Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, the Aliyah non-profit (the outsourced arm for the Jewish Agency and Israeli Government for North American Aliyah) will be addressing the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York on June 3.This year’s conference holds special significance, especially in light of the recent surge of interest in aliyah among North American Jews since October 7 and the ensuing conflict.“It is true that we’ve seen a substantial increase in aliyah interest from North American Jews since October 7. We are doing everything in our power to help translate that interest to actual aliyah,” Rabbi Fass notes, highlighting that interest has surged by 90% compared to the same period last year.
This growing enthusiasm for aliyah is mirrored within Israel. “We’ve never felt a stronger sense of motivation from the government and all organizations involved in aliyah. There’s a collective sense that we have a historic opportunity,” he continues.He emphasizes that the increased innovations, benefits and continued coordinated cooperation between the government and our aliyah organization signifies a unified effort to ensure a successful transition for new immigrants.
Challenging times drive increased Aliyah
Rabbi Fass explains that historically, Nefesh B’Nefesh has seen “increases in aliyah during extremely tense and challenging times. Remarkably, since the establishment of the State of Israel, we have historically seen spikes of aliyah during our Jewish homeland’s most challenging times. However, he notes, “we are still in a war and understandably people are now recalibrating their aliyah plans due to the situation.”Rabbi Fass hopes his participation in the conference will underscore the significant message of receptivity to the olim community. “I want potential olim to know that Nefesh B’Nefesh, alongside the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, and the Israeli community as a whole, are going above and beyond to develop initiatives to support them,” he says. He concludes. “The collaboration among different aliyah bodies demonstrates that olim are welcome and will be well cared for in Israel.”
The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference will occur on June 3 in New York City.
Nefesh B'Nefesh is sponsoring a portion of the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference. www.jpost.1eye.us/AC24