Since the days of David Ben Gurion, the Negev has captured the imagination of passionate Zionists. Covering 66 percent of Israel’s land mass, but only 8 percent of its population, the Negev represents a major opportunity for Olim. So much of the area’s burgeoning success has been due to the efforts of immigrants from across the globe, yet Olim from western countries have yet to capitalize on the opportunities of Israel’s south. 

One of the highlights of the summer at Nefesh B’Nefesh is the ceremonies marking the arrival of hundreds of Olim on our Charter Aliyah Flights. The anticipation, the exhilaration and the emotion – both of the new Olim, and indeed of all of the guests at the airport – inspires anyone who is present.

Fifty-one singles arrived in Israel to much fanfare on NBN’s first charter flight of the summer. Yediot Acharonot published a full-page spread on our single Olim and it generated so much interest and excitement among young, eligible Israelis, that we found it necessary to create a dedicated Facebook group called The Singles Scene.

On Friday, June 24^th, sixty young professionals met at Derech Hayam YamClub at the Herzliya Marina for a beautiful summer afternoon, sailing on the Mediterranean Sea. Participants enjoyed breathtaking views and beautiful surroundings as they kicked back over a glass of wine and snacks.

Every Pesach, Sukkot and Chanukah Nefesh B’Nefesh organizes a trip designed for families; this past Pesach was no exception. On Wednesday 20^th of April, over 400 NBN Olim came out to enjoy the natural forest overlooking the breathtaking view of the Ella Valley, and the numerous attractions.

"Mangal" is the Hebrew word for "Barbeque," which always struck me as a little funny-- mangled meat roasting on a grill. However, "mangal" in Israel is a national pastime, and a very integral part of days off, going to parks, Saturday afternoons, what have you. Israel on the weekend smells like barbequeing kebabs (sausages), chicken, steaks. And it isn't Yom HaAtzmaut without some mangal, as well as the International Bible Quiz championship... which is kind of like the National Spelling Bee, only in Hebrew and about obscure portions of the Tanach.

There were over 165 people in attendance at the Jerusalem Challenge ‘Friday Night Unplugged’  dinner at the community center on Emek Refaim on March 4th. The crowd of Israelis, new Olim, some veteran Olim and visitors were treated to wine and a three-course meal. Doors were open to everyone for dessert featuring Kolture Shock, an a capella group made up of Olim and Israelis. Kolture Shock mesmerized the audience with their voices and did a great job of entertaining with content. 

For upcoming events keep an eye on our calendar: www.nbn.org.il/events/israel-calendar.

There was a full house at Mike's Place on March 14th, when over 90 people came together for some competitive fun in the NBN Pub Quiz. Twelve teams battled it out, testing their trivia and general knowledge skills for a range of prizes, but team ‘Sissu V’Simchu’ won the main prize of  burgers & fries for ten at Mike's Place.

The evening's entertainment also celebrated the launching of NU's social innovation clothing store - promoting and supporting Israeli causes and stories. (For more information go to www.nucampaign.com.) 

Following the quiz there was an Open Mike Night open to everyone.

To see the rest of the photos go to Nefesh B'Nefesh/NU Pub Quiz Photos

The impressive performance by Israeli companies at the Cleantech Open IDEAS competition confirms the country as a place where people are open to new ideas and thinking outside the box.

The Wind Tulip, fashioned like an environmental sculpture, is designed so that people will feel comfortable living next to a high-efficiency, clean-energy solution.

1. If you're Jewish, this is your home. Period.

2. Falafel. Awesome, awesome falafel.

3. There is a very good chance that one of your neighbors is actually a war hero. Or a Mossad agent.

The heavens roared and the ground shook as over 300 Olim enjoyed the Wings Ceremony air show at Chatzerim Air Force Base on Thursday, December 30th. It was truly a unique experience to witness the mid-air parade of Israeli military aircraft that included rescue helicopters, in-flight fueling demonstrations and F-16 fighter jets.

The event culminated with the prideful graduation of Israel’s newest generation of IAF pilots. Special thanks to Lt.-Col. Danny Grossman for opening this event to Nefesh B’Nefesh Olim.

2010 WRAP-UP

2010 saw Aliyah from North America and the UK continue to rise, with hundreds of the Olim arriving on 3 chartered and 17 group Aliyah flights, including the first ever NBN group flight out of Los Angeles. In fact, Nefesh B'Nefesh witnessed a 15% increase in Aliyah from the USA, Canada and the UK compared to the previous year. In addition, over 1,100 people made Aliyah from within Israel through our Guided Aliyah program.

First Aliyah Group Flight of 2011

…And they keep on coming! February 8^th saw the arrival of the first Aliyah Group Flight for 2011. The flight out of Newark, New Jersey brought 31 excited Olim hailing from across North America – from Alaska to Alabama.

As part of Nefesh B’Nefesh’s ongoing efforts to streamline the Aliyah process and make integration into Israeli life easier, the newcomers on this flight were able to sign up for Health Insurance at the airport immediately upon arrival. This is the first time that this service has been available at the airport.

It all started on Sukkot. We were up north camping along various beaches and getting sand all over everything that we own. We spent one day at the Family Fun Festival at Kfar Hassidim. There were a bunch of NBN attendees (we even wore special NBN stickers) and they gave each of us a sign that said "This is My Israel". They told us to take a pic with the sign and send it in to them and maybe we will win the contest.

Since Robin from Around the Island is always taking her family to interesting places, I invited her to share ideas for inexpensive summer activities.

Hi everyone, I’m Robin from over at Around the Island. My family loves to escape the urban jungle get out and enjoy this beautiful country we live in so I was excited when Hannah asked me to share some of our favorite destinations.

