QUESTION:
I am aware that the Rav has hinted in several responses to people that now is a very appropriate time to leave America and come live in Eretz Yisrael. Due to the rise of anti-semitism in America, which is like a bas kol (Heavenly message) it’s time to leave America and live in Eretz Yisrael. It’s important for one’s Yiddishkeit to leave America and live in Eretz Yisrael because of the tumah that is very pervasive in America, namely, the lenient attitude towards media and internet use. And the Rav also said that a person should just come to Eretz Yisrael now even if he’s not sure about how this will affect his parnassah or shalom bayis!
I, for my own part, am definitely ready to take the plunge and move to Eretz Yisrael. But my wife doesn’t know a soul there, and I don’t want her to fall apart. Plus, she has a very good job here in America, working for a Torah institution which she likes. There is a very good atmosphere at work, and if we would move to Eretz Yisrael, we have no idea how she will find a job and if the atmosphere there will be better than the job she has now in America. Plus, I’m learning very well here and I have chavrusos and a Kolel I am happy in, and I’ve heard that if a person is learning good in America, then there is no need to come to Eretz Yisrael to learn. Also, I suspect that I mainly want to come to Eretz Yisrael so I can have more connection with the Rav, and my wife will suspect that I’m mainly going to Eretz Yisrael so that I can be near the Rav, and that I’m more concerned about my own ruchniyus rather than caring about her emotional needs. I should also point out that if I move to Eretz Yisrael, my parents will probably be upset and I would have an issue of kibbud av v’aim.
1) Would picking up and moving to Eretz Yisrael be a reckless, impulsive decision that would shake up the soul and be too jolting for a person? The Rav has said that a person shouldn’t make big changes too fast which jolt the soul, so why is moving to Eretz Yisrael different?
I, for my own part, am definitely ready to take the plunge and move to Eretz Yisrael. But my wife doesn’t know a soul there, and I don’t want her to fall apart. Plus, she has a very good job here in America, working for a Torah institution which she likes. There is a very good atmosphere at work, and if we would move to Eretz Yisrael, we have no idea how she will find a job and if the atmosphere there will be better than the job she has now in America. Plus, I’m learning very well here and I have chavrusos and a Kolel I am happy in, and I’ve heard that if a person is learning good in America, then there is no need to come to Eretz Yisrael to learn. Also, I suspect that I mainly want to come to Eretz Yisrael so I can have more connection with the Rav, and my wife will suspect that I’m mainly going to Eretz Yisrael so that I can be near the Rav, and that I’m more concerned about my own ruchniyus rather than caring about her emotional needs. I should also point out that if I move to Eretz Yisrael, my parents will probably be upset and I would have an issue of kibbud av v’aim.
1) Would picking up and moving to Eretz Yisrael be a reckless, impulsive decision that would shake up the soul and be too jolting for a person? The Rav has said that a person shouldn’t make big changes too fast which jolt the soul, so why is moving to Eretz Yisrael different?
ANSWER:
1) Make the decision amidst a composed, settled state of mind (yishuv hadaas), so that you don’t shake yourself up and jolt yourself in the process.
QUESTION
2) Should I move to Eretz Yisrael even I’m nervous about this decision and I don’t have that much bitachon that everything will work out?
ANSWER
2) Either you can do it through mesirus nefesh (being willing to sacrifice), or you should wait until you are at the appropriate level of bitachon to go.
QUESTION
3) Is America a physically dangerous place to be right now because Mashiach is coming soon? Also, if the danger here is mainly spiritual and not physical, because of the dominance of internet and media, why would it be better in Eretz Yisrael? Aren't Internet and smartphones everywhere you go? From a spiritual standpoint, is living in Eretz Yisrael really a better environment today than living in America, when there’s so much tumah all over the world these days?
ANSWER
3) The main danger in America is a spiritual danger, but this also extends into the physical world, making it physically dangerous there as well…From an external viewpoint, certainly there is tumah everywhere we go today, Rachmana Litlzan (may Heaven save us from it), but from an inner viewpoint, the holiness of Eretz Yisrael always makes Eretz Yisrael the best environment for a Jew to live in. This is because of Eretz Yisrael it is said, “A land which the eyes of Hashem are upon."
QUESTION
4) Should I stop making all these calculations and just move my family to Eretz Yisrael, in spite of all these factors, and just rely on Hashem, since we are now in a time where we should heed the bas kol from Heaven that we are in ikvesa d’meshicha (the period preceding Mashiach)?
ANSWER
4) Cry about this to Hashem, from the depth of your heart.
QUESTION
2) Should I move to Eretz Yisrael even I’m nervous about this decision and I don’t have that much bitachon that everything will work out?
ANSWER
2) Either you can do it through mesirus nefesh (being willing to sacrifice), or you should wait until you are at the appropriate level of bitachon to go.
QUESTION
3) Is America a physically dangerous place to be right now because Mashiach is coming soon? Also, if the danger here is mainly spiritual and not physical, because of the dominance of internet and media, why would it be better in Eretz Yisrael? Aren't Internet and smartphones everywhere you go? From a spiritual standpoint, is living in Eretz Yisrael really a better environment today than living in America, when there’s so much tumah all over the world these days?
ANSWER
3) The main danger in America is a spiritual danger, but this also extends into the physical world, making it physically dangerous there as well…From an external viewpoint, certainly there is tumah everywhere we go today, Rachmana Litlzan (may Heaven save us from it), but from an inner viewpoint, the holiness of Eretz Yisrael always makes Eretz Yisrael the best environment for a Jew to live in. This is because of Eretz Yisrael it is said, “A land which the eyes of Hashem are upon."
QUESTION
4) Should I stop making all these calculations and just move my family to Eretz Yisrael, in spite of all these factors, and just rely on Hashem, since we are now in a time where we should heed the bas kol from Heaven that we are in ikvesa d’meshicha (the period preceding Mashiach)?
ANSWER
4) Cry about this to Hashem, from the depth of your heart.
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