Israel Matzav

I'm all in favor of holidays, but....

The Knesset, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to make a holiday to honor the contribution of immigrants to the country. Given that a holiday on which religious Jews can travel is a rarity in this country, we should all be grateful. So why make the holiday four days before Passover?

The 10th of Nisan was selected for the holiday given the historical importance of the date, on which the Jews crossed the Jordan River into Israel after the Exodus from Egypt, as recorded in the Book of Joshua. The bill notes this was the "first mass Aliyah in history."

MK Bar remarked that "the Yom Haaliyah bill is an important national day in a country  that was built on Aliyah, since that it is an inseparable part of the country's essence."

Yom Haaliyah is planned to be celebrated in various ceremonies, highlighting the contribution of immigrants who have found their way home to Israel from all parts of the world.

Initially, the bill was drafted and lobbied for by Jay Shultz, an immigrant from New York who founded TLV Internationals, a large online community for young professional immigrants; Schultz was joined in the bill by Jonathan Javor who immigrated from London, and who also was part of TLV Internationals before working for the Mayor of Tel Aviv to plan the absorption of immigrants.

That's fine.... But I'd really rather have Sundays....  The 10th day of Nissan will just be a longer day to clean for Pesach....

Labels: aliya, olim, Pesach

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:53 PM