ICEJ sponsors Aliyah flights, seminars and medical rescues from the North
Published on: 28.4.2023

By: ICEJ Staff Writers
The astonishing influx of Jewish people making Aliyah to Israel is nearing levels last seen after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989. The majority of these new immigrants are Russian-speaking Jews from the former Soviet republics. Economic hardships and war-related issues have prompted thousands of Jewish families to plan their move to Israel. The ICEJ is supporting the Jewish Agency’s initiatives in those regions most affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In the first quarter of 2023, more than 16,000 Russian-speaking Jews from former Soviet lands made Aliyah, a similar rate to the more than 62,000 who came last year. This means over 250,000 Russian-speaking Jews have made Aliyah since the Ukraine conflict began in 2014, marking it as an historic Aliyah wave from the North. Here are ways the Christian Embassy has been helping with this mass Aliyah.

Aliyah Seminar in Lithuania
After the fall of the Soviet Union, many Russian-speaking Jews moved to the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia hoping to find peace, safety and economic opportunities for their children. These hopes began to fade when Russia invaded Ukraine last year and concerns grew about possible problems spreading to the Baltics. Lithuania also took in thousands of Ukrainian war refugees, and overall Aliyah has since more than tripled from the Baltic region.
In April, the ICEJ supported a weekend Aliyah seminar for young families in the Baltic states that was held in Vilnius, Lithuania – a former Soviet republic now part of the European Union which shares borders with Russia, Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
The Aliyah seminar drew 52 potential olim at a hotel where they enjoyed Shabbat together, good meals and the hotel’s amenities. Teachers from Israel spoke about Passover and Shavuot, as well as their new life in Israel – the main theme for the weekend.

Last year, the ICEJ helped with a Jewish Agency special summer camp in September and later a winter camp in December for Jewish children from both the Baltic states and Ukraine. Additionally, pre-Aliyah events were held during Hanukah and Purim. These special events were supervised by Ilze Saulite, our Latvian national director and our regional Aliyah coordinator who has been active in this work since the 1990s.

Aliyah from the Baltic states has surged since February 2022 when the war started, and the Jewish Agency has asked ICEJ to help with Aliyah flights and preparation expenses. The ICEJ has responded by sponsoring 200 Aliyah flights from the Baltic region. Adding in other former Soviet republics and Ethiopia, the Christian Embassy has already sponsored nearly 1,000 Aliyah flights so far this year.
Vilnius was once known as the ‘Jerusalem of the North’ – a name given by Napoleon on his way to Moscow in 1812. The region became a relatively safe haven for Ashkenazi Jews fleeing western Europe during times of severe persecution, such as from Germany in the First Crusade (1096–1099), and the Expulsions from England (1290), France (1306 and 1394), and Spain (1492).
Life was not completely without problems, as there were pogroms and restrictions following the order of Catherine the Great to establish the Pale of Settlement – a large Jewish ghetto stretching from today’s Ukraine into Poland and Lithuania. At the height of the Russian Empire, there were some 5 million Jews on Russian lands, including 3 million living in the Pale of Settlement as depicted in the movie “Fiddler on the Roof.”

During World War II, these Jews communities endured the worst persecution in their history at the hands of Nazi Germany, as the majority of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust were from this area. After the war, many Holocaust survivors fled to Israel. Now, many of the remaining Jews are preparing to finally follow them home to the Jewish state, and the Christian Embassy stands ready to help.

Medical rescue flight for Ukrainian Jewish family
During Passover in April, the ICEJ also assisted a family of five from eastern Ukraine to fly to Israel. The grandfather, Boris, is in his mid-60s and needs regular dialysis treatment, which required special help on his flight. The family had just traveled from their home in occupied eastern Ukraine through two former Soviet republics in a very difficult and harrowing journey which included border interrogations and cell phone checks. The ICEJ covered the flights for all five family members and the urgent medical care upon arrival. They landed in Israel during Passover, when the airport immigration desk is not usually staffed. So, the Jewish Agency took extra steps to ensure they were well received and taken to their housing and dialysis treatments throughout the Passover holidays, which the ICEJ also covered.

The family was so glad to be free after more than a year of life under occupation. This was truly a Passover story, which the ICEJ was very happy to be a part of.

“Finally, our dream came true,” said Boris after landing in Israel. “Thanks a lot to the Jewish Agency and also the ICEJ, who supported us and helped us regain our freedom!”

The history of the Jewish people is not just one of persecution and exile, but also resilience in the face of adversity. These Jewish newcomers from Ukraine, the Baltic states and other former Soviet republics will help build Israel and fulfill the destiny of the Jewish people.
Please help us with this massive wave of Aliyah now underway from the Land of the North. Send your best gift today to bring more Jews home from exile.
ICEJ 贊助來自北方的 Aliyah 航班、研討會和醫療救援

