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עמוד:114
Making Aliyah “ How are your cousins doing ? ” asked Hadas , after Jonathan had spent a few days with his relatives in Raanana . “ They really love being here – they’ve made lots of friends ! But it’s not simple for them , ” said Jonathan . “ They’re still not completely fluent in Hebrew , and they miss their old friends and all sorts of other things . I brought them their favorite American chocolate . It’s harder for my aunt and uncle . My aunt is a doctor and she’s already found a job , but my uncle is an architect and he still isn’t working . He hasn’t found a job in his field and is thinking of learning a new profession . But even if he does , it will still take him a couple of years . ” “ That can’t be easy . ” “ Not at all , especially since they had such a good life in the United States – good jobs , a nice house , close friends ... everything was fine . I’ve heard that some Jews make aliyah because of problems in their countries , like economic difficulties . But that really wasn’t the case with them . ” “ So why did they make aliyah ? Did they experience anti-Semitism ?” “ Never , but after saying ‘ Next year in Jerusalem’ every year at the end of the Passover Seder , they decided it was time to put those words into action once and for all !” Hadas raised her eyebrows in surprise : “ They made aliyah just because of the Passover Haggadah ?!” “ No , not really . But I think it has always been important to them that their kids marry Jews and they figured that was more likely in Israel . They also wanted to live in a Jewish country . Even though they had everything in the United States , they always felt like something was missing . They felt that they could live a richer , fuller Jewish life in Israel . For example , my uncle always got irritated when he had to ask his boss for a day off for Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur . Like it was a favor or something . It always annoyed him that he had to work on Passover but had Christmas off . He’s not religious , but he didn’t understand why he should live according to the Christian calendar . ” “ So they made aliyah for two reasons . ” “ Right , but I don’t know which was more significant . I guess it was a combination of both . ” Jonathan was quiet for a moment and Hadas said nothing , not wanting to interrupt his train of thought .
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