Help Jared Armstrong Make Aliyah

Born a Jew, I would never have expected to be fighting for citizenship. The Law of Return gives Jews the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship. Section 1 of the Law of Return declares that "every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh [immigrant]".

When applying to make Aliyah, the State of Israel did not accept my rabbi’s letter attesting my Jewishness. This took us both by surprise. My rav, Michael Beals was ordained at the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary. I’ve been Jewish my entire life. Even through their doubt of my identity, I’ve sacrificed years of my life to make my Judaism “official” to the State of Israel. I went through a ‘Halachic’ Conservative conversion. Days before my date at the Interior Ministry, I received notice that the head of staff for North America didn’t approve my conversion. Why? Because it was conducted on Zoom. Unfortunately, the Ministry did not take into consideration the coronavirus. But apparently there was another, huge red flag for the ministry: I wanted to play basketball. Every Jew comes to Israel with a plan. But basketball? That means you just want to take advantage of Israeli society. After all of my additional learning and experiences, the Ministry of Interior still said:

We don’t believe you…

After I went on Birthright, a trip ONLY for young Jewish adults, to tour Israel for ten days, I had the opportunity to play professional basketball with Hapoel Haifa. Life was great. I was living out my dream in my homeland. But since being denied citizenship, I have not been able to work for over eight months. I was forced to leave my team’s apartment in Haifa. The Ministry of Interior would not grant me an A-5 work visa while staying in Israel. This is the first time in my life that I have ever felt helpless. 5,000 miles away from my family with no close relatives nearby, I felt alone. My life has been a roller coaster. I am living day to day, in different hostels each week, networking all day to find the right person to help me with my case, and eating once or twice a day to save money. The situation feels hopeless but I am staying strong.

What I have experienced through this process is simply wrong, discriminatory, inhumane and ignorant. Instead of treating me like a Jewish person wanting to come home, they regard me as an infiltrator trying to take part in something that I have no right to. There are so many ignorant reasons why those handling my case may be suspicious of me but I have gone far and beyond to prove my sincerity.

As a twenty-four year old Jewish person, I am shocked that I am in this situation. Even though making Aliyah hasn’t happened yet, I am continuing to fight. As G-d said to Joshua ‘chazak v’ametz- be strong and courageous’. That is the mindset of the Jewish people. This fight to make Aliyah is now bigger than me, it is for the respect of the Conservative movement, for my rav, my family, my shul, and it is a right for all Jews no matter their race or nationality. I am a proud Jew who just wants to come back to my homeland.

As my visa is a few weeks away from expiring, I would greatly appreciate any donation to help me stay in Israel as I await my pending citizenship.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and for your generosity.