發表於：28.4.2023
作者：ICEJ 特約撰稿人
以 Aliyah 身份湧入以色列的猶太人數量驚人地接近 1989 年蘇聯解體後的水平。這些新移民中的大多數是來自前蘇聯加盟共和國的講俄語的猶太人。 經濟困難和與戰爭有關的問題促使成千上萬的猶太家庭計劃搬到以色列。ICEJ支持猶太機構在受烏克蘭持續戰爭影響最嚴重的地區開展的活動。
2023年第一季度，超過16,000名來自前蘇聯地區的說俄語的猶太人加入了Aliyah，與去年的 62,000 多人相似。這意味著自2014年烏克蘭衝突爆發以來，已有超過250,000名講俄語的猶太人進行了 Aliyah，標誌著來自北方的歷史性Aliyah浪潮。以下是耶路撒冷基督徒大使館一直在為這次彌撒提供幫助的方式。

立陶宛Aliyah研討會
蘇聯解體後，許多講俄語的猶太人移居拉脫維亞、立陶宛和愛沙尼亞等波羅的海國家，希望為他們的孩子找到和平、安全和經濟機會。當俄羅斯去年入侵烏克蘭時，這些希望開始消退，人們越來越擔心可能會蔓延到波羅的海地區的問題。立陶宛還接納了數以千計的烏克蘭戰爭難民，從那時起，來自波羅的海地區的Aliyah總數增加了兩倍多。

4月，ICEJ支持了在立陶宛維爾紐斯為波羅的海國家的年輕家庭舉辦的周末Aliyah研討會，維爾紐斯是前蘇聯共和國，現在是歐盟的一部分，與俄羅斯、白俄羅斯和俄羅斯飛地加里寧格勒接壤。

Aliyah研討會在一家酒店吸引了52名潛在的回歸以色列的新移居者(olim)，他們在那裡一起享受安息日、美食和酒店的便利設施。來自以色列的老師們談到了逾越節和五旬節，以及他們在以色列的新生活——週末的主題。
去年，ICEJ 幫助猶太機構在9月舉辦了一個特別夏令營，隨後在12月為來自波羅的海國家和烏克蘭的猶太兒童舉辦了一個冬令營。此外，在光明節和普珥節期間舉行了回歸以色列地前活動。這些特別活動由我們的拉脫維亞國家主任兼我們的地區Aliyah協調員Ilze Saulite監督，他自1990年代以來一直活躍於這項工作。

自2022年2 戰爭開始以來，來自波羅的海國家的Aliyah人數激增，猶太機構已要求ICEJ幫助 Aliyah的航班和準備費用。作為回應，ICEJ贊助了200架來自波羅的海地區的Aliyah航班。加上其他前蘇聯加盟共和國和埃塞俄比亞，耶路撒冷基督徒大使館今年迄今已經贊助了近1000次阿利亞航班。

維爾紐斯曾被稱為「北方的耶路撒冷」——拿破崙在 1812 年前往莫斯科途中取的這個名字。該地區成為德系猶太人在遭受嚴重迫害期間逃離西歐的相對安全的避風港，例如從德國逃離第一次十字軍東征（1096-1099 年），以及從英格蘭（1290 年）、法國（1306 年和 1394 年）和西班牙（1492 年）驅逐出境。

生活並非完全沒有問題，因為在凱瑟琳大帝(Catherine the Great)下令建立 Pale of Settlement 之後發生了大屠殺和限制 - 一個從今天的烏克蘭延伸到波蘭和立陶宛的大型猶太人聚居區。 在俄羅斯帝國鼎盛時期，俄羅斯土地上大約有 500 萬猶太人，其中300萬猶太人生活在電影>中描繪的 Pale of Settlement 中。
在第二次世界大戰期間，這些猶太人社區在納粹德國手中遭受了他們歷史上最嚴重的迫害，因為在大屠殺中喪生的 600 萬猶太人中的大多數來自該地區 戰後，許多大屠殺倖存者逃往以色列。現在，許多剩下的猶太人正準備最終跟隨他們回到猶太國家，基督教大使館隨時準備提供幫助。

烏克蘭猶太家庭的醫療救援飛行

在 4 月的逾越節期間，ICEJ 還協助烏克蘭東部的一個五口之家飛往以色列。祖父鮑里斯60多歲，需要定期進行透析治療，這需要他在飛行途中得到特別幫助。這家人剛剛從被佔領的烏克蘭東部的家出發，途經兩個前蘇聯共和國，經歷了一段非常艱難和痛苦的旅程，其中包括邊境與手機檢查。ICEJ支付了所有五名家庭成員的航班費用和抵達後的緊急醫療費用。他們在逾越節期間降落在以色列，當時機場移民櫃檯通常沒有工作人員。因此，猶太機構採取了額外的措施，以確保他們在整個逾越節假期期間受到良好的接待並接受他們的住房和透析治療，ICEJ 也涵蓋了這些。
經過一年多的佔領生活後，一家人很高興獲得自由。 這是真的這是一個逾越節的故事，ICEJ很高興參與其中。
「終於，我們的夢想成真了，」鮑里斯在抵達以色列後說道。「非常感謝猶太機構和ICEJ，他們支持我們並幫助我們重獲自由！」

猶太人民的歷史不僅是一段受迫害和流放的歷史，也是一段面對逆境的堅韌不拔的歷史。這些來自烏克蘭、波羅的海國家和其他前蘇聯共和國的猶太新移民將幫助建設以色列，實現猶太人的命定。
請幫助我們應對現在從北方之地發起的大規模 Aliyah 浪潮。今天送出您最好的禮物，讓更多的猶太人從流放地回歸以色列地。