Yes, as we wrote in the previous article, we do feel sorry for you. However, we also feel a need to show our appreciation.

We cannot forget those who remained in the Diaspora. You had to work hard in order to achieve your ideal of the comfortable Jewish state that we now enjoy. Yes, you who remain in exile are unquestionably stronger, bolder, and braver than we are. We admit that we have taken the easy way out. We will never experience the same challenges that you faced when you raised us. Intermarriage? Problems with Jewish education? Kosher food? Are you kidding?

In order to show our appreciation to our struggling parents who still remain in the Homeland, we've started a collection for the GNF - the Gelt National Fund. You'll notice that even the name has money spilling out of both ends. It will be our way of showing appreciation to our loved ones who remain in the Old Country. We can't contribute much, since our families are bigger and our salaries are smaller. However, we'll do the best we can. We'll fund it with yet another standing order on top of our overdrafts, the same way we pay for everything else (don't knock it - the system works)!

We feel that it is appropriate to place the GNF somewhere between your GNP and our JNF, since both of them are now defunct. The GNP division will set up loans (in shekels, of course) for needy parents who are struggling to send us CARE packages, while various branches of the JNF division will provide seed money to maintain the pioneering spirit embodied in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It will be our way of saluting those who, despite all odds and difficulties, have maintained a Jewish entity in the homeland that has offered you so much - including brazen, chutzpadik children like us.