By Andrew Silow-Carroll

Leaked memo: Unique aspects of a flight to Israel

"El Al and JetBlue will now offer connecting options for customers traveling between the United States and Israel… [B]eginning in October passengers can buy a single ticket for connecting service between Ben Gurion Airport and 61 JetBlue flight destinations in North America from New York's JFK International Airport." — JTA

Dear JetBlue employees:

Welcome to the El Al family — or as we say in Hebrew, Bruchim haba'im! We're so excited about our new partnership. We here at Israel's national air carrier are eager to make this transition as smooth as possible and thought it would be helpful to sensitize you to some of the cultural differences you may encounter with your new customer base.

Wondering how you are going to decorate your sukkah*? Your worries are over! Here Mara Strom of Kosher on a Budget writes about Sukkah crafts.

I love Sukkot. Really, truly love it! I love watching my husband and sons build our sukkah, and hosting friends and family in our humble little home-away-from-home. But every year, the decorating of our sukkah stumps me.

I find it hard to get too excited about car insurance. After all, my main interaction with them in the past has been to either pay them money, or make a claim after which I have to - of course - pay them more money.

So I found the following practice in Israel to be quite refreshing to say the least. After all, where else does your car insurance have an automated phone system to call customers to wish them a happy birthday –

Israeli culture and attitudes are unique. People say and do exactly what they want. The honesty of action can be refreshing. Okay, well maybe not always... :-)

We went out to dinner with friends one night and decided to check out a new restaurant we hadn't been to.

“What’s the difference between the two seating sections?” our friend asked the Maitre D’.

By Daniel Gordis - It's been almost a year since St.-Sgt. Dvir Emanuelof became the first casualty of Operation Cast Lead, losing his life to Hamas mortar fire just as he entered Gaza early in the offensive. But sitting with his mother, Dalia, in her living room last week, I was struck not by loss, but by life. And not by grief, but by fervent belief. And by a more recent story about Dvir that simply needs to be told.

This past summer, Dalia and some friends planned to go to Hutzot Hayotzer, the artists' colony constructed each summer outside Jerusalem's Old City walls. But Dalia's young daughter objected; she wanted to go a week later, so she could hear Meir Banai in concert.

Netanyahu's speech at Jewish Federations of North America GA - September 2009

"My dear friends, leaders of the Jewish communities of North America, The history of the Jewish people has been marked by a paradox. We are at once both small and great. We are few in number but luminous in achievement. In the ancient world, the Jews were a small people on the foothills of Asia touching the Mediterranean. But in Alexandria some 2200 years ago, the Bible was translated into Greek, and the world has never been the same since.

A study commissioned by the organization Nefesh B'Nefesh shows that encouraging Aliyah from North America is not just Zionist - it's good economics. According to the study, released Monday by the organization and conducted by Deloitte Brightman Almagor Zohar, the Israeli branch of the Deloitte Touche network, American, Canadian and British olim who came with Nefesh B'Nefesh have represented a net economic gain of some NIS 1 billion between 2002 and 2008, when factoring in the combined value of tax revenues, education, tourism and personal assets.

When I was accepted to travel to the States as a Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah “ambassador,” I immediately called my best friend from my previous life in Boca Raton, Florida to tell her.  Upon telling her the good news, she burst into laughter.  I thought to myself, this is probably not the same reaction that the other “ambassadors” received when they told their family and friends about the program -- but I personally had anticipated this reaction.

As the world keeps it's sinister eyeball hovering closely to our little country, and the powers that be exercise their powerful hijack, regular life keeps on keeping on in Israel. No crappy dictator, no caravan of UN "peacekeepers", can keep Israel from being the best darn country in the world.

People are always telling "Only in Israel" stories. That is simply because these stories and anecdotes are exactly that! Here's one of ours:

My husband and I were in a cab in Jerusalem. Our cab driver was completely secular. On the radio in the cab there was the sad announcement that the haredi rabbi Rav Shach zt"l had passed away.

Let me count the whys - by Barbara Sofer

Here, in no particular order, is an updated list, with new additions and highlights of recent years:

1. Jerusalem is so quiet on Shabbat that you can hear birds singing even on the main streets.

2. We change our calendars on Rosh Hashana, not January 1, because that's the real New Year

by Benji Lovitt

1. I love that people I know from all over the world are always visiting this place, the center of the Jewish world.

2. I love the outdoor cafes/kiosks on Rothschild and that Israelis universally agree that Starbucks (the altar to which American consumers bow their heads and pray) stinks.

by Caroline Glick

I just published a collection of my essays in English. Each time I am asked if I am also releasing the volume in Hebrew I feel a pain deep inside me when I answer that no, right now, my publisher is only interested in an English edition. Indeed it is a shame because I wrote most of the essays in Hebrew as well.

Writing in Hebrew is a qualitatively different experience than writing in English. Hebrew is a more compact language than English. It has fewer words and the words it has are denser and more flexible than English words.

By Benji Lovitt

1. I love that even though I may not have spoken with someone since the Ben-Gurion Administration, he will call me to check that I have somewhere to go for Passover Seder.

2. I love how you can bring your dog into any café to walk around and no one bats an eyelash.

Summer weather here is remarkable for its consistency, a consistency that stands in stark contrast to the events that take place beneath the ever present sunshine.

A few weeks ago, I came out of our building in the morning to find one of our neighbors, an Oleh of two weeks, anxiously scanning the haze covered sky. "I hope it's not going to rain," he said, "the movers are supposed to be coming today with all our stuff."