Closing the Circle

It seemed like the natural progression of things. I asked myself… “What are we doing in Canada?” I love Canada and am proud to be a Canadian. Canada’s a nice, clean, polite, multicultural country. But what are we doing here? The only reason I was born in Canada is because my grandparents on both sides tried to make a better life for themselves. They crossed the ocean from Poland several years before WWII broke out. Coincidentally (although there is no such thing as coincidence) my father’s and mother’s parents all originated in the same little town of Yvansk (Iwaniska) and surrounding areas of Poland/Ukraine. Had they not left when they did, I would surely not exist. Hitler and his ilk wiped out most of my other ancestors who remained back in ‘the old country’.

But Canada is not really our home. Our only home is Israel – home to every Jew in the world. Our temporary stay in Canada was merely HaShem’s stepping stone of survival. With it came the risks that all Jews faced; assimilation, intermarriage and secularization. We, like most, succumbed to the prevalent lifestyle at first, but thank G-d my husband and I had the strength to see the true path while our children were still quite young. As we returned to religious observance, we felt a need to live out our lives and raise our children in the land of our forefathers. It is not only a privilege to live in Israel, it is our duty. So now, with G-d’s help, we have closed the circle and have given our children and grandchildren a future that they are entitled to.

Of course, living in ‘the land’ is not without effort or hardship, but nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. More on that in future blogs. Thanks for reading….

Welcome to My World

People have told me to write a blog, so today I finally set one up. I still have to make time to write something worth reading, but in time, G-d willing, it will happen. Since making aliya almost 17 years ago, we have learned so much about life in Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. We are truly blessed and grateful to be able to make this our home. I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts and views soon. Stay tuned....