More than 70 youngsters from the metropolitan New York area are starting to say their farewells to classmates, friends, family members and even to the guy at their favorite donut shop as they prepare to join their parents on the Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN) summer aliyah trek, which begins in earnest right after the July 4 holiday weekend.

 

      Recognizing that the youngsters face several forms of cultural and language shock, NBN recently held a workshop in New Jersey designed to prepare them for life in the Jewish state. They learned Israeli slang, ate falafel, created scrapbooks and shared ideas with their fellow Summer 2010 aliyah classmates on how to stay in touch with the friends they grew up with in the U.S.

 

      Twelve-year-old Ari Solomon, who is moving from Teaneck, New Jersey to Zichron Yaakov next month, quipped, "Although the falafel in Israel is so much better than the falafel in Teaneck, I feel more relaxed about my aliyah since I discovered that the pizza in Israel is as good as in town. There's nothing I love more than pizza!"

 

       His eight-year-old sister, Zahava, is looking forward to visiting the Kotel and seeing aunts, cousins and other family members who live in Israel. "However, I'm going to miss my friends, so I'll just have to e-mail them stuff," she said.

 

      The entire Solomon clan, which includes two additional youngsters as well as mom and dad, praised the NBN kids program. "Kids need to be kids, but the NBN counselors really helped them loosen up," said Mrs. Solomon. "Even my six-year-old child learned how to write a personalized greeting card to an IDF soldier in Hebrew, which read, 'Dear Soldier, thanks so much for risking your life for Eretz Yisrael!' "

 

      The Solomon family appeared ready for the aliyah experience. Before deciding to settle in Israel they spent summer vacations there.

 

      "Our first summer vacation several years ago was spent in Beit Shemesh, which we found to actually be too Anglo, " said Mrs. Solomon. "We were looking for a bit more diversity and something a bit off the beaten track." After a second summer vacation experience in Zichron Yaakov, located at the entrance to the picturesque Mt. Carmel region in Northern Israel, the Solomons knew they'd found the ideal spot.

 

      "Zichron is a great community with people from different strata of Israeli society," said Mrs. Solomon. "It's also a perfect place to raise kids."