Over 400 Jews Come Home Together 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com
July 14, 2004

"There is definitely an Aliyah momentum in the air." So said a 
project manager for Nefesh B'Nefesh today, as close to 450 Jews 
from North America arrived on the first of this summer's three 
Nefesh B'Nefesh flights at Ben Gurion Airport. 

Hundreds of well-wishers, media representatives, and public officials 
such as the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Absorption Minister, 
and the Chairman of the Jewish Agency greeted the new Israelis in 
a festive and often emotional welcoming ceremony.

Enhanced Absorption Ministry staff was on hand both on the plane 
and in the airport to expedite the new immigrants' paperwork. 
About half of today's immigrants are singles, and the others are 
members of some 55 families. Most of them will live in Beit Shemesh, 
Modiin and Jerusalem. Some, such as Nachum and Peninah Eilberg and 
their four children, from Baltimore, will be moving into the Yesha 
town of Kokhav Yaakov - and brought along a Torah scroll that Nachum 
inherited from his grandparents.

Among the hundreds of people greeting the Jews on their first day 
in their old-new homes were several who arrived only last year on 
a similar Nefesh B'Nefesh flight. Edith Linden of Rehovot, originally 
from Oak Park, Michigan, came to greet several good friends who 
followed in her family's footsteps - and expressed great admiration 
for those who had made the move. Asked to explain, with the benefit 
of a year's worth of hindsight, what brought her to Israel, 
Mrs. Linden said, "It's where we belong - isn't that enough? 
But to be even more specific, it's the best place to bring up 
Jewish children."

This is the third consecutive year that Nefesh B'Nefesh is 
sponsoring such a mass homecoming from North America, and each 
year the numbers increase. The sole flight in 2002 brought 519 olim, 
while two planes last year brought 1,000 new immigrants. This year, 
three and a half flights are scheduled for a total of some 1,500 
new Jews in the Land of Israel. 

Nefesh B'Nefesh provides the new immigrants with grants of up to 
$20,000 - depending on the size of the family and its economic 
status. It is funded by the Jewish Federations in North America, 
the Jewish Agency, and private donations. Olim who remain in 
Israel for at least three years need not return the grants.

The new immigrants were led from the plane, accompanied by soldiers 
who offered to carry their bags, as well as singing, cheering, 
and even shofar-blowing well-wishers, into a large hangar, equipped 
with several large fans working hard to offset the intense summer 
heat. Among the speakers were Prime Minister Sharon, Finance 
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Nefesh B'Nefesh founders Tony Gelbart 
and Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, and others. Sharon said that though he 
could not greet each new immigrant individually, he would be happy 
to arrive at the airport every month to greet a flight like today's. 

Netanyahu said, "So here's the difference. Until now, Israel was 
dependent for its very existence on Aliyah [Jewish immigration] 
from abroad - while today, the Jewish People is dependent for its 
existence on the State of Israel." He explained that assimilation 
is so rampant that no one abroad, "including Orthodox Jews," 
can be guaranteed that their children or grandchildren will 
remain Jewish. Netanyahu expressed the hope that soon, 
10,000 North American Jews would be making Aliyah each year.

One of today's new immigrants, Nathan Gessner, speaking before he 
boarded the plane at JFK Airport in New York, said that his first 
act as an Israeli will be to assume a new Hebrew name: Natan Gesher. 
"I'm making Aliyah!" he declared with pride. "It feels like the 
weight of the world is being lifted off of me. I'm becoming a 
real person!"