|
They used to come by ship or over land. Historically, Jews who wanted to reach Israel to make aliyah had to overcome many hardships to reach their homeland.
Today, it’s simple: You board an airplane and arrive 11 hours later.
That’s what Houstonians Dr. Todd and Dikla Lynn and their four children did on July 6. The Lynns took an El Al charter flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and arrived the following morning at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport.
The flight also carried 226 other American Jews who were making aliyah, including another Houstonian, 42-year-old David Young.
The flight, chartered by Nefesh B’Nefesh, in cooperation with the Jewish Agency for Israel, was one of three charter and eight group flights this year that is expected to bring 2,500 Jews from the U.S. and Canada to begin new lives in Israel. These new olim will include 40 families, 96 children and 60 singles.
Nefesh B’Nefesh has provided services to some 25,000 North American and British Jews since it was founded in 2002.
Making a life
As the El Al flight made its way over the Atlantic, Todd Lynn spoke to his 5-year-old son, Aaron, about the child’s great-grandmother, Safta Puah. She was active in the Zionist movement in Russia after the Communist Revolution in 1917. She made her way by land route in order to reach Israel.
“As I spoke with my son, explaining as much as I could without detailing the Communists, the Cossacks and so on, I told him how lucky we were to be able to get on a plane and fly across the ocean to go to Israel,” related the father.
“When I think of Zionism now, we don’t have to sneak out to a plot of land in Europe to learn farming techniques or hold Zionist meetings in secret because the movement is illegal as it was in Russia. From the time she was a teenager, Safta Puah’s whole life – and the life of her friends – was dedicated to Zionism. That certainly was different than the situation is today.”
Dr. Lynn thinks that many in our contemporary Jewish community don’t relate to aliyah in terms of making a life in Israel.
“We tend to see Israel as a safe place to go if anything bad happens to the Jewish people. And, because Israel is a safe haven, we should support her. But, I don’t think many Jews see the concept of making Israel as a place to live as something close to their hearts,” said Dr. Lynn.
As a neurologist, physicians like Dr. Lynn are sought after in Israel, where there is expected to be a physician shortage in the coming years. One of the NBN initiatives is the Physician Aliyah Program, which helps to integrate doctors into the Israeli medical structure.
This year, NBN expects to bring 50 physicians on aliyah.
Back in Texas, Dr. Lynn shared his decision to make aliyah with his patients. His patients, perhaps because they are Texans and primarily non-Jews, were overwhelmingly supportive of his decision.
“I found that my non-Jewish patients get what the State of Israel means as the only democracy in the Middle East,” said Dr. Lynn. “And, Israel means something important to them religiously.
“A few wanted to know if I had the inside track to some impending end-of-times event. But, I assured them I didn’t – we were making the move purely to get closer to our family and to raise our children in Israel.
“In contrast, many Jews who we shared our decision with had a hard time understanding why we would make that kind of change. Why give up the security of a good job and being in America? That was hard for them to understand.
“Some thought the move might be good for religious reasons. But yet, they saw it as hard to apply to themselves. That was interesting, because these are people very supportive of [the Jewish] Federation and Israel causes. But, when it comes to it, they see Israel as a place you visit, not a place you move to.
“I would hope that my example will make people think why Israel is important. Either we’re crazy for making the move, or we know who we are and are making the move for that reason,” he said.
Religious inspiration
Both Todd and his wife, Dikla, represent the new face of American aliyah: young professionals, religious, with families. According to NBN, nearly two-thirds of the families on the July 6 flight identified themselves as religious.
Dikla reflected on her experience of coming to Israel after college in 1998. That was before the existence of Nefesh B’Nefesh.
“Back then, you did the absorption process on your own,” she said. “Because I spoke Hebrew, I thought I could maneuver the absorption process better than some. But, it was such a balagan (mess).
“The reason we came on this flight is that NBN does all the paperwork for you. That reduces how much time and energy you need to sort things out. Paperwork may sound like a superficial issue. But, having gone through it on my own, it is incredibly time consuming. I was single then and had to stand in lines for four hours at a time.
“Making aliyah with the help of NBN and coming on this flight means we have representatives from the Misrad HaKlitah (Ministry of Absorption) seeking us out. It’s totally the opposite of what we’d be going through in Israel if we came on our own,” she said.
Dikla continued, “Making aliyah can be a full job. But, I would rather it be on my terms in the United States than going through it in Israel. There are so many people on the NBN team to help us.
“Once we announced our intention to make aliyah and put the house up for sale, there were quite a few people who told us they were thinking of aliyah. And, they started calling us about NBN.
“All the questions they asked me, you can get [answers to] on their website www.nbn.org.il. So, maybe our announcement encouraged others to think or even consider making the move,” she said.
In the morning, when the El Al flight arrived at Ben Gurion Airport, the 237 new olim were greeted by an arrival ceremony. About 1,000 Israeli dignitaries, family members, teenagers and soldiers welcomed the new olim with a noisy, enthusiastic and heartfelt Israeli welcome. Minister of Immigrant Absorption Sofa Landver and Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky were among the speakers.
Then the Lynns picked up their 13 pieces of luggage and got into a van that took them to a rented apartment in Ramat Beit Shemesh, where they will stay for the next three weeks. That’s when they hope their furniture will arrive and they can move into their permanent Ramat Beit Shemesh home. For these six Houstonians, a new life in Israel has begun.
|
