So this is it!

In under three hours, I will be in the air aboard an El-Al plane. Finally. I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time, and my Aliyah is shaping up to be one of the defining moments in my life.

In Parshat Kedoshim, we are commanded "You shall be holy." But what does holy mean? One way of understanding this is to recognise that there are different types of holiness - there's holiness in time, which is why we celebrate Shabbat at a fixed period, once a week. There's also holiness in speech and action; much of Judaism is linked to acts and/or pronouncing words in a certain way in order to make them and ourselves holy.

I am making a conscious decision that I should be living my life in Eretz Yisrael, the historic homeland of the Jews, what is now Israel, the modern Jewish state. I have learned of how various Rabbis over the ages, aware of the significance of living in the land of our forefathers, worked hard so that they could live in the land of Israel. While many expressed an earnest desire to move to this part of the world, a good number were never able to fulfill their dream. In the day of cheap and fast telecommunications and air travel, it's a travesty that so many religious orthodox do not move to Israel.*

And then there's the Kedushat Hamakom, the holiness of a specific place. Much like at a Jewish wedding ceremony, there's a wedding canopy, and within that canopy the bride circles the groom (seven times), a parallel can be drawn with Eretz Yisrael and the inner circle of Jerusalem (which intriguingly rests upon seven hills). Living in the land of Israel is an integral part of the Jewish faith, and though we can observe Jewish law outside of Israel, as the the famous commentator the Rambam stated, it is only considered an education, an act of preparation for performing the Mitzvot in Eretz Yisrael, as was intended. in the concept of Kedusha, holiness. When one is in Israel, he can fully observe Jewish law by acting in the right manner, at the right time, in the right place.

So that's the religious reason why I'm moving. Not that I need to reasons, (the above is good enough,) I have another: Jews cannot remain outside of Israel much longer. I say this as a statement of fact; in every single country in Europe where Jews have lived, there has either an expulsion or, at the very least, blood libels and massacres of the local Jewish population. Much as American Jewry likes to portray Britain and France as cauldrons of hate and deep-seated anti-semitism, they're not. Unfortunately though, it would seem that these countries are becoming ever more liberal, and their values are becoming eroded as extremists from all sectors of society gang up on the Jews. More and more, we see the so-called liberal elements of society team up with the Islamic fundamentalists in their hatred for Israel, and by extension, Judaism.

Jews over the last few hundred years, have worked tremendously hard for their place in Britain, and have been richly rewarded with genuine acceptance by many parts of society. Unfortunately, all this hard work can be easily undone, and I don't see how Jewish leaders can sustain this status of recognition for much longer. As long as the Jewish people live in the land of other nations, we will never be more than guests. At times we will be like the rich aunt who, despite all her various inadequacies, is tolerated by her nephew as he knows that he will be rewarded with a £20 note with each visit, and sometimes we are the guest who has overstayed our welcome and in such cases, it's only be a matter of time till hints are dropped and maybe even a firm mention of our departure is proposed by our host country. In only one country can Jews be safe in the knowledge that they can be free to practice Judaism without prejudice or mistreatment. In only country is it possible for a Jew to live free from the prospect of harassment by virtue of his identity. I don't agree with Rabbi Meir Kahane's politics, but as he succinctly said, "And it is because we became so upset over upsetting you, dear world, that we decided to leave you - in a manner of speaking - and establish a Jewish state."

So this is it. Destination: Israel!



* This is not a criticism. Each person has their own reasons, and I am in no place to judge.

Tuition Fees in Israel

A friend of mine, Lahav Harkov, writes a blog that is published on the Jerusalem Post website. In a recent post, she described the susceptibility of Israeli universities to strikes from professors demanding a higher wage. Lahav explained the professors' stance, explaining how "last year, senior professors did not teach until February, demanding a raise in their salaries and better working conditions." Lahav concluded that the best solution would be to raise tuition fees. The argument seems reasonable enough; bite the bullet, invest in your future and reap the rewards after university.

Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, Israeli students haven't exactly warmed to this idea. As Lahav wrote, "the Ministry of Education and the Treasury formed the Shochat Committee, which was meant to find a cure for Israeli higher education's numerous ailments. When the Committee recommended that tuition be raised in 2007, the National Union of Israeli Students called a strike."

It would seem that we have a catch-22 situation, the professors strike demanding more money, and the students strike when it is recommended that they pay higher fees. Both sides are playing hardball, stubbornly refusing to yield or accept any concessions. As Lahav said, only three days before the university started "the universities were granted 515 million shekels in an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Finance Minister Ronny Bar-On and Education Minister Yuli Tamir." These funds have not yet arrived, and now more strikes are on the horizon.

