Nefesh b'nefesh

On Tuesday 220 US Jews immigrated to Israel and arrived on a flight from NY sponsored by the program Nefesh b'nefesh ("soul to soul"). One of the families included was that of Menachem Aloof, who was a Holocaust survivor who fought in the War of Independence and then moved to the US. These are the first of approximately 4,000 new immigrants from the US, Canada and Britain, the English-speaking world, to immigrate to Israel this year under their program.
The great thing about this program is that all the bureaucracy that normally drives people mad and often causes them to leave Israel, is done by the N b'N team. This is aliyah made easy. All aspects are considered in advance, where they will live, an apartment, where the kids will go to school, payment of local rates, customs privileges, etc. It may take a year for the necessary arrangements, but when the new immigrant (oleh) gets off the plane, everything is arranged. Of course, this is a private American-funded and organized program, done in cooperation with the Israeli Govt. It was founded by a Rabbi and a businessman in Florida, with Christian financial help. The new way makes everything simpler, and is a typically American way of doing business. They also arrange specific loans or awards for the new immigrants to cover the cost of aliyah.
This is a far cry from the way things used to be done. The immigrant was expected to arrange everything him/her self. This required going to the Ministry of Interior (to register as a citizen), the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption (to obtain immigrant's rights) and the Israeli Customs (to obtain exemptions from payments). Of course, this was all expected to be done in Hebrew, although they sometimes had English-speaking clerks. The savings for a new immigrant on taxes and import duties could be as much as $30,000, including lower mortgages and loans. One of the main problems before was that the clerks (pakidim) in these offices were officious, unpleasant and often rude. One explanation for this is that many Israelis and immigrants tried to cheat the system one way or another. Also, many of the clerks were, shall we say, typical Israelis, going off to smoke or have coffee or a chat, while people waited in line (in hot corridors) for hours. Now they have electronic numbers and air-conditioned waiting rooms and things have improved. But, not all immigrants get the N b'N service, and the clerks still treat the immigrants with suspicion if not downright antagonism.
Every older immigrant in Israel can tell horror stories about the way they were treated by these clerks (including me). As a result the return rate (yerida) was about 50%! In the N b'N program it is reported to be only 1%, ie. 99% of those who immigrate this way stay in Israel! What a success rate! Now you might ask why couldn't the State of Israel organize such a program, and the answer is, forget it! It is beyond the realm of possibility. Several years ago I suggested that the immigrants should have to go to only one address for all services (ha, ha). So complex is the situation that the computer systems at each of the Government offices that the immigrant has to go to are incompatible. Further the clerks at each of these offices will not communicate with each other directly, but will do so only through paperwork that the immigrant has to take from one to the other.
It is truly a miracle that the population of Israel has increased thru immigration. Today there is a huge increase in the number of French-speaking immigrants (many originally from N. Africa) and a similar program to N b'N is being organized there. Many of them are feeling increased anti-Semitism, particularly from the large Muslim population in France that outnumbers the Jews about 6:1. Somehow we manage to survive this world-wide hatred, and N b'N is playing its part.