The second Jewish Diaspora began in A.D. 70. That’s when the Roman Empire defeated the Jewish rebels at Masada, then destroyed the main Jewish temple and exported the defeated Jews as slaves. Jewish civilization was scattered for centuries until finally, in 1948, they had an official homeland to return to. During my visit, Israel celebrated 65 years of independence.
It is national policy to welcome all Jews into Israel. Its “law of return” welcomes immigrants with grants and loans, subsidized housing, and classes to facilitate their assimilation. No matter how poor, foreign, and rough the returning Jew may be, the program expects to create well-educated, Hebrew-speaking Israelis out of his family within two generations. Israel claims to have successfully absorbed at least a million penniless refugees this way.
I was told that when President Obama visited last month, every Israeli girl fell in love. (“How nice, how charming he was.”) Many considered him naïve in his first term and now more mature. My guide said, “His advisors had him very well prepared. He pushed all the right buttons.” His charisma charmed the Israeli media.
I wish our president’s charisma could be translated into performance. While I like him, I see him as more rhetoric than results.