New Views,Ever since Avraham Avinu passed the challenge of Lech Lecha, his descendants have had the yearning for Eretz Yisrael's kedushah implanted in their genetic composition, drawn there as if by gravitational pull. Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, the Bostoner Rebbe, and Rabbi Shmuel Bloom, all of whom were at the height of their “careers” as community leaders in America when they made the move, discuss the pull that they felt towards Eretz Yisrael and share some insight into the prospects of making aliyah today.
But devastating as the news may seem to those left behind aliyah seems to be gaining popularity among leaders with several North American rabbanim making the move each year.
Gathered at Mishpacha’s headquarters in Jerusalem are three people — giants really each in his own way — whose departure from America left great voids: Rabbi Emanuel Feldman who built and led the Atlanta kehillah for several decades before making aliyah; the Bostoner Rebbe of Yerushalayim Rabbi Mayer Horowitz who founded and ran several Torah institutions in Boston before moving; and Rabbi Shmuel Bloom who recently retired as executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America.
Geographic distance between their respective cities in the US notwithstanding the three turn out to be old friends and as we settle into our discussion they commiserate about some of the banes of living here these days: the difficulty in finding parking and the continuous rise in the price of the shekel verses the dollar.
The overwhelming mutual respect is obvious and they all feel that the others should be the first to speak.
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