NBN Aliyah Across the Atlantic: Both Sides Now! 
 
by Hana Levi Julian
30 Av 5767
August 14, '207

(IsraelNN.com) Two Nefesh b’Nefesh charter flights touched down
on the tarmac of Ben Gurion International Airport Tuesday morning 
bearing the gift of new “anglo” immigrants to Israel from the United 
States and Britain.

A third sister flight is expected in less than a day from Canada 
as well.

For the new Israelis, financial and logistical support from Nefesh 
b'Nefesh (NBN), an organization dedicated to facilitating Aliyah 
from North America and the United Kingdom, made aliyah 
(Jewish immigration to Israel) a reality, one that became a 
visceral truth only after the passengers stepped down from the 
planes. 

“We are happy to be home,” raved Danny Masri, who came with 
his wife and six children. “I love you Mom and Dad!"  
he continued enthusiastically.

Masri’s story, like many, is unique. His wife’s grandmother, 
who was taken off the boat by the British in her aliyah prior to 
the establishment of the State, has today watched her grandchild 
come with her family to join her in Israel. 

“Our big question on the plane was, ‘Fish or chicken?’ chuckled 
Masri. “My grandmother's was basically survival, you know?  
It’s a whole new game.”

Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder of Nefesh b’Nefesh, told 
Arutz-7’s Yishai Fleischer the group’s assistance to British Jews 
has skyrocketed. “It shows the interest in aliyah has increased 
again,” he said, “in a sense that we are also able to expand and 
drift off to different continents, which is great.”

Fass noted that the issues for British Jews are somewhat different 
from those that motivate North Americans. 

“Everything is a very different approach within England…politically 
it’s different, and the reasons of aliyah are also different,” he said.  
“Obviously there is an aliyah of choice from England, but there 
is also an undercurrent of a very changed culture and a very 
changed dynamic that’s occurring in Europe and in England.”

Of course, there is also the difference in style as well, he pointed 
out. “There’s just the whole approach, the British approach, 
different from Americans……a different staff, and a different 
approach and a different English even,” he grinned.

By Wednesday afternoon more than 300 English-speakers will 
have arrived, a record number of new immigrants within a 
24-hour period this summer for the North American aliyah 
organization.

The six-year-old NBN organization has brought more than 
12,000 U.S., Canadian and British Jews to make their homes in 
Israel, and will have brought 2,200 new immigrants on 15 aliyah 
flights this season alone.

When asked whether Australia, or perhaps South Africa might 
be next on the list, Fass smiled again. 

“They’re next. Smiling. “G-d willing, they’re next.”