A sacrifice too big?

Is aliya worth the sacrifice of the relatively easy Jewish life in the United States (in particular) and in some other western countries? What would Israel be like if all the people who talk about aliya (immigrating to Israel) actually did it?

When I left yeshiva here in 1980 to return to the US, I don't think there was a single member of my group who hadn't vowed he was coming back. When I