More than 43,000 immigrants have arrived in Israel since October 7. Many of them are young people coping on their own with a foreign language, hard-to-decipher bureaucracy, questions of belonging and additional challenges. At “Meet Tel Aviv: A Community Fair for Olim in Tel Aviv,” a first-of-its-kind event held at the Nefesh B’Nefesh Center in Tel Aviv, dozens of organizations, nonprofits and municipal and government representatives met with hundreds of new immigrants under one roof, with the aim of making the absorption process slightly less complex.
Nefesh B'Nefesh Community Fair in TLV
(Video: Yaron Sharon)
For many of the immigrants who attended the event held this month in Tel Aviv, it was not just another informational gathering. It was a moment to pause amid the race of adjustment, to lift their heads from forms, phone calls and confusion, and to see that others are standing in exactly the same place. Not everyone arrived with family members. Some immigrated alone, relatively young, and are rebuilding their lives almost from scratch.
‘We have a great opportunity here, under one roof, to bring together all the organizations dealing with immigration and give immigrants the chance to get to know both other new immigrants and organizations that can support them,’ says Avi Ziv, director of the Nefesh B’Nefesh Center in Tel Aviv. According to him, the core idea behind the event was connection, not only between immigrants and professional bodies, but also among the immigrants themselves.
He adds that the complex period in which the event was held only underscored the need for it. ‘Even though we thought it would be a big challenge to hold this during wartime, I see the immigrants with a spark in their eyes when they arrive in Israel to be part of the Zionist story of our people,’ he says. Many of the participants, he notes, are here without close family. ‘They need this support, they need these connections, and we give them the opportunity to meet one another and build a community. Once there is a community, there is a career, there is a family, and they will also choose to stay here.’
As aliyah from North America continues to rise, Nefesh B’Nefesh together with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, and Jewish National Fund-USA, remains committed to ensuring successful integration of Olim.
‘In Israel we can laugh about the situation together’
Among the immigrants who attended the event was David, who immigrated from the United States. For him, the decision to formalize his immigration was not a single dramatic moment, but an ongoing process. ‘Every time I go back to visit my parents in America, I feel a little less comfortable, a little less at home,’ he says. ‘I lived here for about four years and decided to make the immigration official.’
Alongside a sense of acceptance of the decision, the difficulties are not lost on him. ‘I’ll tell you a secret. There is never a good time to immigrate to Israel. It is never the perfect time and there are always problems. But at least here we can laugh about it together,’ he says. According to him, the Nefesh B’Nefesh event in partnership with JNF-USA is an integral part of their absorption process. ‘It is important for all of us to see one another, to see what organizations exist, to find our community. Here we can feel more like a family, and that is super important.’
For Ari, who also immigrated recently, the first months in Israel were accompanied by a sense of shock. ‘In the first two months I was constantly thinking, what is going on here? What are we doing?’ she says. Coping on a daily basis with bureaucracy, the language and the abrupt transition was not simple, but Ari did not go through it alone. ‘We simply supported each other with the bureaucracy and the move, and we stayed friends.’
She says the significance of events like this goes far beyond guidance or technical information. ‘You cannot understand the feeling and the experience unless you go through it yourself,’ she says. ‘There is a lot of support from organizations, but in the end, when you want to bang your head against the wall because you called the same number six times and could not even make a doctor’s appointment, and suddenly you discover someone else is going through exactly the same thing, it is comforting. It is that feeling of, OK, I am not alone. There is someone who supports me, who understands what I am going through, and we can do this together. I do not have to do this alone.’
For Michael, who immigrated a decade ago, the move to Israel was not an impulsive decision. ‘Throughout my life I visited Israel a lot, my family is from here, and I came to study here,’ he says. ‘I feel much better in Israel than I ever felt in America. It is simply a comforting place. I truly feel at home.’
For many immigrants, the decision was made against the backdrop of events over the past two years. Ariella says that since October 7, the need to immigrate became more urgent. ‘It created a real need, a desire to be close to my family, to be with my people,’ she says.
‘I truly feel at home’
The reasons for immigration are diverse, and the timing varies from person to person. Some made the move years ago, while others were pushed to act by reality itself. But for many immigrants, the question of what is right for others is less important than the inner voice accompanying the decision. ‘I do not believe in pushing people to immigrate. No one needs to be forced to do anything,’ David says. ‘But if your heart is telling you to come home, maybe it is time to start listening to it.’
In collaboration with Nefesh B’Nefesh.
First published: 15:52, 02.09.26