Jews of the Diaspora! Please! Do Not Come to Israel!

You'll only hold us back.

Who knows? Maybe reverse psychology (and a click-bait title) will succeed where nothing else has.

Alan Mairson replied to a note of mine:

“I know I’m covering familiar ground, but… I’ll pack up tomorrow and make aliyah, if only you can square the circle for me: Why will 8 million Diaspora Jews coming home solve whatever it is that ails Israel and the world? …. And I’m not talking about our safety. I’m talking about the redemptive thrust of Jewish history that became visible in 1948 and even more so in 1967. » Fast forward and assume all of us out here are doomed. We all perish. But you, the Jewish remnant in Israel, survives. Then what? What’s the plan? And why not move ahead with that plan without us?

Also: If the world didn’t get the message in ‘48 and ‘67, why do you think the message becomes clearer if another 8 million Jews make the move now?”

Alan and I have a history. BP—Before Pogrom. When a rapper started spewing antisemitism to his tens of millions of followers, I saw it as a sign, and I designated myself the Zionist town crier and called vehemently for the Jews of afar to make Aliyah to Israel immediately, before it was “too late.” Alan argued me to a draw. His is a dystopian (“Fast forward and assume all of us out here are doomed…”)…err, “diasporian” view of a Jewish future in America. We continued the discussion AP—After Pogrom—, which served as a wake-up call to many Jews in the Diaspora, but at the same time strengthened the argument against Aliyah. “What’s the difference between getting shot at a Hannukah party or getting slaughtered in Israel? At least here I am amongst family and friends and still have a job.”

At this stage, I find myself full of wonder for those Jews making Aliyah, with all its difficulties. At the same time, I am sending prayers and good vibes and good wishes to the Jews not making Aliyah. Except for one group: Anti-Zionist Jews.

That is the reason I respect Alan, and Thomas P. Balazs and Tzvi Alperowitz. Though not making Aliyah themselves—at least forbthe present time—they do not refute their Zionism in the hope of becoming more acceptable to the antisemitic hordes.

In the end, the only reply that I can offer to Alan’s last question is an observation:

“If the world didn’t get the message in ‘48 and ‘67, why do you think the message becomes clearer if another 8 million Jews make the move now?”

Let’s take your dates, Alan. Actually, let’s preface them, with1867, when Mark Twain visited the Holy Land, which he called a “hopeless, dreary, heart-broken land” (The Innocents Abroad). Fast forward to 1948, when Israel declared independence. There were already 650,000 Jews then. In 1967, the Jewish population had grown to roughly 2.7 million. As of 2025–2026, it stands at approximately 7.7–7.8 million.

The state of the land is a direct coefficient ofh the number of Jews in the land. From hopeless and dreary desolation to exponential growth in high tech innovation, Torah learning, and overall flourishing. If we are where we are with nearly 8 million Jews, imagine where we (and hopefully you) will be with 15-16 million.

Shabbat Shalom!