While we have collectively been wringing our hands in angst over President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, there was a group of people whose focus had nothing to do with the troubles of the world, and everything to do with the joy of today’s Israel. There they were, on Tuesday, at New York’s JFK International Airport, boarding an El Al Boeing 777 for, as some perhaps said, the trip “home.”

In this case, their aliyah was facilitated with the help of Nefesh B’Nefesh. It was a 232-olim strong journey for a new life in Israel. Fifteen local families were among the 29 families with 75 children making the life-changing flight.

Some 59 of the passengers were young men and women who will volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as “lone soldiers” or military personnel without family in Israel.

The flight was facilitated in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Immigration Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel, JNF-USA and Tzofim-Garin Tzabar.

Of course there are conflicts in the world, and Israel, in particular, faces  the existential threat of a rogue nation like Iran. But this isn’t the old story of the problematic Middle East. Instead, this is about the brand-new chapters in the lives of each of the olim, no matter their age, and how they chose to begin their life’s journey in Israel.

We wish them hatzlacha. And we can’t wait to meet them one day soon, at “home.”