Tag: aliyah

In the good old days, Forest Hills, New York - where I grew up between 1939 and 1951 - was a shtetl for assimilated American Jews. Like my parents, all our neighbors were American-born offspring of Eastern European immigrants. A generation removed from their identity conflicts, we children knew that Forest Hills, liberated from Judaism, was our promised land.

The State of Israel welcomed 52 new citizens from the United States on Thursday who made aliyah through the organization Nefesh b'Nefesh. Among the new...

I wasn’t sure if I should write something about the petira of Rebbetzin Kanievsky, z"tl. My first reaction was who am I to write about such a great person? How could I possibly describe who she was? She was so great that mere words cannot do her justice.

Question: Is it proper for a synagogue to establish a policy that no one is to donate money for receiving an aliyah to the Torah?

I am interrupting my series on “Yom Tov Mayhem,” focusing on adult children who come home for the holidays with their families and expect their mothers to be cook, housekeeper and baby-sitter all rolled into one.

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"In the name of the Lord, the God of Israel: On my right Michael, on my left Gabriel, before me Uriel, behind me...

I recently returned from a visit to Eretz Yisrael, where I go yearly for my father's yahrzeit. As always, my husband, and my sister and her family accompanied me. On the way to the cemetery, we were fortunate to hail a taxi driver who spoke fluent English. He had made aliyah many years before from East Flatbush, where my husband and I lived.

Last week, a quiet revolution took place in the Judean Hills outside Jerusalem. One hundred and twenty parents and children from the Former Soviet Union visited Israel for the first time to participate in a groundbreaking mission. The children, ages 12-14, were all prospective students of Lezion B'rina and its sister school Bat Zion, located in Beitar and Jerusalem, respectively. For nearly 20 years, the Lezion B'rina Institute has been a second home for hundreds of Russian Jewish students who have left their birth land to seek a better future in the Jewish homeland.

A vigorous advocate of aliyah, Yishai Fleisher uses his position as Internet radio personality and director of programming at Arutz Sheva's Israel National Radio to promote the merits of living in the land of Israel. On his popular show "Yishai and Friends," Fleisher deals with Israeli politics, history and tradition and has interviewed personalities ranging from Dutch politician and filmmaker Geert Wilders to actor Jon Voight.

Special Note: The author of the following letter is well- known to me. He is a trustworthy young man who had an impressive secular education in the States and gave it all up when he became a ba'al teshuvah and decided to pursue a life of Torah learning in Jerusalem. His wife, who comes from a fine American family that made aliyah many years ago, is equally committed. I know them and can vouch for them. I also know for a fact that this young man is a serious, sincere "learner" whose parents experienced tremendous financial reversals and are not in a position to help in any way, shape or form.

When I was considering making aliyah, I was aware of how challenging the move might be, especially since much of my family stayed behind in the U.S. But the deep longing to be in Israel was too strong. It was like a giant magnet pulling on my soul, until I finally let go and came home.

I've long been familiar with the saying "Man proposes and G-d disposes," but the depth of its meaning was recently brought home to me suddenly and unexpectedly.

Making aliyah in 2000 afforded our family an opportunity to become part of the continuity of the Jewish people in the Jewish Land. In addition, we have been blessed to live in a community that has both the brightest Jewish minds of our times and some of the most courageous Jews of our generation.

Geulah B'Rachamim contains 60 easily absorbed lessons about the significance of Jewish life on holy soil.

Howard Salmon first celebrated his bar mitzvah as a 44-year-old. He and six others attended a class at Temple Emanu-El in Tucson, Arizona, and each one prepared one aliyah of the Torah reading.

Many Israelis are dreading the march of time as the days of "disengagement" approach.

Unfortunately, the question as to where to raise your children and where you and they should live is not a hot topic in the American Jewish community.

Purim, which is not too far away, reminds us that people often can wear masks to hide their true identity.

Israel is center of the universe. What scientific evidence is there of this fact?

One of the unexpected dividends of our coming on aliya 20 and 30 years ago is the practically 0% rate of intermarriage of our grandchildren.

There seems to be a whole group of people who have little or no knowledge of early aliyah from America, but who insist on making ridiculous statements about us.

We in Israel need Nefesh B'Nefesh. Every time this organization brings in another planeload of olim, the welcome is so uplifting, the arrival is so exciting, the emotional high is so stimulating, that several old-timers go to the airport ceremonies just to be reminded how important American and Canadian aliyah is.

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QUESTION: My son is enrolled in one of the major yeshivot in Israel. Though he is learning very well, I am extremely tense at all times. My question is: In times of danger like today, is it proper to allow him to continue learning there? Would it not be possible for him to learn elsewhere with the same results?Name withheld by request