On that day, more than 500 North American Jews found themselves at Ben-Gurion Airport, listening to Israeli politicians drone on about the importance of the Jewish state.

Those paying attention were no longer just American Jews. They were the newest "Anglo-Israelis," or Jewish immigrants from English-speaking countries. Never in one day had more Jews from this continent gone to that land.

They were the first wave of 3,200 total immigrants moving this summer from the goldeneh medinah to Eretz Yisrael. In the past 20 years, the average annual number was 1,300.

A large part of this has to do with the group called Nefesh B'Nefesh, which was started – not surprisingly – by American Jews living in Israel, and which offers a nice package of financial assistance and help navigating Israel's insane bureaucracy.

This past June in Boston, at the annual American Jewish Press Association conference, Nefesh B'Nefesh presented my colleagues with a stirring short movie about its efforts.

It's the real stuff of Zionist dreams, which many American Jews still dismiss. After all, Israel is great to visit, but live there? Are you nuts? They might all be Jewish over there (and by the way, they're not), but it's a different culture in every sense of the word.

All that aside, two parts of the North American aliyah story need more attention:

The heavy majority of Americans now making aliyah are Orthodox Jews, despite a healthy percentage increase of the non-Orthodox as well; most American immigrants, or olim, go for religious reasons. They seek to live in the ancient/modern Jewish homeland where walking out the door is an encounter with Jewish history.

Based on the mandatory Jewish private school education received in American Orthodox communities, which often includes a year in an Israeli yeshiva or seminary after high school, such Israeli attachment makes sense.

Besides, in addition to living in the Jewish homeland, these newest Israelis gain a virtually free Jewish day school education for their children, truly affordable health care and a wonderfully informal lifestyle. Yes, the society offers plenty of headaches, but accepting them is a personal choice families make.

In America, it means that more Orthodox Jews than ever have close relatives in Israel, have lived there for a while or visit with some frequency. That means Orthodox Jews more intensely follow Israeli news, further widening the knowledge gap with most of everyone else here.

Hence, this summer the real passion over the pending Gaza withdrawal comes from Orthodox Jews; mostly, everyone else isn't paying attention.

Also, a high percentage of those who stay in Israel for five years or more are having an extremely positive impact on their communities.

On that point, American immigrants are significantly enhancing their little corners of Israel. One continually reads about American olim starting neighborhood recycling efforts, creating innovative tzedakah projects and generally applying the American לcan doמ ethos to their community's issues.

Just like the disengagement, they, too, will leave their mark on Israeli society for years to come.

How they deal with religious pluralism, crafting a creative and inclusive sense of Judaism, and bringing their work ethic to the Jewish state should be important to all of us.

That's where we who stay in America – about 5 million or so of us – should be encouraging such efforts with funding and our own know-how.

If we can do that, Israeli society, which faces tremendous strains, will be a stronger place. And that, I believe, will help forge a Jewish state that adheres to a healthy understanding of Jewish values.

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