Last week, 233 new Olim landed at Ben Gurion in one of the Nefesh b’Nefesh summer Aliya flights from North America. One of the new Olim is the daughter of US Ambassador David Friedman.
At the ceremony, MK Yair Lapid addressed the crowd telling them that without the Olim, without Jews coming from the Diaspora, the Jewish people are simply incomplete:
“A person who makes Aliya is a person who makes a decision that their life isn’t random, that they are the architect of their fate…
Your decision to come to Israel means that Israel isn’t just a place, it’s an idea, it’s a choice…
In most countries, immigrants are met by stern-faced immigration officers looking for a reason to reject them. Israel welcomes you happily. We look at you and say, today, we need you… We need you because without you, our family is incomplete. Only in Israel can people land in Israel and the first thing they hear is welcome back, welcome home. So welcome back, welcome home.”
Aside from MK Lapid, the crowd also heard from other dignitaries including Chief Rabbi David Lau, Natan Sharansky and Nir Barkat.
But what is it like to be on one of these Aliya flights?
Watch Meir Kay’s video he created following the new Olim on their journey home from JFK to Ben Gurion airport:
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