By Marney Blom
On Friday, January 9th terrorism struck France leaving journalists, law enforcement agents and innocent Jewish citizens the latest victims of radical Islam.
Two days later, while attending my biweekly Hebrew class, I heard first hand the anguish felt by the French Jewish community. Several of my Israeli classmates, former residents of Paris, were familiar with the kosher supermarket where the killing spree had taken place. The general consensus among my classmates was clear: The Jewish community in France needs to move (make aliyah) to Israel. It is much safer here.
Their voices echoed the invitation made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the European Jewish community. “To all French Jews, and to all European Jews, I would like to say: The State of Israel is not just the place to which you turn in prayer. The State of Israel is also your home … All Jews who want to immigrate to Israel will be welcomed here warmly and with open arms.”
Although France is home to the second largest Jewish community outside of Israel – the first being in the U.S.A. – it leads the way in terms of numbers of new immigrants to Israel. In 2014, 7,000 French Jews made aliyah. As long as the Jewish community continues to feel uneasy about their security in France, that number is expected to climb in 2015.
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