The aliyah salespeople are coming at us fast and furious. Most of them are coming at it from a place of genuine caring. They want us Jews to be in Eretz Yisrael safe from the Jew-hatred in Chutz LaAretz and being part of the holiness of our homeland. I get it. Sometimes, they go a bit overboard but I get that too- there are areas in which I’m very passionate and I’ve gone overboard myself. But sometimes, it goes horribly wrong. 

One of the aliyah salespeople brought up an important point. He said that one “excuse” that people make for not making aliyah is that they’re afraid that their children will go off the Derech. A variation on this is about rabbis who discourage aliyah saying that it’s harder to be a good Jew and stay on that Derech. Naturally, the aliyah salespeople assure everyone that living in Eretz Yisrael gives you exposure to extra mitzvot and an extra level of Kedushah that actually make it less likely to go off the Derech. 

However, what if we look at “off the Derech” in a different way? 

I’ve tried to be a voice for “wannabe olim”-........

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