Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN), the leading organization that facilitates Aliyah from within North America, in cooperation with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL) and JNF-USA, is celebrating a record-breaking summer, with 1,000 Olim making aliyah in August 2021 alone, surpassing any other month in the organization's history.
The end of the summer brought a total of more than 3,000 olim to the country, with the organization well on its way to hit its target of 4,500-5,000 olim by the end of the year.
Among the new olim were 362 families, 391 singles, and 160 retirees. The majority come from New York, New Jersey, California, Florida, and Maryland with Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh, Tel Aviv, Ra'anana, and Modi'in being among the top destinations for beginning their new lives. The joint NBN-KKL Go Beyond innovative is proving a success, with close to 650 olim choosing Israel's periphery and Jerusalem for their new homes.
“The summer is always the highlight of our year at Nefesh B’Nefesh, with the peak in Aliyah culminating during these months. Despite the many challenges surrounding the pandemic, the resilience of our olim and dedication from our staff and partners, have enabled us to celebrate our largest Aliyah month ever,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B’Nefesh.
"I am pleased to wish a Shana Tova to all the new olim from the USA and Canada that arrived in Israel thus far. Since the beginning of the year, 18,520 olim from around the world have made Aliyah, which is a very impressive and encouraging number. Among them, about 3,000 are from North America alone, despite the challenging period the world has been experiencing,” said Pnina Tamano-Shata, Minister of Aliyah and Integration.
“We will continue accompanying the olim and doing everything in our capacity to provide holistic support to the new olim in order for them to feel at home in Israel from the moment they arrive, in cooperation with the Aliyah organizations, among them The Jewish Agency and Nefesh B'Nefesh."
The oldest olah was a 96-year-old woman and the youngest was a 4-month-old baby girl. Out of the olim, 46% are men and 54% are women.
Top professions for the fresh immigrants were lawyers, academics and educators, physicians and social workers, as well as many young students.
Some 162 future lone soldiers and 39 national service volunteers will join the nation as part of Nefesh B’Nefesh's Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Lone Soldier Program and the Ori program for National Service volunteers, also run by NBN.
Ronnie Vinnikov, CDO of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael said, “KKL is celebrating its 120th anniversary and has been working for decades to promote immigration. Even in this challenging period of the Corona crisis, we see the importance of the new immigrants who empower the State of Israel and contribute greatly to the strengthening of the Galilee, the Negev and Jerusalem.”