Shalom Pollack: Changes

 In Israel today, there is an accepted and growing industry focused on obtaining certain desired passports ( nostalgic places such as Germany, Spain, and Portugal ).

In contrast, it brings to mind the days when Jews came to Eretz Yisroel by any means, enduring severe hardships to remain and build the land of our dreams.

The iron will of the Exodus ship "illegals" were my heroes.
That book and movie spoke to my generation.

Today, in some parts of Israel, audiences would respond with detachment or ridicule to the film.

In a similar vein, there is now a popular advertisement for a unique shopping opportunity.
The ad focuses on an individual suffering withdrawal symptoms because of an obsessive and understandable need to have frequent vacations outside of  Israel.

The inability to leave the country for an "overseas" vacation is portrayed as understandably unbearable.
The emergency treatment suggested is shopping in a "duty-free airport-like store" - the next best thing to  an out-of-Israel experience
After all, how long can one remain in Israel and remain sane?

When I made Aliyah to Israel in 1977, it was a different country.
Pride and love of the land and country were still the norm.

Who did not share those feelings then?

There were fringe groups like the Communist party led by Moscow puppets or the tiny pro-Arafat "Neturei Karta", an embarrassment to the Torah-observant world.
Of course, there was the  Israeli Arab population, who were never happy about failing to annihilate all the Jews in 1948, but did not dare express this disappointment then (as opposed to today, with the encouragement of the Israel Left).

So what has happened since I arrived? How, why, did things change?

Israel today is often described as a collection of "tribes", each with its particular set of values  and identity.
Israel is indeed a fractured society, as one group in particular increasingly shoulders the burden or the privilege of its defence.

Perhaps the communication revolution has given voice and accelerated the tribal process, which has truly always been there.
Still, the kinds of commercial ads described above were unthinkable in the 1970's when I arrived.

Which "tribe" creates these ads and consumes them today?
Typically it is the higher socio/economic, secular, Ashkenazi  Left.

It has been suggested that Israel today  is   divided  into two broad groups: the "mobile" and the "rooted"

The mobile group is secular and socially and professionally mobile.
They can "relocate" to any modern country and succeed professionally / financially. They don't seek a particular "community"
Many places can be home, at least temporarily.
This group has weakening ties to Israel and to their Jewish identity.
The idea of a permanent homeland - certainly one that is becoming "too Jewish ", is archaic.

For the "rooted" group,  the words home and Jewish are fundamental to their  identity

Israel's demography has been changing.

Most  Israelis who choose to try their luck abroad are mobile, and those who stay are the rooted.
The latter is a growing percentage of the population, a fact that feeds the growing feeling of isolation of the mobiles.
Jews from the Diaspora who decide to make Israel their home in effect join the stationaries in the homeland of our dreams. For them, their mobile days are over. They are home, they are rooted.
For the mobiles, these new "rooted" are a contribution to making the country even more Jewish.

For them, when non-Jewish Russians and Ukrainians were allowed in, it was a hope that briefly burned bright.  The proliferation of non-kosher butchers and churches brought hope for a more "normal" society.
The appearance of Christmas trees warmed the hearts of mobiles who felt like they were in a normal country.
Similarly, the illegal border crossings of Eritreans and Sudanese Muslims were cheered by the mobiles who defended their right to remain. More non-Jews are a good, progressive thing.

Unlike Torah Jews in the diaspora, assimilated Jews rarely consider the impractical move of relocating to a tiny, unpopular,  embattled country. Why would they?
They are joined by "practical"  Israeli mobiles and together, fade out of Jewish history in the sweet, painless Exile.

The demographics in Israel are indeed changing.

Is it "good for the Jews"?


The historic/societal question: what caused the sharp change in Israeli society from the time I came and today is still unanswered.

I welcome suggestions.
shalompollack613@gmail.com