Aliyah and Israel: A Closer Look (Part I)
PART I: Why aren't more people making Aliyah from North America?By Pinchas Orbach for KUMAH
This is the first part of a series that takes an in depth look at North American Aliyah, Israel and what the future holds for the Jewish People.The title used for
Part I was an inquiry posted to a Jewish online discussion board. Many of the "traditional answers" were offered. Life is good in the U.S. and Canada. It's hard to leave friends and family behind. It's easier to stay put. They see no pressing reason to make Aliyah. They can better support Israel both politically and financially from North America. Army service. Terror Attacks. Unstable jobs. You name it - they named it. Each one of these is an entire topic on its own. And they can all be addressed but that is beyond the scope of
Part I. (Interestingly most of these "problems" were actually identified by individuals that made Aliyah.)
But perhaps we could offer an entirely different response.
Question: Why aren't more people making Aliyah from North America?
Answer: More people
are making Aliyah!
Indeed North American Aliyah is at a 20-year high! Five years ago the numbers were half of where they are today. Steadily, the
Aliyah Revolution Kumah and Arutz-7 have been proclaiming for years, advances. To appreciate this progress, one must look at the past, like a child tracks his growth by comparing marks drawn on the wall from long before with a current mark. So let us take a step back in time.
A Revolutionary IdeaPerhaps you have heard of the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization (NBN) by now? In the days before NBN (and yes, even still today) North Americans turned to organizations such as the AACI (Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel) or Tehilla to help them achieve a successful
klita or absorption in Israel. Like NBN today, the AACI and Tehilla organize all types of events that give prospective
olim pointers on Aliyah. Let's go back to the days just after September 11, 2001. (Yes, not that long ago at all.)
On November 14, 2001, Tehilla hosted a session in Queens, NY with Akiva Werber, Director of the North American Section of the Aliyah Department of the Jewish Agency. Werber provided Tehilla members with insightful Aliyah advice. Then, at the end of his talk, he briefly mentioned Rabbi Fass and Tony Gilbert. Details were still sketchy but he advised the small group present that Fass and Gilbert "have started up something new called Nefesh B'Nefesh - and they plan to give
olim grants to help out financially- so that might be something worth looking into." In fact NBN had gone public just one week prior, and honestly, at the time it was viewed by the Aliyah community solely (yes, bad pun intended) as something to help out, a bit, with the financial burden of Aliyah. At the time it was simply not seen as an organization that would ever
revolutionize Aliyah.
Let's Talk NumbersAccording to the Jewish Agency in 2001 - before NBN was around, only 1378 North Americans made Aliyah. (Actually that was down a percent or so from 1401 American and Canadian
olim in 2000.)
The historic first NBN chartered flight of July 9, 2002, flew with around 400
olim on board. Others came on regular El-Al flights. In all, NBN reported that 519 North Americans made Aliyah with them in 2002. Aliyah from North America rose 21% to 1,664 that year according to the Jewish Agency.
The next full NBN Aliyah plane landed in Israel exactly one year later in July of 2003 with 330 new
olim. But there was also a second flight that summer that held roughly the same number, and still more North Americans on "spill over flights" bringing the grand total of NBN olim in 2003 to around 1000. Incidentally, the Jewish Agency reported a total of 1873
olim from North America - up another 13%. Notably well over 50% of
olim used NBN's services in 2003. The year before only one third of all North American
olim did. This clearly showed Jews quickly embraced NBN as the best way to make Aliyah from North America.
And as NBN kept making Aliyah easier, and by now they provided a whole range of support services from social services to employment services and including everything in between, the demand for Aliyah rose even more. So NBN arranged 3 full summer flights and helped 1500
olim come home in 2004.
A Growing DemandAre you following the trend here? 1500
olim in
Summer 2004 alone equals the number that came with NBN in all of 2002 and 2003 combined!
As the demand kept growing, NBN opened up, for the very first time, a winter flight. This carried another 250 North Americans home to Israel. Including the number of NBN
olim that came on regular flights would bring the 2004 total to over 2000. In fact, the Jewish Agency reports that, in all, over 2,800 North Americans made Aliyah in 2004 - the highest number since 1983!
We have thus seen that more North Americans are making Aliyah today than ever did in the past two decades. What's more? This Aliyah renaissance has occurred over a short three year span. In the next part of this series we will take a look at the new efforts being made to bring the Aliyah Revolution "mainstream."
A few letters I have received lately.....
Yishai,
We spoke in January on your show about my Aliyah. As you can see below, I'm on my way. I'm on the double flight arriving on the 13th of July.
Would be happy to speak on the radio a few more times if you need a guest. I'm moving to Maaleh Adumim.
