Aliyah village offers Ethiopian immigrants soft landing in Israel
Published on: 30.5.2023
By: Annaliese Johnson

Earlier this month, an ICEJ team visited the Beit Alfa immigrant village in northern Israel to meet one of the Jewish families we recently sponsored on an Aliyah flight and hear from them how they were settling into their new home.

Opened in 2007, Beit Alfa offers the first homes in Israel for many new immigrants (olim) from the Ethiopian Jewish community. The absorption center features 141 ground-level homes, animals grazing, surrounding agricultural fields, and smiling children racing around and playing soccer, all under the shadow of the Gilboa mountain range. This rural setting, so reminiscent of the place they recently left behind, is certainly a ‘soft-landing’ for these families.
Elderly Ethiopian man harvesting spice in Beit Alfa

Warmly welcomed upon arrival by the director, Moran, our Embassy staff also felt the stresses of city-life fade into the background over a cup of traditional Ethiopian coffee and Dabo, a delicious Ethiopian bread. Moran explained that the selection of this particular site was intentional. In order to make the new arrivals feel as comfortable as possible after the long-awaited journey back to the land of their ancestors, they chose to welcome them in an environment with a similar feel to rural life in Ethiopia, instead of the bustling urban life of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. We saw firsthand how natural the setting was for them as we watched elderly Ethiopian men busily harvesting spices from the community garden in their traditional manner.

As there are many points of potential setback in the Aliyah process, having a taste and feel of home lessens the shock of landing in a new land with a completely different language and culture. While the flight from Ethiopia takes less than four hours, the gap from rural Ethiopia to a modern Western nation like Israel is like stepping forward in time hundreds of years.

Upon arrival, Ethiopian olim receive housing and assistance in many areas of their lives.

“We welcome the olim, help them integrate and connect them to Israeli society, so that they can realize their dreams and begin a new future”, explained Moran. “These families came with little beyond a few personal items and their children in tow. Here, they receive love, care, and assistance with finances, educational opportunities, and job training.”

Most immigrants live for three years at the Aliyah center, with the first year dedicated to learning Hebrew and Judaism, and the remaining time devoted to working and saving money towards a home of their own. Initially, immigrants find work in factories, stocking shelves in stores, cleaning, and agriculture. In a remarkable display of solidarity and community, older immigrants help the newer ones. And besides saving money for a home, all send money back to family members still waiting back in Ethiopia for their turn to reach Israel. Without this assistance, it was noted, they may not have food to eat.
Kaleb and Abira, two new Ethiopian immigrants welcome ICEJ

The most memorable part of the visit was being welcomed into the humble home of Kaleb* and Abira,* two Ethiopian newcomers who arrived on the ICEJ-sponsored flight just before Passover in April. Perched on beds and plastic chairs pulled into a circle, Kaleb and Abira shared their story with us through a translator. We were curious to know how long they waited to come and what it felt like when they got the news of their flight.

“I felt that I was born anew when I heard that I had been approved to make aliyah. We were very happy”, exclaimed Kaleb, who yearned for 25 years to step foot on the Land of Israel.

The flight enabled the family to reunite with Kaleb’s three brothers and Abira’s brother and sister, who had arrived a few years ago. Kaleb shared how emotional that meeting was for them and how he wanted to urge other families to not give up or lose hope. Unfortunately, the joy of seeing family here also meant the grief of saying goodbye to parents and other family members left behind who were not yet approved to come. No one knows when or if they might arrive.

In phase two of ‘Operation Rock of Israel’, the Israeli government decided to bring another 3,000 Ethiopian Jews home to Israel, with 2,000 already landed and the remaining 1,000 hopefully set to arrive by late June. Of those arriving now, only 10 percent over age 35 have at least an elementary education. This is consistent with Kaleb’s lack of a formal education and Abira’s eight years of education. When asked about their dreams for the future, Abira expressed her desire to give their two elementary-age children as bright a future as possible. She dreams that both of her children, Amara* (11) and Yonas* (4), will study and learn to a high level. Kaleb and Abira began their own intensive Hebrew studies (ulpan) just a few days after we met them.

When asked what gave them strength as they waited for 25 long years, the couple exclaimed with wide smiles: “We never stopped believing. Dreams do come true. Though, if God hadn’t helped, it would never have happened… It happened in God’s timing.”
A wave goodbye and thank you from Kaleb and Abira

As we parted, the couple thanked the Christian Embassy for the help they received from us and encouraged us to continue helping other Ethiopian families so that they, too, may soon be reunited with families in the land they have been dreaming of their entire lives.

Thank you to all our friends and supporters around the world whose generosity made it possible for Kaleb and Abira, and many others, to come home to Israel. We invite you to partner with us in assisting more Jewish immigrants reach the Promised Land as well.

