AMERICAN A ì L ì I ì Yì A AMERICAN A ì L ì I ìYì A Portrait of an Innovative Migration Movement CHAIM I. WAXMAN WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS DETROIT 1989 Copyright © 1989 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48202. All material in this work, except as identified below, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/. All material not licensed under a Creative Commons license is all rights reserved. Permission must be obtained from the copyright owner to use this material. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Waxman, Chaim Isaac. American aliya : portrait of an innovative migration movement / Chaim I. Waxman. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-8143-4342-5 (paperback); ISBN 978-0-8143-4341-8 (ebook) 1. Jews, American–Israel. 2. Zionism–United States. 3. Immigrants–Israel. 4. United States–Emigration and immigration. 5. Israel–Emmigration and immigration. 6. Israel–Ethnic relations. I. Title. DS113.8.A4W38 1989 956.94’004924073–dcl9 88-38114 CIP The publication of this volume in a freely accessible digital format has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mellon Foundation through their Humanities Open Book Program. http://wsupress.wayne.edu/ In Honor of Ari & Sandy, Shani & Noam, and Dani Contents Tables 8 Preface 11 Introduction 15 PART I 1 Zion in Jewish Culture 27 2 Messianism and the Forerunners of Zionism in the Nineteenth Century 39 3 American Jewry and the Land of Israel in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries 50 PART II 4 Early Twentieth Century American Zionism 65 5 American Aliya Before the Six-Day War 77 6 American Aliya, 1967–1987 88 PART III 7 The Centrality of Israel in American Jewish Life 105 8 Orthodox Judaism in Modern American Society 119 PART IV 9 The Acculturation of American Israelis 139 10 American Israelis in “the Territories” 150 11 The Return Migration of American Olim 169 12 Families Apart: Parents of American Olim 186 13 Aliya and the Priorities of the American Jewish Community 195 Notes 203 Index 204 7 Tables Table 1. Distribution of Most Important Reasons Given for American Aliya, Pre–1948 82 Table 2. American Immigrants to Israel, 1950–1987 82 Table 3. Regional Distribution of American Olim and Jewish Population in the U.S. 90 Table 4. Occupational Distribution, 1970 95 Table 5. Olim Aged 15 and Over by Continent of Residence and Occupation Abroad, 1986 95 Table 6. Occupational Distribution of American Olim and Israeli Jewish Labor Force 96 Table 7. Denominational Distribution 99 Table 8. Number of Hebrew Day Schools, Types, and Enrollments 122 Table 9. Fulfillment of Expectations of American Olim, 1972 and 1975 (%) 148 Table 10. Distribution of American Israelis in the Territories by Age and Sex 151 Table 11. Number of Children in Families of American Israelis in the Territories 151 Table 12. Distribution of American Israelis in the Territories by Education and Sex 151 Table 13. Distribution of American Israelis in the Territories by Parents’ Affiliation 152 Table 14. Distribution of American Israelis in the Territories by Jewish Education 153 Table 15. Jewish Youth Group Affiliations of American Israelis in the Territories 154 Table 16. Distribution of American Israelis in the Territories by Period of Aliya 154 8 Table 17. Feelings about the U.S. among American Israelis in the Territories 155 Table 18. Primary Motivations of American Israelis for Moving to Territories 155 Table 19. Support of American Israelis in the Territories for Democracy as a Value 156 Table 20. Ideas on Dealing with Arabs in Territories among American Israelis There 157 Table 21. Attitudes toward Kach among American Israelis in the Territories 157 Table 22. Attitudes toward Gush Emunim among American Israelis in the Territories 158 Table 23. Belief among American Israelis in the Territories in Equal Rights for Arabs 158 Table 24. Belief among American Israelis in Territories that Now Is Period of Messiah 159 Table 25. Occupational Status Before, During, and After Stay in Israel 173 Table 26. Intentions upon Arrival (%) 174 Table 27. Visa Status upon Arrival (%) 174 Table 28. Reasons for Aliya Rated as “Very or Somewhat Important” (%) 175 Table 29. Reported Reasons for Return (%) 177 Table 30. Reasons for Returning to the U.S. Rated as “Very or Somewhat Important” (%) 178 Table 31. Distribution of Push and Pull Factors in Decision to Return 180 Table 32. Arrangements Before Israel and Return (%) 180 Table 33. Synagogue Affiliation Before and After Israel (%) 181 Table 34. Frequency of Synagogue Attendance Before and After Israel (%) 181 Table 35. Planned or Current Jewish Education of Children of Returnees (%) 181 Table 36. Jewish/Israel Activities and Feelings Before and After Israel 183 Table 37. Zionist Self-identification Before and After Israel (%) 184 Table 38. Probability