Seeking love on board the singles flight

Dozens of Jewish single men and women due to land in 
Israel in hopes of finding Shidech 

BY Itamar Eichner 
Israel Jewish Scene  
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3773151,00.html
September 7, 2009

If you're looking for love and are tired of the local singles scene
you might want to check out the Ben Gurion airport Tuesday. 

Love may be in store for those who greet the arrivals of one 
special flight, on board which are dozens of Jewish bachelors 
and bachelorettes from North America. 

The new immigrants are hoping to start a new life in Israel with 
the intention of finding their own special soul mate. 

The flight is the fourth in a series of immigrant flights this summer, 
organized by the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization and in collaboration 
with the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption. 
It has already been dubbed "The Singles Flight," seeing as 81 of 
its 204 immigrant travelers are single men and women making 
aliyah on their own. 

In fact, only 74 of the singles are available for relationships, 
as seven of them are making the journey following their Israeli 
boyfriends and girlfriends. Still, the flight contains the largest ever 
number of singles brought over by Nefesh B'Nefesh on one plane. 

The new immigrants stated that one of the reasons they decided 
to make aliyah is their intent to find a Jewish bride or groom in 
the Holy Land. 

More women than men

Interestingly, the number of single girls arriving on board the flight 
is higher than the number of men - 57 young women as opposed 
to 24 young men. 

If you're planning to make an acquaintance with a future spouse 
in the airport, you won't be waiting alone. The new immigrants 
will be welcomed in a festive ceremony attended by Opposition 
leader Tzipi Livni and over 800 friends, relatives and veteran 
immigrants. 

Nefesh B'Nefesh, a non-profit independent organization, was founded 
in 2001 by Tony Gelbart, a Jewish businessman and philanthropist 
from the US, and Rabbi Yehoshua Fass. 

The organization's goal is to increase the number of immigrants from 
Western countries into Israel. In seven years of practice it has secured 
the arrival of over 22,000 new olim from the US, Canada and the UK.