July 27, 2008

A combination of charter and group flights will bring 2000 new olim from North America and the UK to Israel this summer, coordinated by Nefesh B’Nefesh, a still-young organization founded in 2002 with the mission to increase western aliyah to Israel.

NBN uses the term “revitalize” to describe its boosting-aliyah efforts over recent years. 15,000 olim have come via the organization and double that number have attended pre-planning programs. There have been more than 30 charter flights. That’s where all the people in your row, the row in front and in back of you – everyone on the plane – is heading to Israel on a one-way ticket (the El Al flight staff have their own allowances).

Aliyah from America has existed since the founding of the State of Israel, and even before, though the numbers never approaching those of Jewish populations from European, African and Asian countries that have had, in many cases, and depending on the specific country, more reason and/or inspiration to leave and settle in the Jewish Homeland. In 1967, the events of the Six-Day War brought about an awakening of Jewish identification the world over. Western aliyah was affected. It increased significantly.

I remember sitting in Professor Chaim Waxman’s Jewish Sociology class in grad school. We were discussing American Jews and their relationship to Israel. It was the summer of ’89 and Waxman had just published American Aliya: Portrait of an Innovative Migration Movement (Wayne State University Press 1989 – 240 pages). I’ve just been to my bookshelf twice looking for this soft cover book but I can’t find it. I think I either lent it to someone taking the class or gave it away. Or maybe my book has made aliyah without me! There in class we discussed the figures: from 1967 until that year, 1989, there had been approximately 45,000 olim from the US. Though I am not sure of the precise numbers, it seems that about 30,000 have arrived since my grad school days and that there are about 90,000 olim from North America as a whole since the earliest decades of the 1900s.

More numbers? Walk into the three-floor Nefesh B’Nefesh offices in the Givat Shaul section of Jerusalem and you’ll meet some of the 70-plus people that staff the project. On a Tuesday afternoon in early-July, I wandered around a bit, exploring the contemporary design of the physical space, while waiting for my meeting. One of the rooms just to the left of the reception area looked like a control room, and even had the feel of a command center. A handful of people positioned almost in a half circle were sitting at monitors, probably preparing for the charter flights and accompanying ceremonies scheduled for this summer. I had read about the Welcoming Ceremonies in the newspaper and when an invitation was extended to attend in two days' time (and “bring your camera” I was reminded), I accepted. I set my alarm that Wednesday evening for 4am, but seemed not to have needed it. I awoke shortly before 4 and by 5:30 was waiting on a street corner a half-mile away for the NBN staff van to the airport.

The NBN Welcoming Ceremony is basically comprised of two parts. Guests, including friends and relatives (though others are welcome and can register on the NBN website) come to the airport to greet the new olim. First they get to watch on screen as the 777 jumbo jet taxis on the runway. Then the steps are moved into position, the hatch opens, and the new olim exit. About 20 minutes later, with the crowd of guests now outside, homemade signs, Israeli flags and a lot of cheers, songs, and piped in music meet the 220 olim (the number on the day I was there) as they step off the green plane-to-airport terminal shuttle buses. The older terminal at Ben Gurion Airport is the site for the ceremony and there’s a procession line with young soldiers and lots of media: TV cameras, photographers, and journalists. You’ll see them in the photo essay. Once everybody’s inside, there’s a seated ceremony with speakers.

I attended on July 10th, the arrival date for the inaugural charter flight for summer 2008, and speakers included both of the Nefesh B’Nefesh founders, Rabbi Joshua Fass and Tony Gelbart, and various dignitaries, including Geula Cohen, now retired from many years in the Knesset, but still active in right-wing causes. She spoke movingly and is younger looking than her 83 years. Rabbi Simcha HaKohen Kook also spoke, or I should say sang. He spoke in English and then led the audience in song, twice, and I thought it was wonderful and indicative of his amiable style that has been immensely successful in his hometown of Rechovot and well beyond. We spoke briefly after the ceremony, as he was leaving with an assistant. He asked who I was, seeing me with camera in hand, and after I introduced myself and explained the types of projects I work on, he suggested we be in touch.

The couple involved in sponsoring the flight, Guma and Jamie Aguiar received a plaque with an inscription and Guma, more than teary-eyed, spoke meaningfully of his father Otto who passed away less than two years ago after an eight-year battle with Lou Gehrig's Disease. His death, and the father’s implied request to be buried in Jerusalem, brought the family to Israel, and now an entire flight - bringing Jews back home - was being dedicated in his memory.

After the conclusion of the Welcoming Ceremony program, the new olim, with the help of their friends and relatives, go to collect their luggage from the carousel. I met and photographed Mimi Borowich, a children’s librarian from NYC who brought with her 400 books, leaving 20 more boxes yet to come. I asked her about one of my favorite, Miss Nelson is Missing!, but she reached into a suitcase and took out others, including The Very Busy Spider, as NBN staff joined in for a group shot.

Segueing away from busy spiders, I saw a number of olim with their pets. One couple had two cute poodles and I joked with some that the poodles had decided to make aliyah and convinced their owners (will we ever know for sure?). 

Upstairs, the olim go through a brief absorption process, meeting with clerks in individual offices, and receiving some pocket money, which is an initial installment of their aliyah benefits. Photos of Ehud Olmert, Shimon Peres, a simple wood desk, cushioned green chairs, yellow stucco walls, and modest floral or nature-themed art decorate each of the small offices. NBN staff check their lists of olim to see who still needs to meet with Immigration and Absorption officials. I take a few close-up shots of one woman’s hands with a yellow highlighter pen, and then pulling my camera away, leave my semi-baffled subject to head to a corner of the room for something to eat. I grab a cinnamon danish from a basket and a cup of orange drink from the machine, and head back downstairs to the luggage area.  

Olim not only receive a free flight to Israel, but also get a taxi ride to their destination. If you were thinking of vacationing in Eilat, or somewhere up in the Golan region, consider making aliyah to these areas and the “ride’s on us,” as they say. Practically speaking, more central parts of the country are the place of choice for most olim, though I met a husband and wife with three kids (he’s a medical doctor) who were Beer Sheva bound. Beer Sheva, as the capital of the Negev, is enjoying a revival with new land development and a number of new communities, a significant portion of the initiative compliments of the JNF (Blueprint Negev).

Aside from the joyous greeting that morning that celebrated the many new olim, the magnitude of luggage was the clearest indicator that these were not just tourists here for a brief stay. This was a well thought out trip for the many who made the journey, both younger and older.

You can watch exciting and moving simulcasts of the three remaining August and September flights at the NBN website (they average two hours each) or if you are in Israel, you can join one of the early-morning ceremonies in person as a guest.

Either way, you’ll very possibly recognize people you know, and if you look closely you might even see yourself. Aliyah in the immediate may not be for everyone, but if you do decide to become a statistic, some grad student may study about you in the years to come. I’ll have found my book by then, or purchased a new copy, and for sure will have written more amply on the subject of aliyah. But even in the short term, all of us have new sets of figures to contend with. With the help of Nefesh B’Nefesh and other aliyah initiatives, the numbers are steadily changing. Something’s in the air.

Congratulations to the new olim!

Enjoy the photo essay: www.judahsharris.com/letters/new-olim