Israel welcomes its 16,000th new immigrant of 2020
The new immigrants left behind their homes spread across 14 states and three Canadian provinces to begin their new lives in Israel.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFIsrael's 16,000th oleh of 2020 Simcha Brodsky(photo credit: YONIT SCHILLER)Israel welcomed its 16,000th oleh of the year after a Nefesh B’Nefesh flight carrying 90 new olim from North America landed at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday.The new immigrants left behind their homes spread across 14 states and three Canadian provinces to begin their new lives in Israel.The flight – organized in cooperation with the Aliyah and Absorption Ministry, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL) and the Jewish National Fund in the USA – transported olim ranging from young students to retirees to settle in Israel on the week of Yom HaAliyah (Aliyah Day).Simcha Brodsky, 24, from New York was the lucky number 16,000th oleh to land in Israel to start a new life. He is a musician from a musical home who sings, records and plays musical instruments.He grew up participating in a Jewish choir and sang with Israeli singers before as a director of a production company, and his talent and experience has led him to fulfill his dreams of being a musician in the heart of the Jewish State, Jerusalem."This week we mark National Aliyah Week as we joyously witness Olim coming to Israel from around the world, including 100 new Olim from North America, who join the 16,000 Olim who have come to Israel from 85 different countries, since the beginning of 2020,” said Aliyah and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata. "Every day we continue to facilitate Aliyah and the important national mission of accepting Jews from all over the world with open arms. Beyond just placing the issues of immigration and absorption on the agenda of our government, my task as Minister of Aliyah and Absorption is to provide a support system of assistance and tools for the integration of immigrants into Israeli society."Three million people have made Aliyah since the establishment of the State of Israel and have contributed significantly to national, social and economic development. We salute them today, as we do every day, happy Aliyah week," she added.The new olim will relocate to areas from Katzrin to Beersheba, including the more popular cities Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, Herzliya and Raanana.Chariman of the Jewish Agency Isaac Herzog added: "Aliyah to Israel is a blessed miracle and there is nothing more exciting than meeting new Olim when they step off the plane onto the Land of Israel. No one can remain indifferent to the pure joy on the faces of each and every oleh. This is a wonderful moment that warms the hearts of all, especially as the State of Israel marks Aliyah Day. The Jewish Agency congratulates these new Olim and wishes them success in their new home.""Yom HaAliyah is a significant and inspiring opportunity to appreciate how Olim have shaped Israel’s culture, economy and national character,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh. “In these challenging times, we continue to be amazed by the resilience of today’s olim, and consider it an incredible privilege to be at the forefront of aliyah assisting them to continue to build and develop the modern-day miracle of the State of Israel."Since April, 1,877 North Americans have made Aliyah while around 5,500 aliyah applications have been submitted and over 15,000 people have contacted Nefesh B’Nefesh for information surrounding an aliyah journey.
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