250 Bnei Menashe make aliyah in November – total for year is 660, the most ever!
Kol Ami students with sign in Kuki and Israeli flag
“This was the first time I really understood what aliyah is all about,” said Tomer Yamtovich as he headed back to the bus after an emotionally uplifting hour of singing, dancing, clapping, hugging and unrestrained joy at Ben-Gurion Airport last week.
Yamtovich was one of 34 students from Kol Ami, an Israeli pre-army academy (or mechina), who swapped a good night’s sleep last week for a late night rendezvous with 50 Bnei Menashe new immigrants who had just arrived in Israel after the long flight from India.
The Kol Ami students came out to demonstrate at the top of their lungs – as perhaps only a group of boisterous, idealistic young Israelis and Jewish youth can – that the Bnei Menashe were finally home, and that their many years of dreaming of Zion had finally become reality.
Kol Ami was the perfect partner to greet the Bnei Menashe, as you can see by the enthusiasm expressed in the accompanying pictures. (They even made a sign in the Bnei Menashe language of Kuki reading ‘Welcome to Israel.’) Kol Ami has a unique syllabus focusing on issues of peoplehood, Israel engagement and the bonds between Israelis and the Jewish community abroad. “It was amazing, exciting and fulfilling,” gushed Kfir Cohen, one of the students who came to the airport. “A once in a lifetime experience,” added Nitzan Hasson.
The group of 50 Bnei Menashe on last week’s flight were the culmination of two weeks of furious activity organized by Shavei Israel, in which nearly 250 Bnei Menashe left their homes in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur to rejoin the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. This brings the total number of Bnei Menashe whom Shavei Israel has brought on aliyah this year to 660, the largest one-year total ever.
As with their brothers and sisters before them, this month’s group of Bnei Menashe headed straight for the Kfar Hasidim absorption center, where they will spend the next several months learning Hebrew and basic Judaism, before moving into their permanent homes and formally starting their new lives in Israel.
While the final group of Bnei Menashe for 2014 is now here, our obligation to their successful integration into Israeli society is just beginning. And so is our financial responsibility. Shavei Israel, with your help, has already spent $1,200 on flights and transportation for each Bnei Menashe immigrant now in Israel. In 2014, that came to a total of $792,000. But that’s not all.
To cover the Bnei Menashe’s absorption requirements – including room and board for three months at Kfar Hasidim, teacher salaries, study materials and outings, on through setting them up in their first apartments once they leave the center – will cost an additional $2,800 per individual. So far in 2014, we’ve spent $738,000 and, for the 250 men, women and children who have just arrived, another $700,000 is required.
We need your help now more than ever. Our dream of bringing the Bnei Menashe home to Israel is no longer just in the realm of prayers looking towards the future or in lobbying activities in the Knesset. It’s a reality happening right now – as you can see in the pictures below.
Now is the time to open up your hearts –and your pocketbooks – and give generously. The Bnei Menashe have made it all this way. Help them take the first steps to true independence in the land of their forefathers. Please support us today.
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We have pictures and a slideshow below from the final flight of the fifty immigrants who arrived last week. Plus a special treat: if you click here, you can watch a video from an earlier flight where, on the bus ride from the plane to the terminal at Ben-Gurion Airport, the Bnei Menashe spontaneously broke out into a rendition of Ka Thangnge Ka Thangnge – their traditional song about remembering Israel and the dream to return. Prepare to be moved!
View all the pictures on our Flickr page.
