Aliyah Topics

• independent nation state
• hebrew patriarchs
• family reunification
• formal petition
• jewish immigration
• exit visa
• abraham isaac
• iron curtain
• world war ii
• return to the promised land
• first world war
• 613 commandments
• national language
• steady flow
• criminal offense
• record numbers
• underpinnings
• hardships
• political parties
• descendants

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Aliyah, Aliyah

Someone who "makes aliyah " is called an oleh (m. singular) or olah (f. singular); the plural for both is olim . Many Religious Jews espouse aliyah as a return to the Promised land, and regard it as the fulfillment of God's biblical promise to the descendants of the Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Aliyah is included as a commandment by some opinions on the enumeration of the 613 commandments.

The suburb of Jaffa, Ahuzat Bayit, established at this time, grew into the city of Tel Aviv. During this period, some of the underpinnings of an independent nation-state arose: The national language Hebrew was revived; newspapers and literature written in Hebrew published; political parties and workers organizations were established. The First World War effectively ended the period of the Second Aliyah.

Immigration was done mainly by sea, and to a lesser extent overland through Iraq and Syria. Beginning in 1939 Jewish immigration was further restricted, limiting it to 75,000 individuals for a period of five years after which immigration was to end completely. The British made it illegal to sell land to Jews in 95% of the Mandate. During World War II and the years that followed until independence, Aliyah Bet became the main form of Jewish immigration to Palestine.

The only acceptable ground was family reunification, and a formal petition ("", vyzov ) from a relative from abroad was required for the processing to begin. Often, the result was a formal refusal. The risks to apply for an exit visa compounded because the entire family had to quit their jobs, which in turn would make them vulnerable to charges of social parasitism, a criminal offense. Because of these hardships, Israel set up the group Lishkat Hakesher in the early 1950s to maintain contact and promote aliyah with Jews behind the Iron Curtain.

There has been a steady flow of olim from North America since Israels inception in 1948. Record numbers arrived in the late 1960s after the Six-Day War, and in the 1970s. Many immigrants began arriving in Israel after the Intifada, with a total of 3,052 arriving in 2005 the highest number since 1983. Like Western European olim, North Americans tend to immigrate to Israel more for religious, ideological and political purposes, and not financial ones. Nefesh B'Nefesh, founded in 2002 by Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart, works to encourage Aliyah from North America and the UK by providing Hebrew Language assistance for potential olim, streamlining the process already offered by the Jewish Agency and Israeli Government.

They state that: "Only 19,264 people immigrated to Israel in 2006, down nine percent from 2005. It is the lowest number of immigrants recorded since 1988" Aliyah sees 9% dip from 2005 by Moti Bassok The number of new immigrants in 2007 was 18,127, the lowest since 1988. Only 36% of these new immigrants came from the former Soviet Union (close to 90% in the 90's) while the number of immigrants from countries like France and USA is stable.

Source: Wikipedia > Aliyah