Your Kumah website has been truly inspirational and a source of good information for me during this Aliyah process.
Shlomo G.
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Dear Yishai
The pictures were interesting, especially the one with Malkah standing outside what must be your karavan. It really compares favorably with the old-style Conestogas. You are braver than I thought.
It is almost like being there when you have those pictures. I was especially interested in the Ethiopians in the picture. It is refreshing that they view "their people" as Jews.
In one picture, there was an arm wrapped in a tight tourniquet of leather. Please explain. The picture was the one having to do with the Torah.
It is good at the beginning to let people know what they will be facing when you show pictures of the heroes from the roadblocking protest.(Hmmm...Road Block vs. Road Map. A little cheesy, but..)
To stop rambling, everything in your site has the aroma of Aliyah. The fragrance is all over this computer. May it bring many here to their real Home.
Mark W.
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Dear Yishai and Malkah,
Thanks for such a wonderful show (Aliyah Revolution) on Thursday May 19th morning (evening - for you). It felt very "responsive" when your seemed to be addressing my "IMs" almost as fast as I could type them... It was especially touching when you ended the show addressing the "guilt" factor of not (always) being able to make Aliyah. Although I can't do so, I try, through my volunteer work, to do as much for Eretz Yisroel as I can.
And it was an added pleasure to speak to you on the phone right after the show's ending, as well.
At the beginning of the show, you were "experimenting" with opening music - so I've given it some thought and let me convey that thought to you with a personal experience... It may be too slow for the lead-in to your Aliyah Revolution show - but think about it for the lead-out!
A little narrative first:
This June 19th will be my 6th time to Eretz Yisroel. When I go, I usually do so for approximately 6 weeks at a time for a very good reason: Academically, yes, I KNOW that I'm am on vacation, but MENTALLY, it's like I am living here for a short time. Being that I have a limited amount of vacation days, I cannot take such "long" vacations every year, since I have save some for the Yomim Tovim.. So, I save as much as I can during the year and come every other year for that time if I can. This means a long wait until I can return "HOME".
The last time I was leaving Eretz Yisroel, I was waiting for my EL-AL flight departure at Ben Gurion Airport for my flight back home to New York. Being plugged in to my MP3 player while ascending the stairway to the plane, the following song sounded through my headphones.
Although this romantic song was (probably) not written for this purpose, it sounded like ISRAEL WAS SINGING THIS MESSAGE TO ME on my departure, and tears were rolling down my cheeks through swollen eyes... (What can I say, I am an emotional kind of guy).
Look at the lyrics and tell me what you think. Enclosed is also an mp3 file of the song (I don't know if you're allowed to play it on-air --- I mean if you need copyright permission, etc... Check with INR.
Your Friend,
Joel
SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD
(Barry Manilow)
We had the right love
At the wrong time
Guess I always knew inside
I wouldn't have you for a long time
Those dreams of yours
Are shining on distant shores
And if they're calling you away
I have no right to make you stay
But
Somewhere down the road
Our roads are gonna cross again
It doesn't really matter when
But somewhere down the road
I know that heart of yours
will come to see
That you belong with me
Sometimes goodbyes are not forever
It doesn't matter if you're gone
I still believe in us together
I understand more than you think I can
You have to go out on your own
So you can find your way back home
And
Somewhere down the road
Our roads are gonna cross again
It doesn't really matter when
But somewhere down the road
I know that heart of yours
will come to see
That you belong with me
Letting go is just another way to say
I'll always love you so
We had the right love
At the wrong time
Maybe we've only just begun
Maybe the best is yet to come
'Cause
Somewhere down the road
Our roads are gonna cross again
It doesn't really matter when
But somewhere down the road
I know that heart of yours
will come to see
That you belong
With me
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Yishai and Malkah,
Listening to your lovely Aliyah program, and the one's who will be coming soon, I enjoyed hearing it, but there again.... I feel that is my home and I miss me so much there. Tell me please, could I have been a Jew in a previous life? Does Judaism, do you , believe in re-incarnation?
One more thing that was so very uncanny, on your Kumah page dated May 23rd, under the caption of the pictures, Jewish moms, there is me!!! I really looked at it and even felt it was me, showed the picture to my son, and he could not believe it. nevertheless, he said its just the profile, and maybe the face itself would be different.
Look at the picture of the woman with straight short hair and wearing glasses, its me... Also I weep because I miss me there, I hear you and Malkah talking of welcoming people, and I wish it could be me too. How I miss Israel, how I miss me there. Maybe i am just plain stupid, I do not know... but I am so lonely for Israel.
What can this be?
stella c.
