'I realized how short life is'

by Noach Lawrence and Aaron Magid
The Jerusalem Post
July 10, 2007
http://www.jpost.com

Bobbie Lichlenberg, 53, has wanted to make aliya since the 
1973 Yom Kippur War. Now, she has finally done it. 

"I realized how short life is," she said, while describing 
her first time in Israel 34 years ago. "I was determined to 
live life." 

Lichlenberg joined 220 olim on an aliya charter flight from 
New York that landed Tuesday morning at Ben-Gurion 
International Airport. The flight was the summer's first of 
six for Nefesh B'Nefesh, a non-profit organization aimed 
at boosting aliya from Western countries. 

North American immigration is projected to reach between 
3,500-4,000 people by the end of 2007, up from 3,174 in 2006, 
said Nefesh B'Nefesh spokesman Charley Levine. Levine added 
that about 15,000 Western Jews have begun the process 
of aliya paperwork in Nefesh B'Nefesh's database. 

Throngs of screaming, dancing guests - ranging from the 
ultra-Orthodox to IDF soldiers - welcomed the olim amid 
balloons and Israeli flags. One man blew a shofar. 
"Heivenu Shalom Alechem" blared from loudspeakers. 

Yoni Berg, 30, welcomed 14 cousins, who were "finally coming 
to join me," he said. A resident of Efrat, Berg made aliya five 
years ago. 

Other guests came with no family to greet - just enthusiasm 
for the new Israelis. 

"I've tried to come to almost every Nefesh B'Nefesh landing," 
said Shulamit Ne'eman, who made aliya with her family 
35 years ago on a stormy 16-day voyage across the 
Atlantic Ocean. Aliya is "very different" now, she quipped. 

"I come not because anyone we know is coming, but 
because it's a special experience," she said. 

"Maybe we do know somebody, you never know," 
added her husband, Yehoshua. 

Dozens of teenage girls in Israel for the summer as part of 
a program from the National Conference of Synagogue 
Youth (NCSY) welcomed the olim by dancing the hora 
near the tarmac. One counselor painted her face with 
an Israeli flag. Another wore a shirt that said, 
"Mazel tov - I'm jealous." 

Amid the giddy spirit, olim also described the challenges 
of making aliya. 

"I'm sad because I lost all my friends," said Sam Cogan, 10, 
who made aliya with his family. 

Berg agreed. "It was difficult. I missed [my family]," he said. 
What eased the transition, he added, was "the feeling of 
being in the right place." 

Eight of the new immigrants will join the IDF. Chen Ifhar, 
from New Jersey, decided to enlist "to give my share 
and serve my country." 

In an airport ceremony, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (Kadima) 
addressed the olim. 

"We are one family," she said. "Aliya sends a clear 
message to our enemies - Ahmadinejad in Iran, 
Nasrallah in Lebanon, and Hamas - that Israel is strong." 

Nefesh B'Nefesh officials also honored Menachem Aloof, 
a Holocaust survivor who came to mandatory Palestine in 
1947 and recently passed away. 

"The Hagana handed him a gun and said, 'Go fight,'" 
said his daughter, Ruthie, who still wears his Star of 
David necklaces. He moved back to the US after 
marrying, and now Ruthie and her family have made 
aliya in his memory. 

At the ceremony, her son, Dov, 10, held a poster 
with a picture of his grandfather in uniform. 
"Our legacy is your right," the poster said.