|
January 9, 2009
NBN reconnects souls
Organization helps Jews to immigrate to Israel.
DEENA LEVENSTEIN
Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN) is a Jewish organization that assists people with all stages of the aliyah process. It helps those who are just beginning to consider the move to Israel and offers ongoing support once the oleh (immigrant) has settled there.
Nefesh B'Nefesh means "Soul by Soul" or "person by person." Since its founding in 2002, NBN has helped more than 18,000 people ease their way into Israel.
NBN employs around 70 people, all based in Jerusalem, aside from two employees who work out of a small office in New York. On average, NBN employees visit 60 communities in North America every year, usually more than once. The purpose of the trips is to give aliyah planning workshops and opportunities for people to meet one-on-one with aliyah experts.
Tzvi Richter, who visits around 15 communities per year, came to Vancouver last spring to run a workshop. His most recent trip, in early December, took him to six communities, one of which was again, Vancouver.
Richter and his wife made aliyah with the assistance of NBN in 2003. An environmental lawyer, he worked in that field for a couple of years before joining NBN. He is the director of the department of guidance and community resources. He manages 10 people, including social workers, community workers, educators and psychologists, who help olim with the transition to Israel. This includes, among other things, helping clients find the best communities and schools, based on the criteria of each individual.
Around 30 people attended the seminar in Vancouver on Dec. 9. The audience included a range of participants, from young students to senior citizens; people who plan to make aliyah in the next few months to those who have only just begun considering their options. The day after the seminar, people had the chance to sign up for private meetings with Richter in order to ask more personal questions pertaining to aliyah.
At the workshop, packets were handed out, an aliyah planner was given to those planning aliyah in the next few months and Richter went through a presentation that lasted almost two hours.
Richter said that when he and his wife were sitting in seminars of this kind in the United States at the time that they were considering aliyah, they often became overwhelmed by all the "red tape" through which they would have to get in order to fulfil this dream. But, he explained, they would periodically allow themselves the space to focus on the bigger picture of what their dream was and why they wanted to move to Israel. He recommended that the participants remember that although there are a lot of technicalities when planning aliyah, it is important to contemplate the issue on a more ideological level – to think about what part they want to play in history.
Most of Richter's talk was centred around the Nefesh B'Nefesh website, www.nbn.org.il. On the site is something called AliyaPedia. It includes plenty of information regarding financial, professional and social planning.
Social planning is split into a few categories on the site: school options (there is plenty of information about schools throughout the country), health care, studying Hebrew and choosing a community.
When learning about the different communities in Israel, one can search many cities, towns and other places in Israel on the website and learn an array of information regarding each one. For example, the data compiled covers religious life, percentage of English-speakers, the potential commute to workplaces and housing availability. Each community has a contact person with a phone number.
As part of helping people decide on a community in Israel, NBN and the Russell Berrie Foundation have launched a $10 million project called Go North (www.gonorth.org.il). This project will provide extra support to NBN olim who would like to settle in the northern part of Israel.
Throughout the workshop, Richter gave important tips. For example, when looking at communities, simultaneously search for schools. He said that it is pivotal to the success of one's aliyah that one works on their Hebrew-language skills even before the move. He also recommended that people take a planned out, personal pilot trip a few months before their aliyah date.
Richter finished by explaining that, once people make aliyah through NBN, there is continuing help from the organization, which includes a support system, employment counselling and many events throughout the year on topics such as taxes and having a baby in Israel. This support might be one of the reasons that 98 per cent of NBN olim stay in Israel. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, 70 per cent of North American olim didn't end up staying.
Deena Levenstein is a Vancouver freelance writer.
^TOP
|
