Canadian olim prepare to take the plunge

Nicky Halpert, left, and Ruth Sherman pack their lives into boxes as they prepare to make aliyah, while Halpert’s son, Kovi, inset, giggles with excitement. [Benji Feldman photos]

By SHERI SHEFA
CJN Intern

After months of support group meetings and activities for the kids, seven Toronto area families will join 200 other Canadians on July 12 in fulfilling a dream of making aliyah.

With one flight from Toronto and one from New York, two planeloads of olim will arrive simultaneously at Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel.

Throughout the summer, at least four more flights will bring olim to Israel with the help, support and guidance of Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that charters flights and offers assistance to North Americans who are making aliyah.

This is the first time since Nefesh B’Nefesh began operating three years ago that one of its flights will be leaving from Toronto. In the past, Canadian olim would leave from New York, but this has changed because the number of Canadian olim has continued to climb.

This year, the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Toronto-based Israel Aliyah Centre expects that 400 Canadians, mostly Torontonians, will move to Israel.

Nicky Halpert and Ruth Sherman are two Canadian olim who are both excited and anxious to make the move. They’ve been preparing for more than six months using help from Nefesh B’Nefesh and the Aliyah Centre, and by arranging meetings with other new olim.

“The meetings have been ongoing since January as a way to offer the olim some guidance and support to make the transition from one life to another smoother,” said Sherman, a mother of four.

The seven families’ younger children, who ranged in age from six to 12, met every other Monday with four young Israeli women who came to Canada as teachers to fulfil their national service commitment as an alternative to serving in the army.

“It ended up being a way [for the kids] to learn more about Israeli society and learn about the army. They learned a couple songs, learned a few card games – basically things that other Israeli kids grow up with that our kids might be lacking,” Sherman said.

“The idea originally was to do some Hebrew, so they would learn some more conversational Hebrew, play sports and games in Hebrew, but there ended up being way too many kids,” Halpert added.

Although finding a teacher that would take on about 20 kids proved to be too difficult, the meetings continued for those who sought support.

“There’s strength in numbers,” Sherman said. “It helps when you’re not the only one going through it.”

“One day we sat and had lunch together, just the women,” Halpert added. “So we just discussed where everyone was at, what we were worrying about, what stupid stove to buy, but it all has to be done.”

While they said that tying up all the loose ends before the big move has been overwhelming, they both agreed that the help from Dina Gidron, the regional director of the Aliyah Centre, has made the process less daunting.

Halpert described what typically happens when a family visits the centre to inquire about the process of moving to Israel.

“You have a meeting with Dina and you’ll talk about where you want to go, what you want to do, about work, and she steers you to a community that might be suitable.”

With Gidron’s help, Sherman and her family decided to move to a suburb 10 minutes south of Jerusalem, while the Halperts, with their four boys, will move to a gated community called Hashmonaim.

Both women cited many reasons for wanting to move to Israel, but the main reason was the indescribable connection they felt to the land.

“My husband and I have always wanted to [make aliyah]. We went on a trip two years ago [to Israel] and that’s when it clinched the deal,” Sherman said.

“My kids were so happy there, and we just thought that we can’t really deprive them of this. We started making plans a couple years ago to investigate and take the plunge.”

While Halpert was not the driving force in her family behind the move, she also said that she couldn’t deprive her husband and children of the connection they have to the Jewish state.

“My husband has always felt very connected. Whenever he goes, he comes back and says his soul is not alive here. He just feels empty and wants so badly to be there.

“We went on holiday two years ago and I saw how happy the kids were, and despite all the security issues, we just felt so comfortable.”

Both Halpert and Sherman also cited a rise in anti-Semitism as a reason for wanting to leave Toronto.

“We definitely felt it as a family,” Sherman said. “My kids had a few incidents, like being called names in the streets. When they were riding bumper cars [they were targeted and] were told, ‘Die Jew.’ My kids wear kippahs and are visibly Jewish.”

Halpert, whose family is also observant, recalled how Jewish tombstones were toppled and anti-Semitic messages were spray-painted on Jewish schools and synagogues last year.

“It was really visible to my kids, and they were really upset by it.”

Although anti-Semitism in Toronto was a major concern, Sherman stressed that she and her family are not running away.

“This is a real aliyah of choice. We’re choosing a lifestyle. We work and our kids have vacation during Pesach and Sukkot and I end up having to juggle babysitters, figure things out and send my kids to their grandparents.

“But in Israel, we’re living in a Jewish country, so we’re all going to be off on Pesach and Sukkot. Little things like that – that the country’s holidays are our holidays – [is why we’re going].”

It may not be easy to start fresh in a foreign country, but saying goodbye to their home won’t be easy, either.

“We’re tearing away from the community here. We’re leaving a great life. But the intention is to get a better life,” Sherman said.