being little better than traitors. Attempts to shame them into returning failed as have more recent efforts aimed at enticing the yordim (as they are known in Hebrew) with more positive messages. But as cable’s The Jewish Channel reports in this video, the country’s Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, which is responsible for promoting aliyah or immigration to the country, has taken a new tack in an effort to get some of what is estimated to be as many as 600,000 former Israelis living in the United States to come home.
The Ministry has created a series of commercials that are airing on cable channels likely to be watched by the Israelis that warn them they are losing their identity by staying in the United States. This is standard fare from a Zionist point of view, but one of the ads goes a bit further than the others and seems to be warning about the perils of Israelis marrying American Jews. If so, a government agency whose premise is supposed to be one that reinforces Jewish identity may be sending a message that contradicts that theme.
Each of the three ads attacks the sensibilities of Israeli expats in different ways. One warns that an Israeli who raises their children in America will call their fathers “daddy” rather than the Hebrew “abba.” Another portrays the child of expats telling their grandparents they are celebrating Christmas rather than Chanukah, which speaks to the fear of such children losing their Jewish identity as well as their ties to Israel.
But the third shows the plight of a young ex-Israeli with a boyfriend whom we may well assume to be Jewish (as Ben Smith of Politico does in a blog post) because we are not told otherwise. In the ad, the woman is commemorating Yom Hazikaron — Israel’s memorial day — but her partner doesn’t understand its significance and, the narrator reminds the audience, he never will.
It’s one thing for Israel to try and convince expats to come home lest they assimilate into a foreign culture. It’s quite another to send a message that hooking up with an American Jew will cause them to lose their secular Israeli identity. It’s true that many expats view themselves more as Israelis rather than Jews and fear losing their connection with the Hebrew language and the secular culture of the state more than ties with their nominal religion. But a message that seems to reinforce the notion that Israelis and American Jews have nothing in common runs contrary to the whole concept of Zionism, let alone traditional Judaism, and not to mention the political needs of a country that relies heavily on American Jewish support.
While it is possible the creators of this ad may not have intended to step on this particular land mine, their political masters in Jerusalem (who, The Jewish Channel reports, are spending little on trying to persuade American Jews to immigrate) need to rethink a strategy that seems to reinforce the divide between Israelis and Americans rather than bridging it.
Why do you and Ben Smith think the boyfriend in the ad is Jewish? Just because he is not explicitly non-Jewish? Should he have worn a cross around his neck? I think you are reading too much into the ad. The ads are tough and strong, but reflect the reality of Israeli (not Jewish) life in the diaspora. n nAs for the charge that the ad's "political masters in Jerusalem,,,are spending little on trying to persuade American Jews to immigrate", have you not heard of Nefesh b'Nefesh? Over the last decade, they have brought thousands of North American Jews (including me and my family) on aliyah. Certainly you would agree that there are some things that the private sector can do better that the government?
OK, I'll bite. You won't like it. (I'm a dual citizen, one Israeli born parent, the other an IAF veteran) n nWhere to begin? n nCourt Jews Dennis Ross, Kurtzer, and multiple other US Ambassadors to Israel. Emanuel, Axelrod.Kissinger. n nLoudmouths not only supporting the detested Obama like Wasserman-Shultz, but actually trying to prevent Republican politicos from voicing support for Israel during the election season. n nIdiotic or agenda driven journalists like Friedman, Roger Cohen, Jeffrey Goldberg, and a thousand others. n nJ Street. n nNGO machers who make careers of vilifying Israel. San Fransisco loudmouths who get on flotillas to Gaza. n nTikkun 'Rabbi' Lerner and his fellow travellers. n nPolls showing Israel a generally low priority for American Jews. Israelis read them too, you know. n n70% + of American Jews who voted for Obama, the majority continuing to look away as he trashes and undermines Israel. The knee jerk liberalism that allows them to share stages and causes with Israel's enemies. n n nWith the exception of the orthodox and ultra orthodox (non Satmar, non-Neturei Karta), and those who read 'Commentary', American Jews do not act in a brotherly fashion towards Israel. There is a palpable condescension from both the right and the left coming from American Jews who make their opinions known, left and right. Some find it appropriate to lecture Israel on