Posted on 03/07/2003 9:33:03 AM PST by anotherview
With the goal of assisting hundreds of families to make aliyah this summer, the Orthodox Union (OU) in the United States is calling on its member synagogues across the United States and Canada to conduct fund-raising campaigns in support of a Jerusalem-based foundation dedicated to bringing North American Jews home to Israel. The drive will culminate on May 7, Israeli Independence Day.
The beneficiary organization, Nefesh B'Nefesh (Jewish Souls United), was founded to revitalize aliyah from North America through financial support and other assistance to new immigrants. In July, 2002, its first year of operation, Nefesh B'Nefesh organized a charter flight of 400 North Americans making aliyah, the largest mass relocation of American Jews since Israel's founding. The 400 were followed later that summer by 150 more Americans. Nefesh B'Nefesh has determined that within six months of arrival, most of their olim (new immigrants) who were seeking jobs found suitable employment. Nefesh B'Nefesh is currently processing hundreds of applications, representing a dramatic increase in interest in aliyah over the past few years. In December, Nefesh B'Nefesh was presented by Minister Natan Sharansky with the Light Unto the Nation Prize, "for meritorious service inbringing our people home."
The OU is seeking full or partial $18,000 sponsorships from its member synagogues, with Nefesh B'Nefesh agreeing to sponsor three or four families for each one subsidized by an OU affiliate. In a letter to member synagogues, OU President Harvey Blitz and Executive Vice President Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb wrote, "Almost 80 percent of these families [making aliyah through Nefesh B'Nefesh] originate from Orthodox Union synagogues. We are therefore asking each and every OU congregation to mount a campaign to sponsor - either fully or partially - one family making aliyah in the summer of 2003.... Together, we can present Israel with the greatest gift of all - the gift of aliyah. We often talk about encouraging aliyah," they wrote, "Now, your community can actually be part of making it happen."
For further information call Rabbi Mayer Waxman at the OU at 212-613-8285, or Nefesh B'Nefesh in Boca Raton, FL at 561-955-1908
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