aliyaheroes: September 2011

A prayer on making Aliyah

On the Shabbat morning before I left South Africa, my congregation honored me at the service and organised a bracha afterwards. My rabbi gave me a special Aliyah prayer to read during the service. I've included it here because it is a very meaningful and beautiful prayer!

“My heart is in the East and I am at the edge of the West.” (Words by Medieval Jewish poet, Judah Halevi, from Spain)

Here I am, ready to perform the command of my Creator, to settle in the land of Israel as countless generations before me.

May I face with courage the challenges that lie ahead.

May my dreams prove to be realistic, and my anxieties without foundation.

May I value the best of what the country of my birth and upbringing has given me, and bring these gifts to my new home.

May I make my own contribution to the land and to the life of the Jewish people.

Winning pics - My time in Israel