Immigrants arriving in Israel with Nefesh B'Nefesh
Immigrants arriving in Israel with Nefesh B'NefeshShahar Azran

More than 36,000 people have immigrated to Israel through the Nefesh B'Nefesh organization over the past decade, NBN reported Tuesday.

Founded in 2002, Nefesh B’Nefesh in partnership with Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah & Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel and Jewish National Fund-USA, has assisted in easing the Aliyah process for over 60,000 Olim since its inception.

This includes the 36,196 Olim who have made Aliyah over the past decade and the 3,570 individuals who moved to the Jewish Homeland over the last year alone.* The ongoing support after Aliyah provided by the organization has ensured that 90% of its Olim have remained in Israel, leading to tens of thousands of thriving and successful Olim who go on to make significant contributions to Israeli society.

“Each individual Oleh represents an entire family, community and dynamic life experience which has been forever transformed through Aliyah and the fulfillment of centuries of yearning and dreaming for the return to the Jewish homeland,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B’Nefesh. “As we watch each Oleh grow and build their new lives in Israel, we are extremely proud of what we have accomplished together and look forward to affecting even more change in North American Aliyah in the decade to come.”

The top ten cities in Israel that Olim chose as their homes this past decade were Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beit Shemesh, Ra’anana, Haifa, Herzliya, Netanya, Givat Shmuel, Modiin, and Be’er Sheva. The decade’s Olim most commonly worked as educators, salespeople, lawyers, physicians, in marketing, academia, as business-owners, in non-profit and as social workers and nurses. The average age of an Oleh in the last ten years is 28, with the oldest Oleh being a 102-years-old and the youngest being only 12-days-old.

Since 2010, Nefesh B’Nefesh Olim have most often hailed from New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Montreal, Baltimore, Chicago, Teaneck, South Florida, Atlanta and Boston. Altogether in the past ten years, 10,982 families chose to move their lives to Israel, along with 14,225 singles and 5,517 retirees. There were 431 physicians and altogether 1,618 medical professionals who arrived in Israel in the last decade and 5,678 young men and women who stepped off the plane with the desire to serve their country as lone soldiers.