Fair Thee Well

The Aliyah and Integration Department’s delegation whizzed from major city to major city -- all within the span of one week -- meeting with individuals and groups on the topic of aliyah. Despite the blizzardy weather in New York, more than the expected number of participants arrived and the fifty booths were busy with inquiries. In Toronto, Chanukah candles were lit with the participants and in the Los Angeles event, the emphasis was placed heavily on youth movements and youth programs. Tamar Meir Schneider, Head of the North American Desk, praises the hard work of the emissaries and the cooperation with the Israel consulates, Jewish Federations and other Jewish organizations in ensuring the success of the whirlwind tour. In between the three major fairs, the aliyah professionals had smaller aliyah conferences in Philadelphia, Washington DC, Baltimore and Chicago. “By all measures, the thousands of participants at the events were representative of all streams of American Jewry and from all walks of life. One of the major achievements of these fairs was our ability to register participants and pass their information on to the Global Center which will handle the follow-up.”

Ariel di Porto, Head of the French Desk, noted that at the recent Aliyah Fairs in Paris and Marseille, it was the aliyah professionals who were busier than the real estate representatives. “There were two trends: Individuals who had bought apartments in Israel for holiday or investment were showing an interest in aliyah, and the numbers of those interested in aliyah were continually growing. I attribute that without doubt to the success of our current immigrants. For two years, we have had exceptionally successful aliyah, and word gets around. In the Israeli cities in which we have Community Aliyah Projects, the immigrants’ arrival is cushioned by the designated Aliyah Project Coordinator, and potential problems are dodged by individual attention and pre-emptive care.”

Aliyah Fairs were held in London, Manchester and Leeds with good participation and many new registrees for the Global Center. “We had experts in employment, banking, housing and education, all kept busy with questions,” says Anat Kagan, Head of the Desk for Europe and the Commonwealth. “South Africa saw an unusually successful Aliyah Expo Week last December,” says Anat. “Our Israel Center Director, Ofer Dahan, rigorously promoted the events in newpapers, internet, emails, and phone calls, as well as working closely with synagogues, schools and youth movements. He reports apartments are being purchased in Modi’in by soon-to-be olim and hundreds of new aliyah candidates.”