Festive welcome for American olim

Jerusalem Post ^ | Jul. 10, 2003 | MELISSA RADLER

[yonif]

When Binyamin Katzman and Tamar Oser met at a rally for Jerusalem two winters ago, they talked about their love of Israel and their shared dream of moving to the Holy Land one day.

On Wednesday, Katzman and Oser celebrated their first week of marriage aboard an El Al jet carrying 318 North American immigrants to Israel.

The flight - sponsored by Nefesh B'Nefesh, a privately funded organization that provides one-time grants of up to $25,000 to immigrants who stay for at least three years - included secular and religious Jews, young singles and grandparents, newlyweds and parents of 10.

"Everyone tells you you're stupid, how can you be doing this. Then you get on the plane and see everyone else doing it," said Oser, 22, a radiation therapist who hopes to settle in the West Bank after studying Hebrew in Jerusalem for two months.

Asked about security concerns, Katzman, 28, who worked with autistic children in Manhattan, said he feels safe here.

"I saw the World Trade Center fall down and it gave me a new perspective," he said.

Yesterday's flight - greeted at Ben-Gurion Airport by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Immigration Absorption Minister Tzipi Livni, and crowds of family and friends waving Israeli flags and singing "Heveinu Shalom Aleichem" - was one of several scheduled to bring large groups of Americans and Canadians this summer.

According to Jewish Agency statistics, 1,000 North Americans are expected to arrive this summer, boosting aliya rates from those countries by 30 percent this year over last.

Overall, aliya rates have dropped 30% this year from the rest of the Diaspora.

"The government that I lead decided that aliya is the first priority, and it's the most important thing," Sharon told the immigrants during a ceremony at the airport. "I know it's not an easy thing, to move from one country to another country, but here you are coming home."

Nefesh B'Nefesh is bringing an additional 300 olim on July 23, and another 300 in August and September. Funded by $2.7 million in private donations, the grants help immigrants cover relocation and absorption costs.

The organization also helps the immigrants navigate the local bureaucracy and reduce the red tape associated with aliya. Familiar with horror stories of immigrants spending their first few hours queuing at passport control or lining up at the break of dawn outside the Interior Ministry, Nefesh B'Nefesh staffers, some of whom are American immigrants, arranged to have passport control officials and Interior Ministry workers on board to stamp passports and file identity card applications en route.

Each family was paired with a family from their new neighborhood to ease their transition, and a cellphone with 100 free minutes was provided to every household.

"The prime minister is calling for the immigration of 1 million olim. Where are they going to come from?" said Nefesh B'Nefesh cofounder Tony Gelbart, a Florida businessman who landed with the immigrants and has provided significant funding since the organization was founded.

"There's nothing wrong with aliya from Argentina, France, Russia, and Ethiopia, but American and Canadian olim are making aliya by choice, not because they are being forced to do it [due to distress] but because they want to. They just need a bit of help."

Gelbart said that on average, Nefesh B'Nefesh spends $2,900 on each new immigrant, including grants and overhead. Within months of moving, the immigrants generate tens of thousands of dollars for Israel's economy through spending, family visits from abroad, and other costs. "Within three to four months, you see a return on your investment," said Gelbart.

Noting that Nefesh B'Nefesh turned down thousands of applicants this year, Gelbart said the organization hopes to rise enough funds to bring 100,000 olim here over the next five years. "It can be done with the cooperation of the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency," he said.

Of the more than 500 immigrants the organization brought here last year, just one has returned to the US, and 93% of those seeking jobs upon arrival are currently employed.

Minjen Vita, 23, from Utica, NY, who finished college last week, is one of the many Americans who was forced to put her dream of aliya on hold until she could find the funds to help pay for the move.

Vita, who was raised by a Chinese father and Jewish mother, decided to move after her first visit last year with birthright israel, the organization that provides free, 10-day visits to young adults. She said Nefesh B'Nefesh is helping her pay off student loans, and her immediate plans here include a five-month ulpan in Jerusalem.

"Being is Israel just captivated me," said Vita Tuesday afternoon as she waited to check her bags at JFK Airport in New York. Nearby, her parents and 14-year-old twin sisters, Keisha and Keren, said they supported her decision. "I'm happy for her because its her dream being fulfilled," Keisha said.

After a teary good-bye at the airport, Vita said en route that she was thrilled to be on her way. "I'm just so excited," she said. "It's going to be a new beginning for me."

The largest family on Wednesday's flight, the 11-member Weiss family from Teaneck, N.J., said they were looking forward to moving into their new home in Mitzpe Yeriho after two years of planning.

The family decided to move two summers ago, when they traded houses for seven weeks with a family from Ra'anana, a swap made after several of the younger Weiss children refused to attend summer camp.

"At the end of the seven weeks, I said to my wife, I see a difference in myself, I see a difference in my children. Israel is something we could do," said Rabbi Mordechai Weiss, 44, who headed the Chabad community in Teaneck. He plans to work for the Reshet network of private religious schools this fall.

Weiss's adult daughter, who made aliya several years ago, greeted her father, her pregnant mother Ellie, and nine siblings at the airport, with the couple's first grandson. The next eldest child, Moshe, 19, plans to join the IDF soon and become a career soldier.

"I'm very emotional, moving to the Holy Land," said Ellie during the flight. "You feel more spiritual there than you do in New Jersey."

On the ground, Weiss bounded happily through the ceremony hangar, his grandson, Nahum, in tow. Asked how he felt, he said, "Great!" Asked if reality had sunk in, he shook his head, "Of course not!"

[yonif]

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