The Fellowship made headlines with a Freedom Flight that arrived two weeks ago, on March 17, during the ongoing war with Iran. The flight brought more than 50 Jews making aliyah from France and Britain. What made this flight especially meaningful was that these families refused to let rockets and sirens deter them from celebrating Passover in their new home in the Holy Land. This was the case for Shlomo, his wife Miriam, and their three young children.
Shlomo grew up in a Jewish community in France and became more observant after meeting Miriam. After having children—the oldest just three years old—they began to envision making aliyah. Shlomo had always remembered the Jewish community in France fondly, including attending a multicultural public school. But everything changed after October 7. Anti-Semitism surged across Europe, with France experiencing the largest increase. Shlomo found there were neighborhoods he could no longer visit while wearing his kippah and tzitzit, and he was treated differently whenever he spoke Hebrew. But that wasn’t the only factor strengthening the family’s resolve to move to Israel.
“We had actually been in Israel during the 12-Day War with Iran, in June 2025,” said Shlomo, “That left a deep impression on us. That experience made the idea of being in Israel even more meaningful. During that war, despite all the sirens we heard every ten minutes – ‘Go to the shelter! Run! Don’t forget this!’ –and all the chaos, we still decided to make Israel our home.”
Shlomo got in contact with The Fellowship in September. Months of strong support paid off as he and his family arrived in Israel before Passover. Shlomo shared his hope that his children would grow up without fear of being targeted for being Jewish and instead feel proud of who they are.
“They asked if we wanted a flight after Passover, to wait for things to calm down. ‘No, just give me a flight now. I want a flight immediately.’ And thanks to The Fellowship, we are going to be on the flight tomorrow. Passover is important—we want to celebrate Passover in Israel. For us, it’s a sign in Judaism. The month of Nissan (the current 7th month in the Hebrew calendar; the month of Passover) is the month of redemption,” said Shlomo, “That’s why we are coming now, before Passover, to celebrate the holiday of freedom in our homeland for the first time as a family.”
