Since April, 16,000 families have contacted the Nefesh B’Nefesh hotline requesting information about aliyah, which is an increase of more than 300% over the previous year
By ALAN ROSENBAUMRabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh(photo credit: JERUSALEM POST)
Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, reports that interest in aliyah from North America continues to be at an all-time high, despite the continued COVID-19 crisis and lockdown in Israel.Speaking with Jerusalem Post Editor-in-chief Yaakov Katz at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference, Rabbi Fass said, “Corona has made people pause and recalibrate their personal compass, by allowing them to see how they can move their lives and become part of different communities, while evaluating if they can work remotely and bring their professions to Israel as well.”Rabbi Fass reports that since April 2020, 16,000 people have contacted the Nefesh B’Nefesh hotline requesting information about aliyah, which is an increase of more than 300% in comparison to 2019, and more than 5,000 aliyah applications have been submitted since April 1, 2020. “Nefesh B’Nefesh, in partnership with the various government ministries and aliyah agencies, are working round the clock to enable the expected increase in aliyah,” he said.Watch full conference video >>Rabbi Fass commended the 1600 new olim who have arrived in Israel since April, during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling them “heroes”.
