Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire: Israeli Emigration to Germany

ד׳ לחודש השמיני תשע״ה

On one hand, the left-wing, [Am] Ha'Aretz, Israeli news, source did not do a bad job addressing the issue of Israeli emigration. On the other hand, it could have gone after the "Berlin Aliyah" initiative on Facebook, and ripped it apart, while still remaining objective.

Am Ha'Aretz (Riff-Raff)

However, we cannot expect these journalists to be too openly critical of their allies in the battle against the Torah, including the elimination of the last remaining fibers of Jewish nature associated with the State of Israel, and in the battle for assimilation of the Jewish People into the global community of nations.

My Esser Agaroth (2¢) commentary is interspersed below, followed by my conclusion.

Ha'Aretz: Israeli emigration slowing down, despite fears of ‘Berlin aliyah’
Despite 'Milky scare,' only a few thousand Israelis living in Berlin.

Lior Dattel, October 14, 2014

Despite concerns over a wave of emigration from Israel, which was brought on by recent public debate over a Facebook page urging young Israelis to move to Berlin, figures show that the rate of emigration has slowed dramatically, and that in 2012 the rate was the lowest since the state was established.

Emigration is also low in comparison to member countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

According to the World Bank, most Israelis emigrate to the United States or Canada. Germany, while a popular choice, is a destination that attracts far fewer Israelis than does North America...

There is little comfort in the fact that delusions of a glitzy life in Los Angeles or a financial paradise in New York is more attractive to Israelis, than a return to the origin of gas chambers and cremation ovens.

...In 2012, a year after the wave of social protest broke out, the overall number of Israeli emigrants (defined as people who leave the country and remain abroad for more than a year) declined to approximately 15,900. According to border control figures from April 2014, approximately one quarter of the people who emigrated in 2012 returned or informed the authorities of an intended return date.

Figures also show that most emigrants are not Israeli-born; the majority came to live in Israel from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. Only 5,700 Israeli emigrants who left in 2012 are Jews born in Israel.

Perhaps their ties to Eretz Yisra'el (Land of Israel) were tenuous in the first place. Perhaps, like many Jews from American I know, they confused the flaws in how the State functions with the importance of residing in Eretz Yisra'el. Plus, I wonder just how many of these immigrants from the former Soviet Union were actually Jewish. Those who aren't, good riddance. those who are, then it is a shame, and a reflection of both the poor education received while here, as well as the strength of the galuth influence with the former Soviet Union.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics: “The current decline in the balance of emigration constitutes, among other things, a response to the economic slowdown in various countries that in the past were desirable destinations for emigrants.”

Della Pergola concurs. The economic situation in Israel has a major effect, he says – the higher the employment rate, the lower the emigration rate. “The next influential figure is the income level. Despite the gap in incomes in Israel, all in all, income has gone up,” he says. 

We Jews still do not get it. Many of us still think that it is all about the money. Well, it seems to me that we will soon have to learn the hard way (but hopefully not too hard), that it is not all about the money, but that money may be used as the tool to provide us with this crucial life lesson. The idea of a bag of rice being worth more than any artificial currency, or soap being a luxury item, may seem very foreign and farfecthed. Let us hope that are conditions never get to this point. In the meantime, I would suggest that we take a hard look at what is really important: A roof over our heads, a reasonably priced, Jewish education, and the opportunity to build a life, and raise our families in Eretz Yisra'el.

Nevertheless, although emigration figures are down, the profile of the émigré is still a source of concern: It is estimated that most Israelis who move abroad are young university graduates, whose skills make it possible for them to make a good living there. However, such a brain drain exists in many places around the globe, including Europe.

I would be very interested to learn if there is a pattern related to fields of study. Who has been emigrating? Those who studies the humanities and social sciences, in university or those who studied hard sciences. Israeli universities have become bastions of anti-Torah indoctrination. Do not be fooled by the graduates and professors wearing kippoth and other forms of religious expression.

In other words, a battalion of ultra-leftist, social workers, the State's front line soldiers in the culture war, would surely NOT be missed. I am not so sure that we will have to worry about any "brain drain." Do our brains really need anymore individuals cramming them with anti-Torah, "globalist" values and sensibilities, not to mention Hebrew University's "biblical criticism?" I think not.

Regarding beneficial brain content, so far, Israel has had enough sense to focus on high tech, keeping the hope of employment alive for those who studied physical sciences during their university tenure.

Did you notice how absolutely no mention was made regarding whether any Torah scholars were included in any of the emigration statistics? What would the Am Ha'Aretz news service care? For that matter, what would the State of Israel care?

The figures even count as emigrants Israelis who have relocated abroad for a specific period for work or study, with no intention of emigrating.

(Tip: JewsNews)

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
I was pleasantly surprised that the far-left, anti-Torah, [Am] Ha'Aretz news site bothered to research and point out the inaccuracies of the reported statistics.

The Facebook page עולים לברלין "Immigrating to Berlin," encouraging emigration from Israel to Germany, specifically to Berlin, Only the [Am] Ha'Aretz Newspaper could possibly have the audacity to apply the term aliyah, "going up spiritually," to emigration from Israel to Germany.

עולים לברלין. כל העצות, ההסברים, הבירוקרטיה והטפסים שיעזרו לכם להחלץ מיוקר המחיה הבלתי אפשרי והאלים בישראל. olimleberlin@gmail.com

Immigrating to Berlin. All of the advice, explanations, bureaucracy, and forms which will help you to get out of the impossible cost of living and the"violence" in Israel. olimleberlin@gmail.com

The founders of this Facebook initiative are not entirely to blame.

The key factor behind possible emigration from Israel is the employment rate, according to the professor, who adds "the next influential figure is the income level. Despite the gap in incomes in Israel, all in all, income has gone up." 

Many have argued that the housing crisis in Israel that is cited in the recent Berlin protest as a reason to leave could be solved if Israel would only develop in Judea and Samaria, an area currently suffering from a silent Jewish construction freeze by the government despite being 90% unpopulated, and despite the full legality of Israel's presence in the region under international law. (Arutz 7)

I will hazard a guess that those leaving Israel for their convoluted "promised land" in Germany could not care less about developing Judea and Samaria. However, this does put some of the onus on the Israeli government.

Jews should never want to leave Eretz Yisra'el, and need not be concerned with "international law," when it comes to what The Almighty has already decided. However, the government could kill a few birds with one stone, if it would only annex Judea and Samaria, and develop its housing and economic potentials.

Even Jews supposedly flocking to Berlin would have second thoughts, and would be given an additional opportunity not only to remain in Eretz Yisra'el, but to be inspired by Israel's example, and witness first-hand what can come out of following what The Almighty wants for us, over what we believe we want for ourselves.

I can guarantee you that The Almighty does not want us to return to previous paths of self-destruction, which were possible, at least in part, by our desire to assimilate within the lands of our exile.

Dachau Concentration Camp Ovens

For those of you are offended by the allusion to the ovens of the Holocaust concentration camps, too bad.

When I say "out of the frying pan, and into the fire," I mean it literally.