July 9, 2009

Shalom,

Thanks to The Fellowship which sponsored their aliyah, and the Jewish Agency which coordinated the operation, 75 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel On Wings of Eagles this month. This was the first Ethiopian aliyah flight in quite some time. Families that had been separated for months, and even years, were finally reunited. Some had been left behind waiting in Gondar, Ethiopia, for the blessed day when they, too, could go up to the land of Israel. Last week, that day finally arrived for these immigrants and their families.

I was privileged to be there when the plane landed and welcome the new immigrants home. This is what I saw—mothers hugged their children for the first time in years, husbands and wives tearfully embraced, siblings held hands, and aunts, uncles, and grandparents gave thanks to God for fulfilling the dream of reuniting their families in the Promised Land. It was God’s prophecy being fulfilled before my eyes—and it truly felt like a dream, the dream referred to in the book of Psalms: "When God redeems Zion, it will be like a dream."

I spoke to a mother who saw her 14-year-old daughter, Saranda, for the first time in six years. Manta, the mother, said she will never forget the day when she boarded the flight to Israel without her child, who at the time had not received authorization from the Ethiopian government to leave: "It was the hardest decision of my life when I found out that I was able to board the plane to Israel yet my child was not," she recalls, her eyes wet with tears.

"At first," she explained, "I was going to pass up the opportunity to live in the Holy Land. But my family pushed me to go and promised that they would care for Saranda and reunite her with me as soon as they could. Each night, I would sit in bed praying for my daughter to come home to Israel and to me. I never doubted that God was listening. I am happy that He finally answered my cries. Now, I can raise my child in Israel. Thank you, friends of On Wings of Eagles, for being His messenger and for bringing our family together."

After their arrival, the immigrants went to the Old City of Jerusalem. They told me that, for generations in Ethiopia, they had read Biblical descriptions of Jerusalem—and now they were experiencing it firsthand. Women with babies on their back, teary-eyed men, and exuberant children all knelt down and kissed the earth, fully aware that they were walking on holy ground.

It was an electrifying moment. Here were people who had waited for years for the opportunity to move to Israel, who had watched their loved ones make aliyah without them. Now, they were standing together with their families in front of the Western Wall, giving thanks to the God of Abraham for reuniting them. Their traditional Ethiopian garb—hand-woven cotton dresses embroidered with vibrant colors—stood out among the crowd of veteran Israelis dressed in Western clothes. It was clear to everyone present that we were truly witnessing a miracle, the ingathering of the Jewish people from among the nations of the world, just as God had promised.

The welcome ceremony at the Western Wall began with the blowing of the shofar (ram’s horn), a piercing blast that resonated deep in everyone’s soul. The Bible teaches us that the shofar will also be blown when the Messiah arrives. At that moment, it became clear to me that his arrival is closer than ever.

Speakers took to the podium and addressed the crowd of immigrants, who were waving Israeli flags, in both Hebrew and Amharic (the Ethiopians’ language). They spoke of our most precious possessions: Our shared heritage, history, and Bible. They welcomed the Ethiopians home to Israel and explained how all Israelis were here to strengthen the land, people, and culture. The Ethiopians responded with smiles and hugs—one language that needs no translation!

Israel's Minister of Absorption, Sofa Landver, told everyone how happy she was that the immigrants will be living the dream of our forefathers here in the holy city of Jerusalem. An immigrant from the former Soviet Union herself, the minister recalled the hardships of learning Hebrew and finding work, but told the new immigrants that, because of programs set up by The Fellowship and the Jewish Agency, it is easier today than it has ever been for immigrants to succeed in Israel.

Celebrated Soviet dissident and author Natan Sharansky, now head of the Jewish Agency, also spoke about his immigrant experience and the obstacles he faced when he first came to Israel. But his, too, was a message of hope, welcome and encouragement for these people who had waited so long to come to their Biblical homeland.

The official ceremony closed with the singing of Israel’s national anthem, HaTikvah ("The Hope"). As the speakers departed the podium, the Ethiopian immigrants and their families broke out into song and dance. For nearly an hour, they celebrated next to the Western Wall with cheers, songs, and Israeli flags waving, calling out words of praise to God for the miracle that He performed by bringing them out of poverty, disease, and oppression in Ethiopia into the loving and welcoming arms of their people, Israel.

With blessings from Jerusalem,
Yael