how to be more right wing, A few of these make noisy, self important, blustery 'aliya'. Those on the left lecture Israel on how on how to be more liberal, more in tune with 'humane' values. These almost never make aliya- it is done from the comfort and safety of the USA, without taking on the risks of these pushed ideas. It is noticed and felt in Israel, where these issues are life and death. n nCanadian Jews are held in higher regard, as are South African Jews. UK Jews are viewed as 'keep your head down, work quietly' weaklings (Rabbi Sachs is the poster boy). n nIt's the truth, unfortunately. Israeli and American Jews are diverging. n nHaving said all the above, the ad was a bad idea. Some things, while true, are better left unsaid. I think that goes double for I wrote in this post. n n n n n n
You are labouring under a misapprehension; you seem to think that a country such as Israel can afford to lose 10%, yes a full 10%, of its best and brightest, whose education was paid for mostly by the State, who agreed to pay back those costs to the State, that we can afford to lose those people to the lure of greed and easy money that America affords. nThey went abroad as Israelis, often to study subsidised by the Israeli Govt, and then they stayed abroad? Why? Is Israel so bad, America so good that these people can wantonly break their promises? n
(Contd.) nNo, it's the lethal seduction of the Whore of Hollywood, the deadly calls of the Sirens of Manhattan. nThe word "Yordim" means "those who go down, who descend, who kowtow to unknown temptations" nThe Talmud itself reminds us that such people have descended from the pinnacle of spiritual and mental life, living in the Holy Land, seduced away by vain and false promises of a better life in the Sodoms and Gomorrahs of the USA. Of course we want them back; we want them to live up to the promises they made, the contracts they signed, the spirits they have torn away from the body; We must let them know that although they may be free to choose where they wish to live, they are leaving a high place for a low place, a nourishing life for the desert of pecuniary gain, a reality for a fata morgana… nCome back they will, sooner or later. Most with their children when they experience the true depths to which they and their children will sink as "Yordim"…and many many others in plain winding sheets to be buried in the land of their fathers. nBut return they will…we're just reminding them to choose Israel while still with life and breath!
I really don't know what you are so insulted about. Most American Jews have no idea what Judaism really is (your own magazine continually discusses how Jewish-Americans think liberal politics and Judaism are one in the same), nor could probably place Israel on a map. Why is it that you are insulted by this advertising campaign but seem not to be insulted when every major Jewish organization comes out lamenting the decline of the Jewish-American community, the reality of intermarriage and the destruction of the Jewish people through their own assimilation. This is just more of the same only directed specifically at persons who have loved ones at risk in Israel, who are Jewish and according to their government should know better.
Here's a typical list of worries for Israeli ex-pats raising families in descending order of importance n nreligion nJewish Identity nculture nlanguage nsecurity n. n. n. n. nCONSCRIPTION
Dennis, we are not here talking about American "Jews", who are indeed among the lowest of the low (not all, but a mighty big proportion! Mostly they vote Democrat!) nWe are talking about Israeli Jews who went to America as Israelis, high-minded, committed-to-a-better-world Jews, supported by the Israeli taxpayer Jews, brightest of the bright Jews, who have been seduced by the lure of the bright lights and big cities (we have them in Israel too!) nHow do you feel about Americans who become Muslims? Do you want them back? What about Americans who become terrorists? Do you want THEM back? What about the 150.000 draft dodgers who went to Canada in the 60's and 70's. Did you want THEM back? nWell, as Jews it is our obligation to want back those who have left the fold, even those who have hurt the Jewish People while outside the fold. It is a moral and an economic imperative. nWhat would America feel like if she lost 10% of her doctors? 10% of her engineers? THAT is what has happened with us? We pay for their education in the USA and lo and behold they REFUSE to come back to repay their loans, do their National Service, serve the country which has made them what they are. nLet me insist: We don't necessarily want American Jews; they can come to Israel anytime they choose, they will be welcomed, they can make lives and have families here; what do they owe America? What if they owed America $50,000 in student loans? Would you want THEM back? nWe want back the Israeli Jews who still owe Israel labour, if not love. nCome back, fulfil your contracts and promises, and then you can go live in Timbuctoo or Timbucthree for all we care!