Hundreds Gather at JFK to Make Aliyah to Israel With Nefesh B'Nefesh

JV:  Travelers at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Wednesday, July 11, were treated to quite a spectacle.

At Terminal 4, near the check-in area for a wide variety of airlines—including El Al—a diverse group of Modern Orthodox Jews, blacks, seemingly irreligious individuals, and sundry other folk had assembled in anticipation of an upcoming flight. This unusual assemblage drew quite a bit of attention from curious passersby, many of whom stopped to snap photos, or take a quick video.

What unifying purpose could bring together such a diverse crowd?  These people had come under the auspices of the Nefesh B’Nefesh Foundation, an organization founded in 2002 to help revitalize aliyah (immigration to Israel) from North America and the United Kingdom. With the assistance of the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency for Israel, Nefesh B’ Nefesh was providing logistical, financial, professional, and social aid to the 230 prospective olim (immigrants to Israel) who had consulted with the organization in recent months.

At JFK Airport on July 11, therefore, Nefesh B’Nefesh’s efforts were finally being recognized, and the dream of the 38 families, 100 children, 59 singles, 13 IDF prospects, and 6 dogs to settle permanently in the Holy Land was finally being realized (yes, the dogs too!).

“I am going home,” said one man wearing a yarmulke when asked by this reporter to state the reason for his decision make aliyah.

“I wanted to go to Israel since the eleventh grade,” explained a twenty-year-old female olah (immigrant). “I spent two years at seminary in Israel, and simply feel like I belong to the Jewish family and need to be there.”

The crowd of immigrants was comprised of people young and old, and while the youth cited their experiences at Israeli yeshivot, seminaries, and kibbutzim as the basis for their decisions, the elder individuals had often deliberated on the subject much longer and finally decided it was the right time to make the move for them and their families.

“We wanted to do this for eighteen years, and we’re ready now,” said one.

But the process of uprooting from one’s home and moving to a new country with uncertainty surrounding one’s professional prospects can be extremely daunting, and it would be an understatement to say there wasn’t just a little bit of tension permeating the room as the olim listened to speeches and prepared to depart.

“Positive, let’s just think positive,” said one, after admitting he did not plan to continue practicing his current trade in Israel.

Conversely, some olim had chosen to immigrate precisely because of what they saw as the professional vistas open to them in Israel.

“The Israeli people are a lot more open-minded,” said a physician from Baltimore, Maryland, who specializes in alternative medicine. “Americans are a lot more skeptical of the sort of medicine I endorse, but Israelis are more willing to explore.”

The eldest members of the crowd had decided upon the move because they wanted to live and see their grandchildren, whose parents had relocated in previous years. The more devout Orthodox members of the traveling group saw Israel as a better setting for rearing Jewish children.

“It’s the best place for Jewish children to grow up,” explained one woman, who planned to resume her legal career upon resettling in Jerusalem. “You don’t have to worry so much when you take the kids to the park. It’s much safer.”

The 230 new olim are among the 2,500 North American and British Jews reaching Israel this summer on Nefesh B’Nefesh’s charter and group aliyah flights. Nefesh B’Nefesh organized its inaugural flight in the summer of 2002, and will thus be celebrating its tenth anniversary as it continues to aid in the transition of thousands to Israel from here and abroad. A total of 5,000 people are expected to immigrate to Israel with Nefesh B’Nefesh in 2012. Because of its cumulative efforts over the past ten years, in conjunction with the Jewish Agency and Israel’s Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, Nefesh B’Nefesh has succeeded in helping 97% of its olim remain in Israel.

The next aliyah flight is scheduled for August 13, according to a statement released by the organization.