Grants, Job Help, Other Incentives Draw Jews to New Lives in Israel 

By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post 
December 29, 2004

It was back in 1987 when Janet Weiner made her first trip to 
Israel. "A 10-day, 11-hotel tour," she joked. "It was a 
whirlwind."

Then one trip became two. Then four. Then 16.

Yesterday, the Rockville resident checked her luggage for 
another El Al flight, but this one was different. Along with 
about 250 other Jews on board, Weiner held a one-way ticket.

"We will be Israelis when we land," declared the systems engineer, 
who is in her late fifties. 

Weiner is part of a growing number of North American Jews who 
have decided to move to Israel, officials say. Despite the risk 
of suicide bombings, nearly 3,000 Jews from North America have 
put down roots in Israel this year -- "a number we didn't see 
for a generation," said Michael Landsberg of the Jewish Agency 
for Israel, a nonprofit group.

Many factors are behind the increase, ranging from a recent 
abatement in violence in Israel to a post-9/11 sense among 
Americans that they could be targeted anywhere, Jewish groups 
said. But this is also a triumph of marketing, the groups said: 
Israelis are eagerly reaching out to North American Jews, 
offering everything from financial incentives to help in cutting 
red tape.

"There was a legend in Israel that all Americans are rich and 
wealthy" and didn't need help to migrate, said Landsberg, 
who focuses on North America for the Jewish Agency, which is 
chartered by the Israeli government to encourage immigration. 
"We want more people to join us and especially people from here 
that are very well-educated and can really contribute."

To spur immigration, the Israeli government is offering grants 
of about $3,300 per person, which can be supplemented by 
thousands more from a private Jewish organization called 
Nefesh B'Nefesh, officials said. A host of other incentives 
are offered by the government and Jewish organizations: 
free religious or secular education for children, tax breaks, 
university scholarships, help in finding a job.

Or, as Landsberg describes them: "tailor-made solutions for 
the customers."

The result: Even as worldwide immigration to Israel has dropped, 
the number of North Americans relocating there has risen, 
from about 1,500 a year in the late 1990s to this year's total 
of nearly 3,000, Landsberg said. That's the highest level in 
two decades, he said.

Weiner had thought about moving to Israel for years. Her older 
daughter and three grandchildren live in Jerusalem. And, 
in nearly 30 visits, Weiner was captivated by the beauty of 
the landscape and the warmth of the people.

"You step into a different spiritual climate," she said, 
sitting in her Rockville apartment days before leaving. A few 
plastic plants, some boxes and two chairs were all that was 
left of her belongings.

Still, it was no small thing to pick up and move to a new country, 
especially without a job. Weiner said the Jewish Agency and 
Nefesh B'Nefesh have helped in numerous ways. They brought an 
Israeli high-tech expert to the Washington area to offer advice 
on the job market; they called Weiner to discuss her resume. 
They expedited the paperwork for her legal documents and 
provided her with a free ticket for the flight that left 
yesterday from New York.

"There is this wonderful net that has been stretched out by 
these agencies -- a soft, warm, welcoming net," Weiner said.

And the violence in Israel?

"When you're there, you see life is very -- ordinary is not 
the word. People do go about their business," Weiner said. 
"Everyone is busy living."

Brett Schor, 28, of Fredericksburg also was among the 20 people 
from the area on yesterday's flight. He acknowledged that some 
of his friends were surprised by his decision to settle in 
Israel.

"The images they see are filled with violence," he said. 
But his family has visited Israel and feels it is generally 
safe, he said.

Schor actually has been living in Israel for the past year 
and a half, studying for a master's degree in politics at 
Hebrew University. His initial plan was to finish the degree 
and come home. But a funny thing happened on the way to his 
master's.

"You just have these moments when you're in Israel, and you 
recognize the significance of where you are and how meaningful 
it is that today there's a Jewish state," he said.

Those moments, he said, added up to a decision to migrate, 
or make aliyah, as it is known in Hebrew. What attracted Schor 
most was the chance to live in Jewish surroundings, he said.

"I grew up in a predominantly non-Jewish environment" in 
Fredericksburg, he said. "Even though Israel is an extremely 
diverse country, the lowest common denominator is that most of 
the population is Jewish. I feel a lot of comfort in that."

Like Weiner, Schor will live in Jerusalem. Few of the newly 
arrived North Americans head for Jewish settlements in the 
Israeli-occupied territories, said Charley Levine, a spokesman 
for Nefesh B'Nefesh.

Schor, Weiner and the other North American immigrants were 
scheduled to be greeted at Ben Gurion Airport this morning 
by Natan Sharansky, the Israeli minister for Jerusalem and 
Diaspora affairs. The welcoming ceremony was to be a sign of 
how much Israel values the new arrivals.

Overall immigration to Israel has been dropping since hundreds 
of thousands of Jews from the former Soviet Union migrated in 
a huge wave in the 1990s. As of mid-December, about 19,500 Jews 
had moved to Israel this year, nearly half from the former 
Soviet Union, according to statistics provided by the Jewish 
Agency. Jews have a right to citizenship under Israel's Law of 
Return.

Weiner said the days leading up to her departure were filled 
with emotional goodbyes. That was the hardest part about moving.

"It's tough to say, 'I won't see you for a while,' " she said. 
But she was undeterred by the distance she was moving, by her 
limited Hebrew or by the enormity of starting a new life.

"People say they can hear the smile in my voice," she said, 
as a big grin rippled across her face. "I really am so excited. 
I'm beside myself."