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October 31, 2003/Cheshvan 5 5764, Vol. 56, No. 6
A hopeful aliyah sagaCARL ALPERTThere is much talk these days about aliyah from North America, the potential and the reality. The figures are not too encouraging, but the other day I came across a case worth telling about. It describes the saga of the Erickson family, who came to Israel in 1973 - mother, father and seven children.Quinten and Patricia Erickson are not Jewish, but both have stepped out of the Christian denominations into which they were born and have become what they call Gospel Zionists. They gave heed to the Almighty's eternal promises to the Chosen People. Their hearts were in the Holy Land, and they sold everything they owned in the United States to buy one-way tickets to Israel. "If you are crazy enough to believe that you hear from the Almighty," they wrote, "then you are crazy enough to do what he says." Though they have not converted, they observe most Jewish practices. Missionaries? Perish the thought. No immigrants have ever come with as naive an approach as they. They knew no Hebrew and thought the language of the country was English. Within the first two months of their arrival Israel fought the Yom Kippur War, with all its hardships on the population. Back in the States, Erickson senior had engaged in farming. With the outbreak of war he tried to volunteer for the army but was turned down because he was a non-Jewish American. After the war ended, they told me, "We finally convinced the Ministry of the Interior that we were just what we seemed, nuts but nice, and not missionaries." Thereafter he held miscellaneous jobs, but finally, the family founded a successful company to build wooden houses. They gradually became acclimated. The children went to local schools. In the meantime, the family continued to grow, and today the kids number 15, four boys and eleven girls. By now, 11 are married and one is engaged. There are 27 grandchildren - and all except the parents speak a natural, fluent Hebrew. One son and one daughter are at the moment in the armed forces, and one older son was wounded in Jenin. But the Ericksons do more than just live here. For years they have been carrying on a pro-Israel information campaign among Christians around the world. Their circular newsletters enjoy widespread distribution. One number, which I picked up, discusses the subject of the settlements. They point out that hundreds of thousands of Arabs have come to Israel and the West Bank from surrounding countries. Since 1967, the Arabs have built 261 settlements in the West Bank, but no one points a finger at them as "settlers." The Ericksons have been in Israel for 30 years. Most of the children have spread out to various parts of the country except for three who live overseas but consider this country their home. Quinten is now 71 and is retired. Their big house in Rosh Pina is no longer required, and the couple plans to move to Katzrin in the Golan Heights in the near future. As they look back, they consider that theirs has been a successful aliyah. Carl Alpert is a freelancer who lives in Haifa, Israel. |
