My Aliyah Reasons

Believe me I did not make aliyah to add a chavayah to my insanely short list of chavayot (so not into that). One day someone asked me why I was making aliyah and for the first time I actually had to ask myself why exactly am I moving my entire life? Leaving my family and my home? Leaving my beloved New York City for a life in Israel that won't be easy or as comfortable then a life in America. So I took out my favorite friend, my iPhone and compiled a list that I titled "Why I am moving 6,000 miles away from home". Apparently the title was meant to make me feel more at ease.

Here are some of my reasons:

- Let's be honest. I spent a year and a half in Harova, 9 summers in Moshava and numerous Shab afternoons in Bnei Akiva Teaneck. That has gotta do something to  a person!

- I had three friends making aliyah and the college I was in just wasn't working out for me... the writing was on the wall.

- Every generation and every person has a challenge. Personally I think this generations challenge (or at least mine) is to make aliyah.

- Israel is a straight up miracle. I don't want to watch from the sidelines anymore. I want to be apart of it.

- I plan to teach Jewish History. There is no way I would be able to legitimate teach it in Chutz La'aretz. There is a reason Jewish History has so many tragedies...

- Jews prayed and yearned to live in Israel for 2,000 years. All I got to do is hop on a plane and get some celebrity-esque welcoming and I'm home. It's just too easy to ignore

- Nefesh B'Nefesh is a g-d sent. You hardly have to do anything asides from showing up in the airport. 

- It's time I stop saying I am a Zionist and I start doing something about it.

- All my reasons for not making aliyah are selfish and materialistic. There is shockingly more to achieve in life asides from being comfortable.

- I have all the support in the world I need from my family both in Israel and in America/England

- For the sake of my future and the future of my family

These are all personal reasons. The time and place I was in life just worked perfectly and I knew if I didn't hop on the oppurtunity it would never come again and I would regret it. 

I look at my aliyah and the adventures I went through before and am still going through now with laghter and a good sense of humor (if I didn't I don't know what state of an emotional mess I would be in ). It's hard living a day to day life here and remembering how holy the ground you are stepping on is, but when the going gets tough this handy dandy list makes me realize that it's all worth it! 

Woohoo I am one of the 30,000!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3FA3xeW6Bc