Becky Kupchan. 'I've always dreamed of making aliyah'
Photo: Sasson Tiram, courtsey of Nefesh B'Nefesh
64 US Jews make aliyah despite escalating security situation
'Israel is my home and at home you always feel safe,' says 26-year-old Becky Kupchan of Chicago, who is moving straight to Beersheba.
Despite the escalating security situation
in Israel, 64 new immigrants from the United States made aliyah Tuesday.
The new Israeli citizens, who hail from Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Virginia, will be moving to Beit Shemesh, Givat Shmuel, Hadera, Jerusalem, Karmiel, Modiin, Nes Tziona, Ra'anana, Ramat Beit Shemesh, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv and Beersheba.
The new olim, ranging in age from eight months to 91 years old, arrived with Nefesh B’Nefesh in partnership with the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel, KKL and JNF-USA.
Global Aliyah
Jewish Agency estimates French aliyah will surpass 5,000 individuals by end of 2014 – an all-time record and a full 1% of 500,000-person French Jewish community.
New immigrants at Ben-Gurion Airport (Photo: Sasson Tiram, courtesy of Nefesh B'Nefesh)
Among the olim who arrived Tuesday morning was Becky Kupchan, 26, from Chicago, who will be moving to Beersheba, the capital city of southern Israel.
"Although the security situation in Israel is very tense right now, and in Beersheba where I’m about to move rockets are falling, I am not afraid and I trust the Israeli government and the IDF," said Kupchan after arriving at Ben-Gurion Airport.
"I’m a Jew and I’ve always dreamed about making aliyah to Israel, my home, and at home you always feel safe."
"The olim who have chosen to make aliyah to Israel during these challenging days are real heroes, and each one of them fills our heart with pride and great inspiration," said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh.
"Becky from Chicago, who has chosen to live in the city of Beersheba in the south, is one of them, and we will do whatever we can to assist her in her new home in the State of Israel," he added.
