Young couple making aliyah wins $10,000
Nefesh B’Nefesh's Wedding Gift Challenge gives 25 newlyweds prizes to help start new life in Israel
Twenty-five couples making aliyah in 2013 will be awarded some incredible prize gifts to help start their lives in Israel, from home appliances and an IKEA shopping spree to the grand prize of $10,000.
Nefesh B’Nefesh created the Wedding Gift Challenge to get more young American couples discussing aliyah, by encouraging contestants to share their aliyah dreams on Facebook, Twitter, and wherever they interact online.
Winners were selected based on how many votes they received from friends, family, and supporters on their online contest profiles. In total, the contestants received over 43,000 votes.
The top vote-getting couple, Melody Mostow and Avi Coven from Pittsburgh, PA, won the $10,000 Grand Prize by earning a total of 10,002 votes. Melody and Avi, who are getting married this coming week, met in Israel, and will be making aliyah this month.
“This whirlwind of getting married, winning $10,000, and making aliyah, all within 23 days, is incredible to say the least,” says Melody. “This month is simply bursting with amazing blessings, simchas, and opportunities, and for that, we are truly at a loss for words to fully explain our excitement and gratitude.”
Another 20 couples earned enough votes to reach the second-tier prize, a $1,000 IKEA Israel shopping spree, and three couples won the third-tier prize, a private Israeli vineyard tour and dinner.
As the prizes are cumulative, all the couples also won the fourth-tier prize, a $50 gift certificate for an appliance for their new home in Israel.
“It’s inspiring to see so many people showing support and encouragement for these young couples making aliyah” said Marc Rosenberg, Nefesh B’Nefesh director of pre-aliyah. “This contest helped raise the Aliyah conversation among the contestants’ families, friends, and larger social networks, who all share in the excitement for their new life in Israel.”
The public voting and social media outreach around this contest have generated a list of hundreds of North American Jews interested in making aliyah.
Nefesh B’Nefesh will continue to increase awareness and conversations about aliyah through the "This is my Israel" brand by providing practical information from olim themselves and interactive online resources to those interested in learning about and moving to Israel.
