The Upsurge in Western Aliyah 

The current economic crisis has undoubtedly inflicted major suffering on many families and individuals but it has provided one silver lining: there has been a spike in aliyah from North America and the United Kingdom. Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B'Nefesh, the organization that has revolutionized aliyah from the West, reports that, "We have seen an overall increase of interest in aliyah in 2009, both in downloaded applications as well as people making aliyah, this summer over 3,000 olim in comparison to just over 2,000 that we assisted last summer," Fass also reports an encouraging increase in the breadth of the phenomenon encompassing singles and young couples who are making aliyah. The geographic dimensions of the phenomenon have also expanded as significant numbers of olim originating from the West Coast and Middle America, including Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota and Iowa now have aliyah on their radar. The Jewish Agency for Israel, long the exclusive player in the aliyah process and currently partner with NBN, concurs. Liran Avisar, head of the Jewish Agency Aliyah Delegation to North America points to the effects of the economic dislocation. “These are people who always had the dream of making aliyah, and if they have to start now from the beginning, they want build their lives in Israel.”

Economic insecurity compounds the price of Jewish living in the United States and, primarily, the cost of qualitative Jewish education, prompting potential olim, according to Rabbi Fass, to bring forward their aliyah plans to a more immediate timeline. Of course, one should be wary of an economic triumphalism expressed by one Israeli politician who termed Israel an island of economic stability; Israel as well is facing deepening unemployment and stagflation. The confidence gap, however, is not merely economic. Yishai Fleischer of Beit El who works for Israel National News and has attempted to steer the English language service of Israel National News towards a more aliyah-oriented approach, believes that the main issue is demographic. The United States has an aging and declining Jewish population as compared with a median age of 16 in Israel, and this is a major source of attraction and excitement. Fleischer echoes others who have warned that the ailing Jewish demographics in the United States translate into a loss of economic and political power.

It is important to recall that Western aliyah is predominantly Orthodox. Karin Amit and Esther Reiss, in their study of North American Aliyah to Israel, for the Absorption Ministry and Rupin Academic College, found that the majority of Western olim were highly educated and professionals and that the "main declared motivations for aliyah are most often religious motivations." This undoubtedly will have a long-range effect on Israeli society. The professional skills that the new immigrants bring will also compensate for the brain drain of veteran Israelis who sought professional advancement and higher salaries and, since they were predominantly secular, were less deterred by the high cost of religious life in the West. This point has been emphasized in the press by Bar Ilan University's Moshe Kaveh but he like others steers clear of the sensitive subject that religious olim predominate. Rabbi Fass takes pains to stress that "Nefesh B’Nefesh strives to cultivate relationships with Jewish organizations of every denomination, ensuring that we meet the needs of olim from all streams of Judaism."

Yet the numbers can't be denied. It is true that secular participants in Birthright and the more serious year-long Jewish Agency Masa program have augmented the ranks of the new immigrants. Spending quality time in Israel has also been a major factor in making aliyah. This factor however further tilts the equation in favor of Orthodox Jews, given the increased popularity of one-year programs in Israel amongst the religious population. Religious Zionists have learned to tread carefully. They may take pride in the percentages but don't want to monopolize the issue. When planes disgorge olim who are obviously predominantly Orthodox, this can reduce secular interest. One can take the annual Independence Day Bible Contest as an example. Since Religious Zionist contestants are generally shoe-ins for winning the event, this has produced diminished interest in the contest outside Religious Zionist circles.

The phenomenon of group aliyah flights from North America and the United Kingdom highlights the transformation that has taken place in the aliyah field with the entry of NBN and its collaboration (others would put it healthy competition) with the Jewish Agency. NBN has brought to the field of aliyah a phenomenon discernible in business as well. The all-purpose department store, despite its size, has faced increasing competition from specialty merchandisers who, like the hedgehog, concentrate on doing one thing well. NBN has succeeded in making aliyah trendy and has harnessed cutting edge technology to promote and facilitate aliyah. The group flights leverage the process of Western aliyah in numerous ways. They create an instant mutual support group preceding and following aliyah. Terry Newman, a sophisticated Oxford-educated business consultant, recalls the emotional high of arriving on a group flight that could not have been captured by olim coming in dribs and drabs. It is a media event that draws coverage and free publicity. According to Fleischer, the effect on veteran Israelis is equally important. Politicians are not the only Israelis involved but the entire supporting cast, ranging from soldiers to cab drivers, is energized. Israelis who grew on a popular culture that lionized everything American are intrigued and invigorated by the sight of a plane load of new Israelis who have preferred Israel to the United States.

