From Poland to Israel

'Plus Minus' supplement

Rzeczpospolita, 28 12 2002

Jakub Kowalski
FORUM : www.forum-znak.org.pl
(See more in Polish, Nowe Publikacje,
Polacy Zydzi wracaja do Izraela)

Sochnut conducts a campaign for Jews' return to Israel. Every year about ten Polish Jews invoke the Law of Return, leave for Israel and settle there. The migration in the opposite direction is of similar magnitude.

Alija ("upwards" in Hebrew) means immigration to Israel. At the beginning of the 50s the Knesset passed the Law of Return, which allows every Jews to immigrate to Israel. From the 70s on the law also applied to non-Jewish spouses, children from mixed marriages and grandchildren. Jakub Kowalski presents a few (usually young) people aware of their Jewish identity who decided to move to Israel. The Jewish Agency (Sochnut in Hebrew) assists in organizing such departures. Sochnut's Warsaw representation has been deprived of a permanent emissary for the past three years; the previous emissary was recalled because within one year only three people took advantage of the alija. Currently Mira Neveh, responsible for the entire Eastern Europe, visits Poland a few times a year. According to her currently about ten people leave Poland annually. The arriving obtain Israeli citizenship and state's assistance in starting a new life if they can prove their Jewish roots (2 generations are required).
Most of the Jews leaving Poland come from small, poor villages. According to Michael Schudrich, the rabbi of Warsaw and Lodz, the most frequent reason for the alija is the desire of a religious life. However there are also many of those who leave in order to unite with the family already living in Israel.

The process of settling in Israel is not easy. Bureaucratic obstacles are often the reason, especially since the lack of documents frequently prevents people from proving their Jewish identity. In Israel, far away from Poland, the climate is different, people have other ways of dressing and preparing food and the culture also differs. However Jacek claims: "I do not feel lonely In Israel". The scary and tense war-like atmosphere and the threat of the Palestinian Intifada may discourage some people; a friend with whom one had ice cream in the morning may fall victim of a suicidal attack in the evening.

The opinions regarding alija are diverse. Jacek says he only left an old car in Poland, while Miriam would have probably stayed in Krakow had there been a good yeshiva for women. "An 'escape-reaction', a defeat in life, a desperate decision, the temptation of propaganda, a wanderer's life" - Anna, who a few years ago almost emigrated to Israel, lists possible reasons for a departure.

The opposite of the alija is the jerida, the emigration from Israel. The Polish embassy in Tel Aviv assists about ten people annually in obtaining Polish citizenship and in the return to the country where they once had lived. The returning want to spend their old age in Poland.