Pick up on the way to the Holy Land

Nefesh B'Nefesh helps 200 bachelors and bachelorettes from US come to Israel to find a Jewish mate

Moran Zelikovich
Published: 01.03.08, 22:27 / Israel Jewish Scene

About 200 American bachelors and bachelorettes made aliyah to Israel last week, with the help of Nefesh B'Nefesh Organization.

There was no lack of Zionist and Jewish motives in what led them to separate from their friends and family in America, but it seems that the main reason is the desire to meet an Israeli mate, get married and start a family in the Holy Land.

"I want to find a groom in Israel," said Alyssa Ginsburg, 28, from Minnesota. "I am certainly making aliyah for social reasons as well – I want to be with my Jewish brothers and sisters – but finding a mate with similar values and traditions is certainly an additional reason."

The romance of Zionism. The group upon arrival (Photo: Sasson Tiram)

Ginsburg met more than a few Israeli men in America and it seems that she will not be surprised by the reality in Israel, "Israeli men don't always know what they want in terms of a relationship with a woman, but they say what they think.

"It was very hard to leave my parents and family," she added "but every time I came to visit Israel it was more difficult to leave afterwards. I am already in love – with the country."

A minute before the plane took off, they were all chuckling and singing the US national anthem for the last time. As soon as the "fasten your safety belt" sign was turned off, the big party began: The boys checked out the girls; the girls stand in the aisles and flirt with the boys.

During the eleven hour flight, the passengers switched seats, talked, laughed and generally did not sleep at all. Whoever witnessed this display would be certain that the era of internet dating sites for Jews is over.

Raphael Farber, 24, was also on board. He is considered "the inventor of the Jewish Pick Up System". He gives a three-session seminar for religious men on "How to Succeed with Women." He says that he invented the approach after spending a lot of time in the dark bars of New York until he found "the one" and got engaged.

"I hung around in bars in New York, I tested things and chose the methods and techniques that are appropriate for the Jewish religion," says Farber.

"I don't teach how to talk to girls, rather how to attract them. I focus only on the first minutes of the date. I focus on religious Jews because my approach is based on the Torah."

There are love stories that already began on foreign soil and continue in Israel. In JFK airport, the Seidman family tearfully parted with their son, Ryan, who decided to make aliyah to Israel for love: "I met Inbar in college… we have had a long distance relationship, she is in Israel and I was in the US," he says. "Now I am making aliyah to live with her in Jerusalem."

Upon disembarking from the plane, one of the young men gets down and kisses the oily ground of Ben Gurion Airport. In the terminal, tens of family members and friends, including soldiers waving Israeli flags, greet them. "Look, she is really cute," two Olim whispered to each other and went to take a flag from a female soldier, and maybe also a phone number.