Despite funds being formally pledged, the simple truth is that there simply isn't enough money to go around, and the government's hesitant stance on increasing university funding is understandable. I have heard stories over the last couple of years of old people in Israel freezing to death in their homes in the winter because their pensions don't cover their heating bills. I have heard how at least one elderly Holocaust survivor has returned to Germany because the money she receives there is far more than she is given far more than here. What money Israel does have cannot be used on all these causes. Something's got to give.

Of course there are some grants that are paid. Olim Chadashim receive what's called a "Sal Klitah," an "absorption basket" of assorted rights that help ease the transition and aid people settling into a new country. I will be making aliyah next year, and there is a very good chance that I will go to Bar Ilan University like Lahav, and have my tuition fees paid for by my Oleh Chadash government grant. In my case, this fund is a real boon and will be very welcome, given that I am nearing financial independence from my parents, and will soon have to account for every last penny. Seeing as I haven't yet got an income of my own, a government grant will make a world of a difference. I don't know Lahav's situation, but I'm certain that she similarly appreciates the opportunity of a free university education.

For as long as I can remember the Israeli government has offered, and continues to offer, Jews in the diaspora incentives to make Aliyah. Olim Chadashim receive a wide array of "zchuyot" - discounts, rebates, various tax reductions and notably for young people, free university schooling. A major reason why I decided to make Aliyah now (as opposed to after studying in England at a more prestigious university) was that I would have my degree paid for by my Aliyah rights. Over the three years that I will be studying here though, my basic living expenses will cause me to out-spend the money saved on the degree itself. It's a win-win situation for both the economy and for myself.

I agree that it is in the best interests of the government to entice people to immigrate, seeing that Jews outside of Israel are typically wealthier than their Israeli counterparts. I agree that it is a good idea to offer many of these discounts to Olim Chadashim so as to ease the transition to a new country, but I have serious misgivings about offering full university grants to every immigrant. Admittedly, many of the Olim to this country are poor people (If you're reading this Paul, I don't do P.C.) from Africa, Russia and South America, but the fact remains that the Olim most likely to attend university here are those who immigrate from North America and Europe. If we look at this particular demographic, we see that many of these Olim are middle-class and lived a fairly comfortable life abroad.

To make it clear, here is the crux of the issue; the middle-classes in Canada, England and America are considerably wealthier than those in Israel. I have a number of friends who came to Israel to learn in yeshiva or a midrashah, and have now made Aliyah and are studying in an Israeli university, or will do so in the near future. These same people would have most likely attended a respected university in America or England had they not moved. Imagine that they had gone to one of Cambridge, YU, UCL, or Harvard. As far as I understand, English university fees are about £3,000 a year and American fees can easily reach $40,000. These are not small sums of money, but as a matter of routine, young Jewish men and women attend these universities and make that hefty investment in their future.

I agree with Lahav that students should be prepared to invest more into their futures, as she says, "the benefit of receiving a quality higher education outweighs its cost by far." Having said that, Lahav was speaking from the point of view of an "Olah Chadashah," and as such has her fees paid by the government. Can Lahav and I truly expect to have our fees continued to be fully subsidised while the native Israelis' fees are raised? I stress again that I think it positive that Israel attempts to make Aliyah easier and appealing, but it's a rather wasteful of the government to distribute grants unnecessarily when there is a real shortage of funding for other, far more pressing and important, needs. I believe that the benefits offered to immigrants are a good policy because they ultimately benefit everyone, but there has to be a limit.

Now that these students have made the jump to Israel and attend one of the top Israeli universities such as the Hebrew University, The Technion in Haifa or Bar Ilan, are they suddenly impoverished and unable to pay their fees? Without doubt, there will be a significant number needing financial assistance, but what about the American students who would have otherwise stayed behind in America and attended Stern or Yeshiva University and would have had to pay fees many times the amount Israelis pay here? I cannot fathom the logic in granting them total subsidies. It makes no sense to offer full bursaries as standard and to raise the Israelis' fees at the same time.

I do agree with Lahav when she says that students in Israel must learn to accept that if they want to learn at a prestigious institution with good facilities and respected professors, they must be prepared to invest heavily. It's for their own good. I agree that the best solution is not to demand more of the government, there's no point in requesting more grants - we'll only get higher taxes by way of return.

But at the same time, while professors are striking in Israel year after year, maybe the best thing would be to cut back the funding to Olim Chadashim. I don't mean that no grants should be given to Olim, I am sure that for many people it makes the difference between going to university or to the job centre. Rather I propose a sliding-scale system, a need-based scheme to distribute Israeli money properly. The money saved should go some way to paying the professors' wages and help alleviate the hike in Israeli students' fees.