of Reattempting Aliya 184 Table 39. Agreement or Disagreement with Aliya-related Statements (%) 185 9 Preface The research and writing of this book were inspired by one event and two individuals. The event was what began as a one-year sabbatical from Rutgers University and ended up as a two-year stay in Israel for me, my wife, and our children. From 1982 to 1984 we lived in Rechovot, a city south of Tel Aviv with a significant population of Americans, in which we were made to feel very welcome and in which we made many dear friends. That stay in Israel sparked my interest in several of the topics and issues covered in this book. Just before I left for Israel, in the spring of 1982, Yehuda Rosen- man, late director of the Jewish Communal Affairs Department of the American Jewish Committee and a dear friend, asked my advice about a research project on the subject of American aliya, immigra- tion to Israel, and the return to the United States of many of those immigrants. Yehuda had a burning love for both the land and people of Israel, Eretz Israel and Am Israel, and he was one of the first American Jewish communal leaders to argue that the American Jew- ish community should support American aliya, that it need not fear that such aliya would deplete its future leadership; on the contrary, he argued, support for American aliya would strengthen American Jewry. At the time and in subsequent letters I told Yehuda what I felt would be necessary for such a project. He encouraged me to keep abreast of the issue of American aliya and also that of the return migration of American olim. Ultimately, Yehuda and Bert Gold, exec- utive vice-president of the American Jewish Committee and director 11 AMERICAN ALIYA of its Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations, engaged me in a study of the return migration of American olim, upon which Chap- ter 11 of this book is based. I am deeply grateful to both of them for their personal and institutional support of the subject of American aliya and for their friendship. I will sorely miss Yehuda Rosenman’s wisdom, wit, and warmth; his passing was a great loss for his family, his many friends, and the entire American Jewish community. Another dear friend who, at a later stage, was a source of encour- agement and assistance in completing this book is Moshe Davis, founding director of the Hebrew University’s Institute of Contempo- rary Jewry and director of the America–Holy Land Studies Project. His friendship and support are appreciated. Many people assisted me in my research for this book and I wish to thank all of them. The staff at the research libraries of Rutgers University, Yeshiva University, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Theo- logical Seminary, and the New York Public Library were very helpful. Three librarians in particular deserve special mention for assistance beyond the call of duty: Edith Lubetski, head of the Hedi Steinberg Library of Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women; Cyma Horowitz, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Blaustein Library; and Shoshana Kaufmann, Associate Director of the Paul Klapper Library of Queens College–CUNY. Also, Shoshana Kauf- mann’s compilation American Immigrants in Israel: A Selected Annotated Bibliography, 1948–85, published by the American Jewish Committee’s Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations, was very helpful in tracking down various books and articles on different topics. Several other individuals gave me important technical assistance and deserve special mention. Irving (Isser) Green, president of Skan Teknologies, Inc., is much more than a friend. All else aside, the tech- nical assistance he and his staff so graciously provided is deeply appreciated. Benjamin Sporn, attorney, and Anne D. Wade, market analyst, both of AT&T, graciously provided me with relevant tele- phone data. Rabbis Herschel Billet and Jay Goldberg, rabbis of the Young Israel of Woodmere and Young Israel of Wavecrest and Bay- swater respectively, helped me track down several items from responsa literature. Bernice M. Salzman, editor of The Bridge, the newsletter of Parents of North American Israelis (PNAI), graciously loaned me all of the back issues of that publication. Ephraim Tabory, senior lecturer in Sociology at Bar Ilan University, kindly allowed me to refer to his as yet unpublished research on PNAI. My good friend and Bitnet correspondent in Rechovot, Ellen Wachtel, was always 12 Preface there to help track down information not readily available outside of Israel. Throughout the writing of this book Gershon, Suri, and Yaacov Blank, who are also much more than friends, provided me with a variety of technical assistance, all of which is deeply appreciated. And to Natalie, Naomi, Shirley, Myrna, Rita, and George, many thanks for everything.