What a strange coincidence.
As Americans go to the polls today to choose between bad and worse, Israel is celebrating Aliyah Day – if you don’t get the connection, don’t worry.
Enacted in June, today is the first Aliyah Day, which coincides with the day – the 7th of Cheshvan – when we actually begin praying for the rain to fall (the delay from when we should say the prayer is to give the pilgrims (olim l’regel) from Babylon time to return to Babylon – which seems somewhat contradictory for Aliyah Day).
But as it happens, in most years Aliyah day falls out in the week of Parshat Lech Lecha – when God tells Abraham to go to the Land of Israel.
That probably also happened on an Election Day in Ur Kasdim – “Vote for Nimrod or get the fiery furnace” – not much a great choice back then either.
