Here is a bit more about one of my favorite subjects - new immigrants to Israel from North America. Yes, they are still only a little band, and yes the majority of the immigrant families are orthodox Jews (not all), but there were also a record 96 single people on that plane which
took off on Labor Day. Most of them are not orthodox.
As is evident from the photos of the arriving immigrants, they don't seem to be all orthodox.
New Immigrants:"This is what a Zionist looks like"
Nefesh B'nefesh claims they have 20,000 more people waiting to come to Israel, and they hope to be bringing them here over the next two years. By the end of this year, they will have brought 3,200 immigrants to Israel. They could be bringing as many as 10,000 a year. They have will have brought about 14,000 in total by the end of this year. According to former Israeli ambassador Danny Ayalon, now a leader of the Nefesh B'nefesh program, they plan to bring 100,000 immigrants to Israel by 2015. "If you will it is no legend."
Making the miracle happen takes hard work. Nefesh B'Nefesh helps the immigrants get settled. It runs its own job placement service in Israel, ensuring virtually full employment (94%) for their new immigrants. Whereas previous waves of American immigration had a drop out rate of about 50%, 99% of the Nefesh B'nefesh immigrants have stayed in Israel -- an impressive achievement.
If there are any new immigrants out there reading this, and you want to write about your experiences, we will probably be happy to publish your work. If you have your own Web log, we will be glad to popularize it, to help interest others in Aliya, as well as to tell people about every day life in Israel. "A friend brings a friend." The best advertisement for anything is a satisfied customer.
Aliya (immigration to Israel) regrettably is not for every North American or other
Jew. Those who stay away, even though they are Zionists, give many reasons. We have to respect each of them. "Israel is too militaristic." "Israel is too religious and doesn't respect the rights of non-orthodox Jews." "Israelis are rude...." "It's too hard for me to start over"...
I thought I had heard them all. After the
previous article I wrote about this planeload of immigrants, a reader wrote to explain that she isn't coming to Israel because we are a bunch of secular sinners here. Only Moshe Feiglin and his followers would be holy enough for her. A good excuse that I would have to respect, however much I may disagree with Feiglin, except for one minor point. Moshe Feiglin lives in Israel. Is that lady holier than he is?
What about you? "Mekomcha Itanu" - your place is with us.
Ami Isseroff
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Replies: 3 Comments
Yes, Ami. The ones I know are invariably from parts of the former USSR who came here by way of Israel.
Lynne T, Tuesday, September 11th
Hi,
According to http://www1.cbs.gov.il/shnaton58/st04_10.pdf
There are between 10,000 and 20,000 net emigrants per year. This includes some Arabs as well as Jews. The numbers depend on the security and economic situations. 2002 was a really bad year, with nearly 20,000 net emigrants.
2005 was better with about 11,000. Numbers for 2006 aren't available yet.
Remember, that the number of emigrants is constant, regardless of Aliya.
In years when there is a large immigration, the number of emigrants goes up too, because unfortunately, many immigrants use Israel as a way-station on the road to America or Canada.
Many of your Toronto ex-pats are the cream of the crop of the Russian immigration, aren't they?
Too bad.
Ami Isseroff
Moderator, Monday, September 10th
Ami:
will 10,000 to 20,000 / year be sufficient to replace Israelis leaving the country? (I live in Toronto, Canada, and we have a pretty sizable ex-pat Israeli community.)
Lynne T, Monday, September 10th
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