The Sad Truth

I was catching up with a friend from Detroit today, eating pizza with him and a few other guys. These are all guys that have spent their whole lives in yeshiva, are in Israel for a few years of learning, and then plan on going back to America to learn more. We were discussing life in Israel and what not, and they asked me if I really plan on living here permanently. They were genuinely surprised why I would want to do that. It wasn't til after I left that I was hit by the sad state of affairs. That people who have spent their entire life learning Torah can explain to me how each kinyan works, but don't understand why anyone would want to live in Israel. It's good to know all the little details, but what about the big picture? Judaism and Israel are one. The majority of the Torah is about the Jewish people leaving Egypt and coming to Israel. That's the basis of our religion, before we even got the Torah we had already been promised the land. It doesn't matter what you think of the government or the army or the settlements. Even if, chas v'shalom, the Israeli government would hand over total control of this entire country to the Palestinians, it wouldn't change the fact that this is our homeland and this is where we should be. I shouldn't ever have to explain to a Jew, and certainly not to yeshiva guys, why I am living here. They should have to explain how they can walk away.