‘Lech Lecha’: Celebrating ‘olim’ and their communities in Israel

Communities around the world will likely discuss aliyah this Shabbat upon reading the story of Abraham’s journey. But what about communities in Israel? Is aliyah something worth celebrating?

In the Torah portion Lech Lecha, Jews read the words that began our Jewish people’s relationship with this land: Lech lecha me’artzecha u’mimoladetecha u’mibeit avicha, el ha’aretz asher areka—“Go forth from your land, from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.”

Abraham and Sarah were the very first olim. They left behind everything familiar—language, culture, the comfort of a known world—for a land they had never seen on the strength of a promise. Thousands of years later, that same journey is being made by those arriving at Ben-Gurion International Airport almost every week.

And yet, although aliyah sits at the heart of the Zionist story, it is rarely something we stop to celebrate together. That is what Young Israel is setting out to change by launching Shabbat Aliyah timed to Shabbat Lech Lecha.

Most olim mark their anniversary quietly. There is the “Aliyahversary” Facebook post, a family dinner, perhaps a moment of reflection on how far the family has come. These are meaningful moments, but they are personal. The community around them often doesn’t notice or pay attention.

Aliyah, though, is not only a personal milestone. It is also a great communal achievement, and it deserves communal recognition. Behind every new immigrant stands a real measure of idealism and sacrifice: careers rebuilt from scratch, parents and grandparents left behind, a new language learned, children navigating a new school system, a new army and a new culture.

This matters most for our children. Children who made aliyah with their parents often didn’t choose the journey, yet they carry much of its weight. When a child sees their community recognize that what their family did was brave and important, it reframes their personal story. Aliyah becomes not just something that happened to them, but something to be proud of.

Shabbat Aliyah speaks to two kinds of communities in Israel in two different ways.

In communities made up largely of olim, it is a chance to look around the room and recognize a shared journey. Everyone there knows what the first year was like. Pausing together to acknowledge the challenges builds the kind of solidarity that carries people through the harder times.

In communities that are mostly Israeli-born, Shabbat Aliyah is an invitation to see others in their midst. To appreciate what it took for them to move to Israel and to recognize what they bring with them—to synagogues, neighborhoods and the economy.

New immigrants are not guests in Israel. They are among its builders, and they deserve to hear that from their neighbors.

Our Torah portion is honest about the costs of relocation. No sooner does Abraham arrive than there is famine in the land. The Promised Land does not always greet its newcomers gently. That is exactly why community recognition matters: the challenges are real, and so is the achievement of persevering through them.

For the past three years, Young Israel in Israel and World Mizrachi have been building the Mizrachi-Young Israel Shuls Network: a growing network of olim communities across Israel. The idea is simple. Communities that cater to this sector of the population are often dealing with many of the same challenges, and their rabbis and lay leaders have a great deal to learn from one another.

Our network gives them a way to connect, to support each other and to collaborate.

Shabbat Aliyah is a natural outgrowth of that work with olim communities, creating an opportunity for shared celebration. 42 communities—newer and older, large and small, from the north to the south—will mark the same Shabbat in the same spirit. Some have organized communal meals or Kiddushim; most will invite newcomers to speak about their experiences; some have guest speakers who are themselves olim; and many are using the resources we have provided to spark conversations about aliyah.

God’s promise to Abraham ends with a remarkable line: V’nivrechu vecha kol mishpechot ha’adama—“And through you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Abraham’s journey was never only about him. His arrival became a source of blessing for everyone around him.

That is the story of aliyah in our times as well. Each family that comes home strengthens the country, the community and the Jewish people as a whole. On Shabbat Lech Lecha, as we read of the first journey to this land, we invite communities across Israel to stop, look around, and say thank you to those who have followed in Abraham and Sarah’s footsteps.