Moving to Israel — for good

Family joins 1,000 in giant exodus
'I believe this is where we should be'

by Nicolaas Van Tijn
July 7, 2003
Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com

When the Zettel family closes the door to their Vaughan home 
tomorrow, it won't be for something as simple as a summer vacation. 

This move's for keeps. 

Harry Zettel, his wife Suzanne and their five young children 
are joining a modern-day exodus from North America to settle 
permanently in Israel, just one family in a group of some 
1,000 Canadians and Americans who have spent the last months 
quitting jobs, selling homes and cars and packing up for the 
big move to a "homeland" many have never seen before. 

"We see Israel as our homeland, we believe this is our country," 
Zettel, 41, explained yesterday. "And while there is some fear, 
some trepidation at taking a step like this, I believe in God. 
I believe this is where we should be." 

The Zettels, who with hundreds of others will leave from New York 
tomorrow, say they're not worried about the violence and suicide 
bombers that may be waiting for them in their new homeland. 
For one, they're moving to Israel proper, and not settling 
in disputed territory. For another, many of the 500 North 
Americans who made the move last year will be waiting for 
them there. 

"There's something spiritual going on, there's something in 
the air," Zettel said. 

"There seems to be a movement going on, especially among 
more religious Jews, to go back to Israel, to settle the 
land. ...We're not alone in this." 

In fact, four other Canadian families — three of them from 
Greater Toronto — will join the Zettels in Israel this month, 
part of an exodus sponsored by Nefesh B'Nefesh, a group 
organized to promote North American Jews to settle in Israel. 

"The group was started two years ago by Rabbi Joshua Fass, 
an American," Zettel said. "He looked around and saw people 
moving to Israel from all over the world, but only a slow 
trickle from North America." 

In fact, the group notes, in the past 20 years an average 
of only 1,300 North American Jews have made the move to 
Israel annually. It says the cause is not "a waning passion 
for Zionism and a lack of fundamental support for Israel," 
but economics. 

By providing grants of $15,000 to $20,000 to help with moving 
expenses, Nefesh B'Nefesh — Jewish Souls United — hopes to 
encourage Jews to abandon the comforts of North American life 
for the uncertainties of life in Israel. 

"We're moving to Israel proper, not the territories," Zettel 
said, "because we see this as a strengthening of Israeli 
society. But it is a huge challenge." 

Both Zettel and his wife have been to Israel before, and say 
they know what to expect. 

"People in Israel won't let their spouses travel to Toronto 
for fear of SARS," said Suzanne Zettel, who lived in Israel 
from 1983 to 1988, and who will look for a spare moment 
tomorrow to celebrate her 41st birthday. 

"In fact," she added, "they see SARS in the same light that 
we see terrorism in Israel. But when you get there, you see 
things in a totally different way." 

Still, her husband added, the strife Israelis face in their 
daily lives is a reason for going. 

"God gave us this land," Zettel added. "Israel is at war 
right now. We have to do something to support the country. 
I don't think we can idly sit back and not help out." 

A trustee in bankruptcy, Zettel knows he'll have to find 
other work in Israel, as will his wife, a social worker. 

"The disruptions are enormous," he said, counting off the 
steps the family's already taken. He's quit his job, sold 
the family's Vaughan house, sold one car and has the other 
up for sale. He and his wife have collected their own and 
the children's medical and education records. And everyone, 
including the children, have made their goodbyes and paid 
last visits to local landmarks. 

Despite the traumas and disruptions of moving, the entire 
family's excited, said Suzanne Zettel. 

"On one side of it, the children are sad to be leaving 
friends and familiar places," she confessed, "but on the 
other, they're excited." While the three youngest children, 
who range in age from 6 to 3 months, don't understand much 
of what's happening, the two oldest, 11 and 9, are up to the 
challenge, she said. "Both of the two oldest already know 
friends there, people from their class in Toronto who left 
earlier. 

"We're all going to meet familiar faces," she said, noting 
her sister and other family members have already moved. 

"I'm not saying it's going to be easy for them, but they 
have people there already." 

Thanks to the relocation grant from Nefesh B'Nefesh, her 
husband added, the family will be able to spend the first 
five months settling in, taking Hebrew lessons and learning 
about Israeli customs and laws. 

"God willing, we'll be there permanently, especially for 
my children," she added. 

"I don't ever want to think about moving again."