French-Israelis with sign, “Jews of France in danger, your place is in Israel” Tel Aviv, 2012. Photo by Gideon Markowicz/FLASH90.
I met a French Jew in Jerusalem today, normally not a blog-worthy event but this fellow was from Paris, had just made Aliyah with his family and recently moved into our neighborhood having never seen it. Ariel’s cab had stopped on the street, he stepped out and hailed me then asked the question I am best equipped to handle in Jerusalem.
Do you speak English?
Ariel’s next question, while pointing at the roof of an elementary school, was, “I was told I could see the Knesset from here. Is that true?”
It was almost true, I explained, and once we got the Knesset’s whereabouts settled I learned that Ariel, his wife and children have recently left their home in France and made Aliyah to Israel, in haste, because they feel they can no longer live safely in Paris.
