American Jews - It's Time to Come Home!

In New York, primaries were held for the Democratic candidacy for mayor, and a candidate who hates Israel, supports BDS, openly backs the murderers of Gaza, and is a progressive communist - has won.

In short, a clear leftist with all the characteristics of the global antisemitic left, the kind of person we encounter in flotillas to Gaza and violent anarchist protests.

Many in Israel are unaware, but New York is the city with the largest Jewish population in the world. If this Democratic candidate indeed wins the mayoral position in a city with a clear Democratic majority, it will be a resounding wake-up call for those who have deluded themselves into thinking that America is different from pre-Holocaust Europe, and that Jews can live there in peace without fear of what lies ahead.

On a day like this, I would expect to hear the leaders of Jewish communities in the U.S. calling on their followers to pack their bags, realizing that the exile has reached its end, that we have been privileged to return to our land, and that the self-sacrifice once required for immigration to Israel is no longer so difficult.

Today, one boards a plane and arrives in a flourishing, prosperous, and powerful state, as has been proven in recent days with even greater clarity.

The prophet Ezekiel said, “What you have in mind will never come to pass.” Our sages in Midrash Tanchuma (Parshat Shoftim) explain the verse in Zechariah (13:8), “And the third shall remain in it,” stating that “Israel will not settle in their land except through the third redemption. The first redemption was from Egypt, the second was the redemption of Ezra, and the third will have no end.”

There is a promise from our sages that our redemption will not cease.

As stated in the Jerusalem Talmud (Berachot 1:1), “Rabbi Hiyya Rabba and Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta were walking in the Arbel Valley at dawn and saw the first light of dawn breaking. Rabbi Hiyya Rabba said to Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta, ‘My master, such is the redemption of Israel, at first, it comes little by little, but as it progresses, it grows greater and greater.’”

They brought proof from verses in the Book of Esther, describing the stages of Mordechai’s rise to greatness.

However, Jews who remain in exile are doomed to destruction, God forbid, if they do not awaken to return.

As stated in Kol HaTor from our master, the Vilna Gaon (Chapter 1, Section 10), based on the verse (Joel 3:5), “‘In Mount Zion and Jerusalem there shall be those who escape... and among the survivors whom the Lord calls.’

Zion is linked to Messiah son of Joseph, according to Midrash Tanchuma, as what happened to Joseph will happen to Zion.

Our master hinted at this in the word ‘survivors,’ which has the numerical value of ‘Messiah son of Joseph,’ through whom the ingathering of exiles occurs, according to our master.

As the ingathering grows, the forces of evil strengthen, and accusations arise against those who do not support the ingathering after its beginning has been opened, for then there will be escape in Zion and Jerusalem among the survivors.

As long as the Jewish people were in exile, that exile had a purpose, so that one day we would return to our land.

Now that we have returned, the exile faces its end, as there is no reason for its continued existence.

The clock is ticking, and the sun of American and European Jewry is setting.

The Democratic Party is almost entirely steeped in antisemitism, and even among Republicans, there are many isolationist and other forces that could turn against Israel and the Jews at any moment.

Even President Trump is influenced by various groups, and as is known, his actions are unpredictable.

Those who rely on the victory of an independent candidate in New York or on Republican victories in America in general are leaning on a broken reed.

It is better to trust in the Creator of the World, to believe in what He conveyed through His prophets, and to adhere to the words of our sages. The time has come to return home, the time has come to return to Zion!

The writer is Rabbi Yehuda Epstein, Chairman of the Kadushat Zion Association, the Haredi Association for the Demand of Zion in Sanctity.