(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

As Yom HaAliyah (Aliyah Day) approaches this coming Friday, October 27, forty-nine North Americans immigrated to Israel on Tuesday morning 4 Cheshvan 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 come 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 sees 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.�

(YWN � Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo credit: Nefesh B’Nefesh)