Not My Mother's Tel Aviv
Less than 50 miles separate Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, but in many ways, they are light years apart. Religiously and culturally, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv seem like polar opposites. Jerusalem personifies Israel's religious character, and Tel Aviv its progressive, cosmopolitan character. But it wasn't always like this.
When my grandparents chose to settle in Tel Aviv in the early part of the twentieth century, it was a popular destination for Chassidic and religious families to set up and build their homes and communities, as opposed to Jerusalem, with all of its churches and monasteries, much of it of Gothic flavor.
Personally, I lived in Israel for over 5 years, spending most of that time in Jerusalem, and very little time in Tel Aviv. Last month, I traveled to Israel with my son. We spent a full day in Tel Aviv and several days in Jerusalem. The contrast was stark. We went to a sports bar in Tel Aviv to watch the Cavs-Warriors basketball game, and the menu boasted some items that I would never see in a Jerusalem cafe. But I also discovered a religious renaissance in Tel Aviv. Looking for a place to say my prayers, the concierge told that it in this section of Tel Aviv, there were over 50 synagogues, but most of them, sadly, no longer had a minyan (quorum). However, he did say that this was changing.
Since many French Jews have experienced antisemitism and have begun making aliyah, many of the synagogues are experiencing a revival. In fact, the service I attended was made up of primarily French-speaking Jews. In the past 20 years, over 200,000 French Jews have made aliyah, over 70% of them moving from Paris. These Jews, being more cosmopolitan, have been attracted to the Tel Aviv lifestyle. But they are also more traditional-minded, and are reviving Jewish life in the secular city of Tel Aviv. In fact, I bumped into my friend, Elie Weiss and he told me that the recent French immigration has caused many of the Tel Aviv eateries to "go kosher" in order to attract this clientele.
King Solomon writes that in each generation "the sun will rise and the sun will set." The Midrash teaches us that this means that in every generation, even as the sun sets Jewishly in one area, G-d makes sure that it will rise again elsewhere. Like the proverbial falcon, G-d will never forsake the Jewish community. Sometimes in life the greatest blessing may lie in hiding in the challenge.
The Spanish Expulsion and Inquisition led to the settling of Jews in North America, directly contributing to the post-Holocaust Jewish revival in our free land. The Holocaust was directly connected to the establishment of the State of Israel, and now antisemitism in France, can be the cause for the rising of the Jewish sun in Tel Aviv, of all places. As we see our world shrinking, the inter-connectedness of people, places and things, this idea really resonates with me - and really struck me as a shift in the character of the Land of Israel. May we all be catalysts for Jewish renaissances - globally and in our own lives.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Koval
