MAR 29, 2024 JLM 70°F 11:48 AM 04:48 AM EST
"When we start dreaming with our eyes open, everything changes"
Rabbi Josh Maroof shares his Aliyah experience:
 
“The sunshine slowly seeps through the haze to bathe the Holy Land in light. Despite jet lag and a third consecutive sleepless night, I had to witness it. My first sunrise as an Oleh Hadash, a new immigrant. The beginning of my first full day as an Israeli Jew.
 
Our attempt at slumber was thwarted at 2:00 AM by the cries of my young daughter, ironically the most enthusiastic and excited about Aliyah. In the midst of the darkness, or perhaps because of it, reality had dawned upon her. She wept for the friends she already misses. For the people and places she won’t see ever again, or at least not for a long time. For her, it has already begun to sink in.
 
I’m not quite there yet. It didn’t sink in for me when we packed our forty suitcases. It didn’t sink in for me when we drove to the airport and boarded the plane. It didn’t even sink in for me when we landed, signed the paperwork, and were whisked away to our new neighborhood without a second thought.
 
All of this still feels like a dream. A beautiful, glorious dream, but still a dream, as hazy and ephemeral as the image of the horizon I see as I gaze across the balcony, foggy air now saturated with light.
 
However, to paraphrase one of my favorite Bollywood movie quotes, ‘when we start dreaming with our eyes open, everything changes.’ Things will change, some gradually and some more quickly.
 
I will miss seeing dear relatives, cherished friends, and the places I love. I’ll miss the comfort of familiar routine. My bonds with those I care about will remain deep, our connections will not be broken, but will never quite be the same. The center of my life will now be here, in the Land of Israel, as I invest all I have in the destiny of my people.
 
The dream that we begin fulfilling today is not just our dream. It is a sacred hope four thousand years old, sealed with the blood and tears shed by countless Jews - men, women and children who suffered and sacrificed to make it happen, or because it had not yet happened. My children don’t fully comprehend the significance of this undertaking. But the truth of the matter is, we don’t fully comprehend it either.
 
All I know is that one day, descendants of ours living generations from now, great great great grandchildren of ours who never met us and may not even recall our names, will wake up to the same sunlit horizon I now behold, radiant in beauty and enveloped in holiness.
 
They will have been reared with a strong Jewish religious identity and a profound sense of Jewish peoplehood, fully immersed in our language and in our culture. They will be, simply stated, part of the future of Judaism and not merely part of its history. And they will be grateful to the Almighty for inspiring us to make this move, a move that paved the way for them to have that privilege.
 
It is the thought of that moment, and every other moment leading up to it and following from it, that inspired me to embrace this dream. May Hashem be with us in seeing it through.”
 
Rabbi Josh Maroof and his wife Elana and five children made Aliyah from Great Neck to Carmei Gat, a city in the making in southern Israel: “We have never been drawn toward conventional locations. We love the idea of living in areas that are not yet established, and we are really excited about the potential of Carmei Gat that is just beginning to emerge.
 
We relish the privilege of being pioneers who will hopefully be part of its rise. Not to mention it was extremely affordable - what we were able to purchase there would have been literally 5 times the price in a more central location.”
 
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Comments
Chris Witt 01:12 09.08.2021
GodBe With You In Your New Life
Judith Wilkerson 20:02 08.08.2021
God was willing for it to happen. Since Almighty God allowed it so Thank God. Shalom
[Anonymous] 18:57 08.08.2021
Great luck
Pamela Hackner 18:14 08.08.2021
Wishing them Maxel Tov in their new home in Israel.
Phillip Avalos 16:55 08.08.2021
Amen!!
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