Aliyah村為埃塞俄比亞移民提供在以色列的軟著陸
發表於：2023年5月30日
作者：安娜莉絲·約翰遜

本月早些時候，ICEJ 團隊訪問了以色列北部的拜特阿爾法移民村，會見了我們最近在 Aliyah 航班上贊助的一個猶太家庭，並聽取了他們如何在新家安頓下來的情況。

Beit Alfa於2007年開業，為來自埃塞俄比亞猶太社區的許多新移民 (olim) 在以色列提供了第一批住房。融合中心擁有141座地面房屋、放牧的動物、周圍的農田，以及微笑的孩子們四處奔跑和踢足球，所有這些都在 Gilboa 山脈的陰影下。 這種鄉村環境讓人想起他們最近離開的地方，對這些家庭來說無疑是一次「軟著陸」。

埃塞俄比亞老人在貝特阿爾法收穫香料

負責人莫蘭 (Moran) 到來熱烈歡迎我們ICEJ的工作人員，他們在一杯傳統的埃塞俄比亞咖啡和美味的埃塞俄比亞麵包 Dabo 中感受到了城市生活的壓力。莫蘭解釋說，選擇這個特定地點是有原因的。為了讓新來者在期待已久的返回祖先土地的旅程後儘可能地感到舒適，他們選擇在一個類似埃塞俄比亞鄉村生活的環境中迎接他們，而不是繁華的城市生活耶路撒冷或特拉維夫。 當我們看到年長的埃塞俄比亞男子以他們傳統的方式忙於從社區花園採摘香料時，我們親眼目睹了環境對他們來說是多麼自然。

由於在 Aliyah 過程中有許多潛在的挫折點，擁有家的味道和感覺可以減輕登陸具有完全不同的語言和文化的新土地的衝擊。 雖然從埃塞俄比亞出發的飛行時間不到四個小時，但從埃塞俄比亞農村到像以色列這樣的現代西方國家的差距就像時間向前邁進了數百年。

抵達後，埃塞俄比亞猶太新移民在他們生活的許多方面獲得住房和援助。

「我們歡迎猶太新移民，幫助他們融入以色列社會並與之建立聯繫，以便他們能夠實現自己的夢想並開始新的未來」，莫蘭解釋說。「這些家庭除了一些個人物品和他們的孩子外幾乎沒有其他東西。 在這裡，他們得到愛、關懷和財務、教育機會和工作培訓方面的幫助。」

大多數移民在Aliyah中心住了三年，第一年專門學習希伯來語和猶太教，剩下的時間用來工作和攢錢買自己的房子。最初，移民在工廠、商店貨架、清潔和農業中找到工作。在團結和社區的非凡表現中，年長的移民幫助新移民。除了為買房存錢外，所有人都會寄錢給仍在埃塞俄比亞等待返回以色列的家人。 有人指出，如果沒有這種援助，他們可能沒有食物可吃。

Kaleb 和 Abira，兩名埃塞俄比亞新移民歡迎 ICEJ
這次訪問中最令人難忘的部分是在 Kaleb* 和 Abira* 簡陋的家中受到歡迎，這兩位埃塞俄比亞新移民在 4 月逾越節前乘坐 ICEJ 贊助的航班抵達。 Kaleb 和 Abira 坐在床上和圍成一圈的塑料椅子上，透過翻譯與我們分享了他們的故事。 我們很想知道他們等了多久，以及當他們收到航班消息時的感受。

「當我聽說我被批准製作Aliyah時，我覺得我重生了。我們非常高興」，Kaleb 感嘆道，他 25 年來一直渴望踏上以色列的土地。

這次飛行使全家人得以與卡萊布的三個兄弟和幾年前抵達的阿比拉的兄妹團聚。 卡萊布分享了那次會議對他們來說是多麼的激動，以及他如何敦促其他家庭不要放棄或失去希望。 不幸的是，在這裡見到家人的喜悅也意味著與父母和其他尚未獲准前來的留守家庭成員告別的悲傷。 沒有人知道他們何時或是否會到達。

在「以色列磐石行動」的第二階段，以色列政府決定將另外 3,000 名埃塞俄比亞猶太人帶回以色列，其中 2,000 人已經登陸，其餘 1,000 人有望在 6 月下旬抵達。 在現在抵達的人中，只有 10% 的 35 歲以上的人至少接受過初等教育。 這與 Kaleb 沒有接受過正規教育以及 Abira 受過八年的教育是一致的。 當被問及他們對未來的夢想時，阿比拉表示希望給兩個上小學的孩子一個盡可能光明的未來。 她夢想她的兩個孩子，Amara*（11 歲）和 Yonas*（4 歲），都能學習到高水平。 在我們見到 Kaleb 和 Abira 幾天後，他們就開始了他們自己的希伯來語強化學習 (ulpan)。

當被問到是什麼給了他們力量，因為他們等待了 25 分鐘多年來，這對夫婦笑著說：「我們從未停止相信。 夢想成真。 不過，如果沒有上帝的幫助，它永遠不會發生……它發生在上帝的時間裡。」
Kaleb 和 Abira 的揮手告別和感謝

臨別時，這對夫婦感謝耶路撒冷國際基督徒大使館為他們提供的幫助，並鼓勵我們繼續幫助其他埃塞俄比亞家庭，以便他們也能很快在這片他們一生夢寐以求的土地上與家人團聚。

感謝我們在世界各地的所有朋友和支持者，是他們的慷慨幫助 Kaleb 和 Abira 以及其他許多人得以回到以色列。 我們邀請您與我們合作，幫助更多的猶太移民也到達應許之地。