232 Jews from 20 US states and one Canadian province, ranging in age from six months to 80 years, arrived in Israel to call it their home. Welcome!
By: JNS and United with Israel Staff
232 new immigrants touched down at Ben-Gurion Airport early on Wednesday morning on the latest Aliyah flight chartered by the Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) organization.
On board from North America were 127 children under age 17, representing more than half of the flight’s olim, new immigrants.
According to NBN, the diverse group of newcomers range in age from 6 months to 80 years old. They include 34 families, 18 singles, three sets of twins, six future IDF soldiers and 15 medical professionals.
The new immigrants hail from 20 American states and one Canadian province.
Some 35 percent of the flight, 88 olim, will be moving to Israel’s periphery—locations in the north and south of the country outside of the center’s metropolitan areas, as well as Jerusalem, under the joint Nefesh B’Nefesh-KKL “Go Beyond” initiative.
“We are inspired to see so many children making aliyah today with their families. As Israel recently celebrated its 70th birthday, the country is now looking ahead to its future—an era that will be shaped by the ingenuity and passion of courageous and pioneering olim who are starting their lives anew in the Jewish state,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of NBN.
A festive welcoming ceremony for the new immigrants at the airport followed the flight’s arrival.
The group arrived on the first of two charter flights of the year, which, along with eight group Aliyah flights and Olim arriving independently on a daily basis, will bring more than 2,000 people immigrating to Israel through NBN this summer from North America.
Since its founding in 2002, NBN, in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel and JNF-USA, has brought more than 57,000 olim to Israel from the US, Canada and the UK.
A day before, Israel chose an emblematic way to celebrate its 70th independence anniversary by welcoming 700 newscomers who arrived from France, Russia, Argentina and Brazil.