By SAM SOKOL, JPOST— Immigration to Israel increased by 2 percent in 2013, with over 16,000 olim arriving, the Central Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday. Of the 16,884 immigrants who arrived last year, 43% came from the former Soviet Union, primarily Russia and Ukraine, 17% came from France, 13% from the United States and…
Original art collage by Inna Rogatchi © 2013 The Rogatchi Foundation salutes to Evgeny Kissin, a new citizen of Israel. On Chanukah eve, very special news has become public: the outstanding musician of our time, maestro Evgeny Kissin, is going to receive Israeli citizenship on December 7th, two days before his charitable recital in Jerusalem.…
By TIMES OF ISRAEL— The Jewish Agency is preparing to end mass aliya from Ethiopia with two final flights consisting of 400 immigrants on August 28. The Jewish Agency emissary to Ethiopia, Asher Seyum, made the announcement in a brief letter, saying the Jewish Agency will hand over its aid compounds in the Ethiopian city…
“Early Zionist Settlement: First Aliyah” looks at the first wave of Zionist immigrants, who began arriving in 1882. The young idealists who made up this immigration, or aliyah, wanted to pave the way for a national rebirth. As Zeev Dubnow, a member of Bilu, the very first group of Zionist immigrants, wrote: “The ultimate aim…
By GAD LIOR, YNET— Israel’s population has crossed the eight million threshold over Passover, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Thursday. With six million Jews, Israel has become the world’s largest Jewish center. The remainder of the population is comprised of 1.6 million Arabs, 350,000 non-Arab Christians and others, mostly olim or relatives of olim from…
By MICHAEL FREUND, JPOST— Last week, the small and unassuming mikve (ritual bath) in Hod HaSharon witnessed the unfolding of a remarkable scene in the annals of Jewish history. One by one, six young Chinese men, all descendants of the Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, immersed themselves in the warm and purifying waters before a…
BY MICHAEL FREUND— This past Monday, as the Uzbekistan Airways flight began its descent to Tel Aviv, over 50 pairs of eyes looked out the plane’s windows, anxious to catch a glimpse of their new home. For more than 27 centuries, their ancestors had wandered in exile, clinging to the dream that one day, despite…
By MICHAEL FREUND, JPOST— Today marks the 25th anniversary of one of American Jewry’s finest moments. December 6, 1987, was a brisk, fairly cold Sunday in Washington, the kind of day best spent curled up on a couch watching an exciting afternoon of football. But instead of staying indoors, more than 250,000 American Jews from…
BY TALIA BLOCH, JTA— In 1995, Demetrio Valdez, his wife, Olive, and some of their neighbors in Conjehos County, Colo., started a kosher food co-op. “We wanted to harvest our own meat, but we couldn’t get a good price for it, so we decided to do it kosher to make more money,” said Valdez, 64,…
BY MICHAEL FREUND, JPOST— By all accounts, Israel continues to enjoy widespread support among a large portion of the American public. Despite the hostility shown toward the Jewish state by the current occupant of the White House, sizable majorities of Americans from across the political spectrum continue to value Israel as a reliable ally. And…