Close to 50 Peruvian Jews arrived in Israel yesterday and moved directly into their new homes in the Gush Etzion towns of Alon Shvut and Karmei Tzur. The new olim (immigrants), who had lived in a village near the capital city of Lima, converted to Judaism last December in a mass conversion ceremony under the auspices of Israel\'s Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau.
The aliyah was the culmination of a process that began when Rabbi Lau sent a delegation to Peru to investigate the matter of the group’s desire to convert. The delegation discovered that the community had been living a Jewish life for years, making their conversion a relatively simple affair. Members of the group told reporters today that they view their arrival in Israel, and specifically to Gush Etzion, as a religious duty, part of their conviction that all of the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. A second group of Peruvian Jews from the same village is scheduled to arrive in Israel next week.
The aliyah was the culmination of a process that began when Rabbi Lau sent a delegation to Peru to investigate the matter of the group’s desire to convert. The delegation discovered that the community had been living a Jewish life for years, making their conversion a relatively simple affair. Members of the group told reporters today that they view their arrival in Israel, and specifically to Gush Etzion, as a religious duty, part of their conviction that all of the Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. A second group of Peruvian Jews from the same village is scheduled to arrive in Israel next week.