 | Between Two Homelands : Argentine Migration to and from Israel Emigration from Israel to other parts of the world has not yet received significant scholarly attention, as the subject is a sensitive one in Israeli society. Zionist ideology has long compelled Israelis to approach emigration from Israel through a biased lens. The Hebrew words aliyah and yerida , which mean, respectively, "ascent" and "descent," are often used to refer to immigration and emigration. These ideological terms, which are charged with religious meaning, are heavily loaded with praise for immigrants and scorn for emigrants. Yet, thousands of Jews from all over the world have lived between two homelands, as the Israeli-Argentine case demonstrates. This study challenges the formerly dominant Zionist narrative that presents immigration to Israel as unique and emigration as a disgrace, shedding light on issues of immigrant identities, belonging, and expectations.
Adrián Krupnik is a Minerva Stiftung postdoctoral researcher at the Lateinamerika-Institut der Freie Universität. He has served as a research fellow at the Selma Stern Zentrum für Jüdische Studien in Berlin-Brandenburg and the University of Potsdam Institut für Jüdische Studien und Religionswissenschaft. He is a fellow of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University. |
