American Recession Triggers Aliyah....

I recently read an article from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency discussing how the current recession in America is causing more and more Jews to consider moving to Israel. According to the article, America's current economic downturn was not the catalyst for making aliyah, but rather was the trigger that caused many to choose to do it now. An example is Jeff Wilens and his family formerly of Boca Raton, Florida who owns a mortgage company there.

"Without a question, the economy has played a big role in our decision tomake aliyah," he said. "I've been in the mortgage business for 15 years. In the last 2 1/2 years the mortgage business, especially in southern Florida, was one of the hardest hit."

He like many have decided this is the time to make aliyah and start over in the Promised Land.

I found the article thought-provoking and it got me to thinking just what this means both to Israel and America. Here's what I came up with:

1) Israel definitely benefits from the intellectual and financial resources of these new citizens. Among those making aliyah are Josef Mandelbaum, the CEO of American Greetings, who's making the move even though he says he hasn't directly been affected by the recession.

2) America will lose as it feels the drain of wealth and intellectual talent from these individuals leaving. Specifically, the American Jewish community will be weakened if their numbers and political influence continue to decline at a time when other ethnic and religious groups are on the rise.

3) Changing demographics in the American Jewish community will also affect both the Democratic and Republican parties and national politics, as Jews have traditionally voted as a block and have in many cases been the swing vote. Depending on who stays and who leaves will determine which party is strengthened and which is weakened. This is occuring at a time when more traditional Judaism is on the rise in the United States and this has been benefitting the Republican party as these individuals hold more conservative values. But these traditional Jews may also be the ones to make aliyah in larger numbers than their more liberal counterparts which would benefit the Democrats. We'll have to wait and see.

4) How Israel is affected internally will be interesting to observe. Historically, the original Zionist settlers came largely from Eastern European countries and tended to be more socialistic in their political philosophies. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, Jewish immigration came largely from Arabic and Muslim countries who'd experienced persecution and oppression under the regimes of these countries and so were staunch defenders of Israel. But they brought no direct experience, or history of democracy and representative government. Then came the next wave of immigrants from former states of the Soviet Union. They'd witnessed firsthand the abuse, corruption and intolerance that occurred in the name of Communism and were strong advocates of more conservative, Republican style politics. As they had nowhere else to go, they were also staunch defenders of Israel from its enemies. They've played a large part in empowering the more conservative coalition that is currently in office in Israel today. So, will the Jews immigrating from America join them in espousing Jeffersonian values, or will they be more like the original Zionist settlers with more left-wing politics. If the former, I believe Israel will benefit tremendously.

These are just a few of my thoughts having read about the increased trend of American Jews to make aliyah to Israel. I'm sure I'll have more and invite your thoughts and opinions as well. Please comment and let me know what you are thinking.

Until next time....

Shmuel