NBN, however, is not distinguished by media savvy and excellent marketing but has seized upon the internet revolution with alacrity. Noa Choritz, a recent olah from Pittsburgh now living in Efrat, claims that NBN was always on top of the latest information. As soon as it dawned that Israel of all places would be facing a shortage of doctors, the organization came out with a program tailored for physicians. Using the web, NBN connects with people who are in the planning stages of aliyah and provides them with web-based aliyah seminars. The organization runs a group on Yahoo with hundreds of posts each month. The Jewish Agency has followed suit by establishing an internet based Global Center. Using the web NBN has effectively created a network linking potential immigrants as well as families who have already arrived in Israel and are seeking job information, etc. Reiss and Amit in their previously-mentioned study found that the Internet constituted the major source of information for people contemplating aliyah. The new olim continue to subscribe to the social groups and they proved particularly influential in influencing the decision of future olim concerning the choice of where to settle in Israel.

This phenomenon of new olim serving as anchors and mentors for family members and friends is not a novel one but the Internet provides it with a powerful coefficient. As Western immigrants are considered a strong socioeconomic population group, Rabbi Fass reports that 135 communities throughout Israel have established contact with the organization in the hope of luring new immigrants. Quite naturally many Western olim tend to be attracted to locations that are home to other Anglos. With the decline of melting pot ideologies and the super sabra myth, this is normal. Fleischer does not believe that olim have to totally integrate in the first generation. “Let them live in communities with large concentrations of Western olim. Their children will complete the process and from all available evidence, they do fully integrate,” he noted.

Most importantly, NBN, to quote Fleischer, has removed the excuse of the "dreaded Israeli bureaucracy" by interfacing with that same bureaucracy and streamline processes that could have taken days. Obviously, during these financial times, one should not discount the financial support that NBN provides the new immigrants.

The working relationship between the Jewish agency and NBN did not come about easily and required a lengthy bridging process and a strict set of guidelines providing for transparency between the two organizations including mutual access to databases. Despite the cooperation, the Jewish Agency's organizational pride has been hurt and it feels that the competition (sorry, cooperation) takes place under unequal terms. NBN is free of the organizational constraints that confront the Jewish Agency. Natan Sharansky, in his acceptance speech upon being appointed Jewish Agency Chairman, said the following about aliyah: "One of the principle aims of the Jewish Agency was and will be aliyah to Israel. But how do you bring an oleh from America or from France or England if you are not strengthening their identification with the Jewish people? This is our greatest challenge." Given the depletion of resources available, it is natural that the United Jewish Communities, the Agency's major financial partner, would like the Jewish Agency to concentrate on areas that benefit American Jewry. Jewish identity is obviously an area of mutual interest, as support for Israel and potential aliyah are strongly correlated to a strengthened Jewish identity. However, this is still not the same thing as promoting aliyah directly.

The Jewish Agency's problem of conflicting priorities is not limited to the United States. The Agency is expected to reinforce development towns in Israel's periphery where many new immigrants have settled. One such measure has been to encourage college students to reside in the development towns. The students are expected to devote some of their free time to work in the community and perhaps this will influence them to put down roots there. The students in return need somewhere cheap to live and the Agency has allocated some of its absorption centers for this purpose. Speaking before the Knesset Aliyah Committee, Jewish Agency Treasurer Hagai Merom defended the practice, claiming that it was supported by local leadership and was a far cry from turning over the absorption centers to real estate sharks. Merom reaffirmed that the Agency's commitment to aliyah remained intact but claimed that the program was undergoing an organizational overhaul.

Moshe Vigdor, the director general of the Jewish Agency, testifying before the same committee in 2008, acknowledged the cooperation between the Agency and NBN but felt that the Knesset members had to be aware of problems that had arisen given the Jewish Agency's responsibility for other olim including, for example, those from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union who did not enjoy the same benefits as NBN olim. He related the case where NBN olim had met up with other olim at the Raanana Absorption Center. "They came to the absorption center and told them how great it was and that they had received assistance and then we received complaints from olim in the very same absorption center… who arrived from Brazil and Peru and they asked why they were not receiving as well. I am not opposing this [assistance], but I say that we have a far from simple dilemma on our hands." The Agency remains the last resort for communities who may have to be evacuated on an emergency basis [Venezuela comes to mind]. These arrangements require an emissary in place and cannot be done on the web.

It is still too early to judge whether the cooperation will continue or degenerate into inter-organizational rivalry. Fleischer and others believe the more participation the merrier and hopefully they are right. Aliyah and the infusion of talent and enthusiasm it brings to Israel remain important to Israel's and particularly Religious Zionism's future.

Sign up to subscribe to our magazine.

Back to Previous Page