Coming Home From the Ends of the Earth
Israel is a land of immigrants, but not in the normal sense of the word. Each Jewish man, woman and child who returns to Promised Land leaves the land of their exile and comes home to the Land of their forefathers. The importance of this returning, or as it is called in Hebrew, making aliyah, is one of the foundations of the modern State of Israel. David Ben-Gurion recognized this on the 6th of Iyar 5708 (May 14, 1948), when he included these words in the Declaration of Independence: “The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles.” And two years later, the Law of Return, a simple one-page document that spelled out the right of every Jew to immigrate, was enacted.
Each year, Israel celebrates Yom HaAliyah (Aliyah Day), a national holiday set apart to honor the contributions of Jewish immigrants. Interestingly, the 10th of Nisan was chosen as the date for the holiday, the day the Bible tells us the Israelites entered the Promised Land millennia ago. However, schools also observe the holiday on 7th of the month of Cheshvan, which this year begins the evening of October 17.
In honor of Yom HaAliyah, we are bringing the firsthand account of Lorena, a young woman who left Uruguay and made the journey home to the Land of her forefathers.
The Journey
The tiny country of Uruguay shares its land borders with Brazil and Argentina, two Latin American giants. Its capital of Montevideo is located on the north shore of a wide river estuary known as the Río de la Plata, with Buenos Aires to its south. Uruguay is home to a vibrant Jewish community that dates back to the 1700s, though most Jews came during the first half of the 20th century.
Lorena grew up as a member of the Jewish kehilah (community) in Uruguay, attending Jewish schools, taking part in the Jewish youth movement and enjoying Israeli dancing, all while acknowledging Israel as a foundational component of Judaism. Her paternal grandfather was a Holocaust survivor, and that also had an impact on her life.
As her high school years drew to a close, she began asking herself what she would do next, as most young people do at that age. Uruguay is a small country, and the bigger world was calling her. As she thought about her options, she realized there was only one place in the world where she really wanted to go: Israel. So, in 2018, she said goodbye to her parents and brother, trading the comfort of her known world for an unknown one.
Eight years later, Lorena is still the only member of her immediate family to live in Israel. She is currently working on her second degree (master’s) in Marine Biology. I asked her to explain her research project in simple terms and she told me she is researching an invasive species—a sea urchin—that is causing ecological problems in the Mediterranean. Originally native to the Red Sea, this sea urchin somehow managed to “invade” the Mediterranean, where it now disrupts that natural environment.
Becoming Israeli
Making the decision to immigrate is really only the first step for those coming home. The next step is klita or absorption into Israel and its culture, which can be very different from the immigrant’s country of origin. Lorena told me one of the things that surprised her was the hospitality of the Israelis she met. Israelis have a reputation of being tough and are sometimes described as sabras after the prickly cactus whose fruit is surprisingly sweet once you get past the thorns on the outside.
Lorena found that when people learned she was an olah (new immigrant), they wanted to make sure she felt welcomed and would succeed in becoming Israeli. She gave an example of a taxi driver who, when he learned she was a new immigrant, asked her if she had a place for Shabbat dinner. Although she was a complete stranger to him, the driver invited her to spend Shabbat with his family.
Of course, there have been challenges for Lorena as well. She is far from her family, and weekly WhatsApp calls are not as satisfying as a hug from her mom. She shared that the family in Uruguay recently welcomed a new baby, a niece she has only seen on a screen.
When I asked her if any of her family had expressed interest in following her to Israel, she told me that her mother had strongly considered it before her marriage. That was in the days before WhatsApp and instant internet connections, so in the end, she did not make the move. But today, she tells Lorena that, perhaps, she is fulfilling that dream on her behalf.
I Will Gather You
No two aliyah stories are identical. Yet one thing Jewish people the world over have in common is a connection to the Land of Israel. Perhaps it is in their DNA. One thing I am sure of though, there are many verses in the Tanakh (Gen.–Mal.) that speak of their return, their coming home at last. I conclude with one of those promises: “Thus says the Lord God: ‘I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel’” (Ezek. 11:17).
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