When Janine Kutliroff boarded the first Nefesh B’Nefesh flight in 2002, embarking on her Aliyah adventure with husband Gershom, and three small children, she had no clear career plans. With minimal Hebrew skills, and little experience in Israel, the natural business woman expected to ‘explore her inner housewife self’, and concentrate on her family as they integrated into their new lives. As it turned out, she ended up in the executive business world and today is the CEO and Co-Founder, along with her husband, of the Israeli startup - Omek Interactive.

As the newest foreign press spokesman for Israel’s Defense Ministry, London-born Joshua Hantman, 27, operates on the front lines of professional Israel advocacy. The position seemed a natural fit for the Oxford and Harvard educated Oleh, whose background in Middle Eastern studies, talent for speaking and media relations, as well as a love for Israel paved the way towards a career in hasbara (Israel advocacy) after moving to Tel Aviv in 2009.

When Mayer Reich made Aliyah with his wife Dina and their baby, Eliana in 2003, expecting to embark on a new vocation, he never imagined the success that his new career path would have. In a country known for its start-ups, Reich’s five year-old company, RankAbove, has already received international acclaim, including being ranked Israel's hottest start-up for 2012 by Wired Magazine in the UK.

Ever since making Aliyah from the UK to Ra'anana in 2009 with her husband and three young children, Paris-born Cynthia Phitoussi has been helping entrepreneurial Olim set up their businesses. As co-founder of The Hive by Gvahim, together with her friend Audrey Chocron, Cynthia devotes most of her time to helping accelerate start-ups launched by new Olim, from an idea to a viable business.

When Yosef Abramowitz came to Israel, his dream was to do much more than just make Aliyah. He wanted to fulfill David Ben Gurion’s vision of harnessing the power of the Negev to make a solar energy fuelled Israel. But Yosef Abramowitz is not just a dreamer; he’s a doer. In six years he has done more to fulfill Ben Gurion’s dreams than anyone could have imagined, co-founding the Arava Power Company and recently launching a 4.95-megawatt solar field at Kibbutz Ketura - the first medium-sized photovoltaic field in the country. Now he is working on expanding his dream to other countries as well.

Comedian Benji Lovitt made his first trip to Israel at age fifteen. However, it was his life-changing post-high school year in Israel, on the Young Judaea Year Course, that set him on the path towards making Aliyah. A firmly committed Jew and Zionist, the young Benji who hails from Dallas, Texas, first explored psychology and high-tech before discovering his calling in the Jewish communal world and, of course, comedy.

Ever since she can remember, soccer has been her greatest passion. Since her first time in Israel, making Aliyah has been her biggest dream. In November, Genna Brand was able to finally combine these two life-defining aspirations when she boarded a Nefesh B’Nefesh group Aliyah flight, and immigrated to Israel, where she would be joining ASA Tel Aviv, Israel’s National Women’s Football team.

Ben Lang is a self-admitted addict, although not the usual kind. His addiction has propelled him into the world of high-tech and e-business, gaining him a Silicon Valley start-up and one of the most popular blogs for young entrepreneurs. Ben Lang is addicted to technology, and the successful young businessman from White Plains NY is only 18 years old.

David Zlotnick always expected that being an emergency room physician would have an impact on people, but he never expected his Aliyah to magnify that contribution so dramatically. Just three and half years after making Aliyah from Montreal, Dr. Zlotnick finds that he isn’t just changing lives; he’s changing the system. In fact, while his current work is revolutionizing emergency medicine in Jerusalem, soon it will expand to the entire country - and beyond.

When psychoanalyst and counter-terrorism expert Dr. Nancy Kobrin made Aliyah in 2010, she moved to a life that she describes as more meaningful. Since her first trip to Israel in 1972, when she immediately felt at home, the Chicago native had wanted to make Aliyah. For someone like Dr. Kobrin who has been called ‘the Dr. Ruth of counter-terrorism,’ Israel is the place to be - for better or worse - and she feels that she has something valuable to contribute to Israeli society.

Three-time Emmy award winner Simcha Jacobovici is anything but the typical Oleh (new immigrant). The much-lauded documentary filmmaker, who brought the tools of investigative journalism into biblical archeology, is known for producing groundbreaking documentaries such as The Exodus Decoded and The Lost Tomb of Jesus. While the accomplished director and producer saw making Aliyah from Toronto, Canada as part of the natural progression of his life, others found Jacobovici’s fascinating odyssey and the ease with which he, his wife Nicole, and their five children made their new life in Israel - as nothing short of inspiring.

Joanna Shebson has been providing Jerusalem residents and tourists alike with a much-needed online resource since she made Aliyah together with her husband Jonathan and two sons Aryeh and Marko in August 2007.  After moving to Jerusalem from Los Angeles, California, and noticing the lack of a comprehensive portal of kid-friendly activities in the capital city, Joanna started a blog which soon developed into the website www.FunInJerusalem.com, which received over 25,000 visitors this summer.

Harvey Brooks is accustomed to large crowds cheering for him, but when he landed in Israel as a new Oleh on a Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah flight in August 2009, the welcoming crowd of singing and flag-waving guests touched him in a more profound way.

In 1947, Holocaust survivor Frances Greenberg was one of 4,515 passengers aboard the Exodus ship when it set sail for the Land of Israel. When the British stopped the ship just before reaching the shores of what was then known as Palestine, and forced its hapless passengers to return to homelessness in war-torn Europe, Frances’ dream of living in Israel was shattered.

Professor Ian M. Gralnek

Chief, Hospital-wide Ambulatory Care Services

Attending Physician, Institute of Gastroenterology

Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa

Professor Ian Gralnek is no stranger to Israel. Since his first adventure as a 17 year-old with his St. Paul, Minnesota USY chapter, Ian was hooked. Raised in a Conservative Jewish home, Ian was imbued with a love of Israel and made many trips back since that first one in 1980.  Perhaps most significantly, his year at the Sherut La'am program in 1984-85 was the year that he met Israeli-born Mazal from Moshav Nes Harim. In 1988 the Minnesota native and the girl from the moshav married in Jerusalem. But it would be nearly 20 years before they would set permanent roots in the land that they both loved so much.

“The perfect time rarely presents itself for the major things in life” says Rabbi Dr. Zvi Ron.  “It’s never the perfect time to make Aliyah. You need to just go for it.” And 'go for it' they did.

Hayim Ani grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, the product of a somewhat unconventional upbringing. With his mother running a sheep farm just outside the city, and he being homeschooled along with one of his three sisters for all of high school, Hayim, a guitar player, composer and singer, always dreamed big and lived bigger. While still in his teens, Hayim had already put out two CDs with his band Point Valid. Hayim put his music career on hold to spend his ‘gap year’ in Israel. This turned out to be a turning point in his life.

Meet Barak Argov, a champion canoer from Hawaii who left the sport behind to make Aliyah and join the IDF. But don’t worry, he plans to take up Israeli martial art Krav Maga to fill that void and stay in shape. Barak is really positive about his move to Israel and looks at his years in Hawaii as a phase. As he puts it, the food is amazing, the people are really nice, the girls are the most beautiful and the weather is just great. And this coming from someone who just left Hawaii…

Barak is in Ulpan now and hopes to join the IDF shortly.