This story is about an American family
that made Aliyah
Arrived 1987 - Departed 1989
A Country that Eats its People (Part 1)A Country that Eats its People (Part 3)
continued...
FORGING AHEAD
Every time we returned to the Merkaz another inequity had to be overcome.
Lets visualize a bulletin board in the Merkaz. All important instructions and events are posted. Everyone is expected to be informed and comply with its messages. Translations into every language needed for the Olim living at the Merkaz are hung on the board. Every language "except" English. In addition to the boards information, there are pamphlets available on most important subjects. Can you get one in English, not when you need it. For some strange reason they are never there. Our director of activities, Giddon, in charge of the board and other information, was found to be capable of speaking, reading and writing English. Why he neglected to incorporate that ability for us, was never reconciled.
To continue being angry was non-productive. I decided to speak to Pal and Sibyl, the lovely couple who had us to dinner, when we first arrived in Israel. The problem was explained to them, and they were upset by it. Both fluent in Hebrew, they volunteered their services. On a daily basis they came to the Merkaz, translated the important notices to English, and tacked them up. They couldn’t assume this responsibility on a permanent basis, so Pal spoke to the staff at the Merkaz, pleading with them to correct the problem. He knew they could, but was unable to persuade them to do so. Pal continued translating for a while longer, then we were back to square one.
The hopelessness of correcting anything becomes serious. The anger Americans have for being treated this way by Israel is surmounted only by the anger for the neglect we suffer from the organizations that prepared our Aliyah. The thought never leaves us.
LAW OF RETURN
Let's focus for a bit, on the Law of Return. This fundamental purpose for Israel’s existence, decrees that everyone born a Jew, is welcomed to come home. It does not exclude any other group or religion, from coming and living in Israel. However, being Jewish, entitles you to become part of a specially supported environment. You are promised particular attention, including guidance and financial help from funding set aside specifically for the purpose.
Prior to making Aliyah you are rehearsed in the details of those benefits, and have no reason to disbelieve. Without hesitation you sign every document put before you. Why not? Should you mistrust the Jewish Agency, or Israel?
With paperwork completed you relax, confident that the hands you have placed yourself in are reliable. Not until life started at the Merkaz Klita, where we were supposed to regain our roots, did we lose whatever was dormant in us. What had we come to? Not an iota of what was expected, existed. The Merkaz was teaming with non-Jews, receiving every last benefit of the Aliyah program, the very benefits, American Jews were struggling unsuccessfully to receive.
This non-Jewish population is adept at milking the system beyond imagination. They are living at the Merkaz fraudulently, with a full bag of tricks to carry on the charade.
Who are these people? Some are Born Again Christians, openly distributing literature for their cause. Others have claimed marriage to a Jew and have bogus documents to support it. Then there are those that openly state they have no Jewish connection whatsoever. I would protect anyone's right to live here, but I was damn well disturbed to discover them living through the benefits of the Aliyah program.
Complaints were loudly registered, no one listened, it appeared no one cared. The unthinkable aberration continued. American Millionaires, the have-nots that will get naught, can only clench their fists and grit their teeth.
Life goes on, though spirits wane. That which brought us here, a spirit of belonging, all we have left to keep going, is slipping away. Feeling totally abandoned, we struggle on day after day, trying to glean some purpose from this chaotic environment.
New as we are to the system, what we have already experienced, is enough to destroy any notion that it will allow Americans coherent absorption. For us the Merkaz has become an obstacle. It is a cauldron of pressure without purpose. Hoped for preparation to live outside its boundaries becomes a fight for preservation instead. We walk a nerve-racking path to avoid reprisal.
A NORMAL DAY AT THE MERKAZ
Following is a description of normal activity at the Merkaz. It's seven in the morning and were readying ourselves for class, a four hour, three aspirin, exercise in frustration. At noon, the agony comes to an end. Next there’s a rush to our room, lunch is gobbled so we can hurry and get ourselves on the lines forming in the lobby. Chances are we will be waiting on different lines for different counseling. Counseling, what a joke to dignify the process with such an ability.
These administrators of our lives, are supposedly there to help you find a job, secure financial rights, guide you in selecting proper health coverage, find an apartment, register for unemployment insurance, and the list goes on.
An impressive array of ready and waiting assistance? Not for us. Not a single one of these Aliyah niceties ever resulted in any one truly completed thing. Whatever they did for us inevitably required fixing through our own devices. All are low paid, dissatisfied, and envious of the American Millionaire sitting in front of them, and its shown, plain as the nose on your face. The treatment you get is further aggravated by their ineptness. They are very good at causing you to run in circles. The circles go on every day, day after day.
Normally, by six in the evening, you return home, Dinner is downed in a state of exhaustion. Homework, two hours of it, follows. You're ready to drop, but the night is young, and we’ve more to do.
Down to the meeting room we go. There other Americans have started to gather and we join in. This is an important ritual, a time when we exchange daily happenings, trying to gain some insight of our mutual problems. Hopefully this tactic might help another avoid a pitfall one has already discovered. To some extent it does lessen the run- around thing. On the other hand when we uncover what is being doled out to non Americans, that hurts. We learn of grants the South Africans get that we won’t receive. We learn of Argentineans already finding employment, while we cant even get started. We learn of Romanians getting top positions in town government, because of their extensive network. We learn more than enough, to remain despondent. Most damaging of all, we learn our frankness and naivety make us targets for harm.
You must be wondering what can sustain us, what can possible motivates us to continue. Quite simply put, we have convinced ourselves that before the six months are done with, likewise so will all this absurdity. After all, how many forms remain to be completed, how many fools errands can be left to overcome, how many meetings remain to generate anger. Certainly, hopefully, as leaving time draws nearer, pressure will decrease, a more manageable time will come. We tell ourselves our burnt out minds will heal in time to begin life outside. Such fantasies let us dream on. Once outside, in the real world, life should become meaningful once more. The terrible truth is, our fantasies will never come to pass. Pressure at the Merkaz will continue till the hour of departure.
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