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Making aliyah to Israel has always been a challenge, but it was a considerably more difficult one forty or fifty years ago. Inflation was rampant, costs were high, especially with respect to housing, and salaries were far lower than in the US. An old joke asked, “How do you make a small fortune in Israel?” The answer – “Start with a large fortune.”
Against this backdrop, we may ask ourselves how difficult it can be to leave your home country, especially one in which you have enjoyed personal and professional success, and relocate to Israel. Our sages believed that this question was not only a suitable one in modern times, but also made sense in the times of Pharaoh in Egypt. Specifically, they argued that while most people under slavery were poor and oppressed, a small minority managed to achieve success. Would this group be willing to leave Egypt with the rest of the Israelites? In a comment on the ninth plague, darkness, in this week’s portion, Bo, we find an intriguing answer in the negative: (Shmot Rabbah 14:3, 1200 CE)
- Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, bring darkness upon Egypt? It is because there were sinners among the Israelites who had Egyptian patrons, had wealth and honor, and did not want to leave. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: If I bring a plague upon these wealthy Israelites publicly and they die, the Egyptians will say: Just as it befell us, so it befell them. Therefore, He brought darkness upon the Egyptians for three days so that the Israelites could bury their dead and their enemies would not see them, and they would praise the Holy One, blessed be He, for bringing the redemption closer.
Now obviously this sounds harsh to us – and should – but there is much truth to it. A Holocaust survivor I once knew was born and raised in Vienna, where he grew up in an atmosphere of (very) high culture. In his words, young people could recite arias from all the famous operas the way a later generation’s young people could sing Beatles songs.
When the Nazis came, he fled, but his father hesitated. After all, he had a successful textile business, was well-respected by all as an astute businessman and possessed a high level of education. Needless to say, once the Anschluss overran Austria, his father perished very quickly, never fully heeding his son’s warning.
It can be a challenge to leave behind a life of wealth and prestige and set out for the land of Israel. But the largest fortune one can possess is, in the final analysis, the gift of life itself.
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
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