The last written work of the Rebbe before his stroke centered on the following thought. The Rebbe personally handed a copy to thousands of people. I believe it is a summary of who we are and what we must do:
Self-sacrifice in a land of freedom penetrates to the bone.
I saw men and women who sacrificed all they had to defy the religious persecution of the Bolshevik regime. They came to a land of freedom and comfort—where is their greatness now?
Then there is the child of that land of freedom and comfort, worshipping it, chasing after it—but inside he is crushed by the spiritual void. His inner being does not let him alone, the spark inside that cries, “This is not what I truly want! I don’t want this world! I don’t want any worlds! All I want is Him alone!”
This is the crushing of an olive for its oil. The oil spreads and penetrates every fiber of his being. His every faculty begins to burn. And there shines the source of light that can never be extinguished nor dimmed.
It is the light from which the messianic era is formed.
Feigue C.. Greetings and blessings from Zion.
You raised key issues regarding Aliya and the Jewish future I'll resolve them based on experience and Jewish teachings and present realities.
1. Undeterred by an obstacle similar to yours posed by the local Sochnut agent, we flew yo Israel with passports, proof of Jewishness in hand and liquidated assets in the pockets. At the airport I was given an exemption from Tzahal and 2 membership in a Kupat Cholin.
At the Ministry of Interior we were given rights to free Hebrew lessons, preparatory courses for work and renal subsidies for a year.
Today help is available from Nefesh Nefesh and Chabad in Israel including the new Settlements of Ohr Chabad in the Negev.
2. The Rebbe himself said America is no different. it can happen there. Many troubling signs point to that.
3.There's plenty of room for the 10th of the 10th ready, willing and able to return to Israel. The Negev and Golan and Galilee are relatively empty and affordable.
Ron you warmed my neshamah by reaching out the way you did! We were young then, retrospectively we should not have listened to the Sochnut, but there is larger story with that one. My grandma was also opposed because her daughter ( my aunt) fell in love iwth a sheliach, married and ended up in a Kibbutz early in Israel as a State. She had a very hard time then because where did she end up in the work division in the Kibbutz? doing women's chores and returned. My husband and I were without chidren then, and it would have been easier. Once H' gifted me two children complications arise. Yes, they could have been surmountable but now not only my grandmother but my parents were against it.:" more difficult with two chidren." Had we had no advice...... Ron, I am now a grandma, and therefore more complicated to just go with my husband and leave everyone behind. These are no excuses but realities in my life at 80. Your advice will be useful to other readers. TODAH IM KOL LIBI