Bracha by Ilene Bloch-Levy August 12, 2004 More than 250 olim emerged from the El Al chartered flight into the blistering heat of Ben Gurion National Airport, a little after 8 this morning. They were exhausted and excited, weary and worried, but all in all they came surging forward into the hangar reaching, greeting and smiling at the more than 500 flag waving, shofar-blowing, balloon carrying, sign bearing, singing Israelis waiting to greet them. This is the third flight this summer from Nefesh B'Nefesh, the newest kid on the block working in the most rewarding and sometimes frustrating field of Aliyah. Rewarding, because they have taken Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's vision of bringing a million Jews to Israel quite literally. They have not yet brought a million Jews, but their numbers are increasingly impressive and the promise of this blessing seems quite palatable. Since their first flight in the summer of 2002, they have brought some 3,000 North American Jews on Aliyah. And, the groundswell is definitely there. "First you have one family," explains Paula (now Sara Pnina) Lutzky from Richmond, Virginia, and "then there are more and more that are interested and begin to ask Aliyah-related questions." Among this morning's 250 disembarking olim were my sister, Lisa Fialkoff and her family, arriving 18 years minus 6 days after my husband, children and I arrived in August 1986. Of course, back then, there were no marching bands, no flag waving soldiers, and certainly no government ministers -- this morning Danny Nave and Natan Sharansky were on hand to personally greet the new Olim. While we were dutifully filling out our forms upstairs at the Ministry of Interior -- Nefesh B'Nefesh takes care of all of that paperwork on the flight over -- our children were given lollipops and 'bug juice' to keep them busy and quiet. Today, carts of bottled water, and a whole buffet awaited Israel's newest citizens. In what seemed like another lifetime, after having our names misspelled more than once, we were taken off to an absorption center in Rehovot, with no other English speaking Olim in sight. So, Hebrew quickly became the lingua franca for all transactions. Today, Nefesh B'Nefesh distributes all materials in English, making little room for misunderstandings or frustrations. These are Israel's 21st century olim. A recording of "Hevenu Shalom Aleichem" was heard as the plane landed, and then again several hours later when the Olim dispersed to retrieve their luggage and make the relatively short journeys to their new homes in Beit Shemesh, Jerusalem, Ra'anana, Kochav Yaakov, Chashmonaim and other points near and far. Well, after you've traveled from Vancouver and Detroit, Boca Raton, Florida and Richmond, Virginia, the one to two hour drive before you put the key into the front door of your new home is fleeting. During these past few months while my sister was making her final arrangement to meet this 7th Nefesh B'Nefesh flight to Israel, we spoke about all of the many details that she had to attend to. Making sure that everything on the Israeli end was in order -- schools for the children, the house, transportation, logistics for getting from the airport to her new home in Kochav Yaakov. But, the biggest efforts were invested in sorting out, cleaning up and closing out their lives in New Jersey. "I can't remember when we last slept," Lisa remarked as she was waylaid by a reporter. "This has been such a physical drain for me, that I just can't believe that we are all still standing on our feet and sane." Her 15 year old daughter, Bracha piped up with, "I actually got six hours of sleep last night." Together we moved through the crowd of several hundred. People were yelling, "bruchim habaim", "welcome home" and "mazal tov." The very same phrases that were generously sprinkled throughout the speeches of Jewish Agency and Government representatives, Tony Gelbart co-founder and primary funder of Nefesh B'Nefesh, Rav Yehoshua Fass co-founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B'Nefesh, and others. In between we were entertained by the IDF Rabbinical Choir, and watched as dozens stood up to dance, and others clapped encouragingly raising their voices in song. My nieces and nephews were exhausted, and as they ate their ices, my sister looked around and began to catch on to the spirit of the moment. "To move here, you have to take care of so much that you have to emotionally detach yourself just in order to get the job done." That's why the Hebrew phrase, is roughly translated as "to make Aliyah." There are a myriad of details involved that were you to simply stop and think about everything you had to do, you might become easily diverted. But, you don't. And you could surely see why. The crowd was inspired and enthralled. They bounced around greeting relatives and friends, and frankly their smiles were so infectious, their warmth and love so embracing, their gratitude and happiness so genuine, that no matter how long you have been here, no matter how physically uncomfortable you might have felt, no matter how much you have fretted, argued, complained or been frustrated with life of late in Israel, you could not remain immune to the sheer emotion that engulfed you in that hot and sticky hangar. My sister felt that moment too. A wave of raw joy caught us ever so unexpectedly and lifted us all up till we felt we were soaring. "It's like a Shabbat -- it's so special, so extraordinary, that you have to say a bracha." We answered Amen to the blessings of "shecheyanu, vikiyimanu, ve'higainu lazman hazeh" -- who has granted us life and sustenance and permitted us to reach this season. Natan Sharansky, an oleh himself, albeit more veteran than today's olim, thanked them for "wanting to build together with us, the State of Israel." Rabbi Fass blessed the group with "may your lives here surpass your dreams." And, Natan Applebaum, son of the late Dr. David Applebaum, who along with his daughter was killed in a suicide bombing at Jerusalem's Cafe Hillel last September, expressed his gratitude to the 15 Olim doctors, now Applebaum Fellows, who are a testimony to his father's dream of "advancing, developing and improving medicine in Israel." As the ceremony was coming to an end, and we stood to sing Hatkivah, my sister just let her tears flow. Perhaps it was her own fatigue. But, my guess was it was the side that in the flurry of 'making aliyah' she had shelved -- the emotions. "I just can't believe I'm really here for life." My bracha? To the 250 new Olim who came today. Thank you for coming to help us here in Israel. Thank you for bringing yourselves and your children. Thank you for guaranteeing our future here, and the future of the Jewish people. Each one of you is a jewel that is destined to grace and glorify this land. May the spirit of today stay with you throughout your new lives in this land. And, as we were here to help you today, may you have the strength, desire and passion to reach out and help the next olim that will be making their journey soon back to this land.