(Courtesy of Nefesh B’Nefesh) Tel Aviv, Israel—As Yom HaAliyah (Aliyah Day), on Friday, October 27, approached, 49 North Americans immigrated to Israel from the US and Canada on a Nefesh B’Nefesh group aliyah flight in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL) and JNF-USA.

The flight landed at Ben Gurion Airport with a diverse group of new Olim arriving through Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization responsible for facilitating aliyah (immigration) of over 50,000 North American and British Jews to Israel in over a decade.

The new Olim came from 13 US states and two Canadian provinces, working in a range of professions, and will reside in communities throughout Israel. From engineers and physicians, to future soldiers, aspiring actors and Bar Ilan’s first official student in 1955, the flight saw a diverse group set to begin their new lives in Israel.

Yom HaAliyah is a national holiday in Israel that acknowledges aliyah as a core value of the country and celebrates the contributions of Olim to Israeli society. Yom HaAliyah began as a community movement in 2012, and in 2016 the Knesset, in a rare moment of cooperation across political parties in the Israeli parliament, turned the initiative into law by officially adding it to the national calendar.

“Yom HaAliyah recognizes the incredible contributions that Olim have made towards shaping Israeli culture and society,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh. “It is particularly inspiring to welcome today’s group flight as the country recognizes the influence all Olim have on our country.”