Nefesh B'Nefesh Aliyah Flight Arrival Ceremony

About two weeks ago I woke up at 5am, jumped out of bed, and ran to the Ramla Central Bus Station to catch the 5:30am bus to the Ben-Gurion Airport. I was the first one at the bus station, and once I got on the bus, I realized that I could have walked about half as much and just caught the bus on Herzl Ave. But that didn't really matter to me, because I was so excited! I was going to greet new olim (immigrants) who were making aliyah on the last Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN) charter flight of the year! I didn't really know what to expect, except that I had been told that there was lots of singing, dancing, and joyous tears. I also couldn't find anyone who wanted to wake up that early, so I went by myself. The bus dropped me off right in front of the terminal, and there were NBN signs pointing me in the right direction. I entered the terminal, and was greeted by a NBN staffperson who I had met the previous week at a presentation about student aliyah. She got me signed in, and then I proceeded through security.

NBN had taken over the terminal. There were hundreds of chairs set up facing a stage with a podium and huge projector screen, and there were hundreds of people milling around, helping themselves to the free pastries and coffee and chatting about why they were there. There were people of every age, people who had made aliyah before NBN was founded, people who hadn't made aliyah, yeshiva boys and seminary girls, kibbutzniks, Orthodox families- every part of Israeli society was represented (there were people with dreadlocks next to people with peyos.) There were also a bunch of people from the press interviewing different people. There was also a small minyan davening Shacharit in the back of the terminal, although it was men-only. I've gotten used to people praying in seemingly random places, but I don't think I'm even going to get used to non-egalitarian davening. I got some food, and then just sat around for 30 minutes. We were told to get to the airport before 6:30am, but the flight didn't land until 7am, and the first olim weren't off the place until around 7:20am. Around 7am, all 500+ of us were herded toward the area where people normally go through customs. Israeli flags were passed out (although many people brought their own) and anticipation reached a climax. There were about 30 soldiers already out on the tarmac ready to start greeting the new olim, and we started to climb on the banisters for better views.

And then people catapulted themselves over the barrier and starting running for the tarmac; shouting, singing, waving flags, crying, and greeting the first busload of olim off the plane. There were people holding signs saying "Welcome Home!", "Bruchim Habaim!", and my personal favorite "Welcome Home Saba and Savta!" ("Welcome Home Grandma and Grandpa!") which was held up by some adorable young children. The first batch of olim off the bus looked stunned. Some immediately joined in the dancing, and some just looked like all they wanted was to do was find the nearest bed. There was a three person band playing Shalom Alcheim, and on of the security guards even joined the band. Occasionally they switched to another patriotic song such as Am Yisrael Chai, although they never played the Moshiach song or the Nachman song, which I appreciated. And we just kept dancing, and dancing, and dancing. Whenever a guest spotted an oleh they knew, there was frantic shouting and then hugging. Bus after bus of olim from the airplane kept arriving, and we kept celebrating. Someone pulled out a shofar and started blowing it. I sat on top of a police barricade and took picture after picture.

At one point a special El Al vehicle pulled up, flashing lights and beeping. We all became quiet, and an El Al staffperson stepped out, pulling a woman in a wheelchair with a man following them. When they were lowered to the ground, the woman turned around, and started waving. She was the oldest olah on the flight, at 86 years old. At 86 years old, she was giving up everything she knew to move to Israel with her husband. I was amazed. (The youngest oleh was 2 months old.)

More olim arrived, and NBN staff helped families with children carry bags and strollers and make sure that none of the kids got separated from their parents. NBN charter flights are only for olim, and so they are specifically tailored to the needs of olim. Paperwork for Israeli identity cards and olim identity cards are processed in the air, olim can bring pets on the plane, there are bigger baggage allowances, and NBN staff are on board to answer questions and make sure everything runs smoothly. 210 new olim arrived on the flight, which included 40 children, 81 singles, and 13 IDF soldiers.

After what seemed like hours of celebration, but was in actuality less than an hour, all of the olim had arrived, and we all moved inside the terminal to listen to some speakers. The founder of NBN spoke, the Minister of Development in the Galilee and the Negev spoke, the Minister of Immigration Absorption spoke, and so did some other people who I don't remember. They mentioned that Israel has a very high proportion of citizens who weren't born in Israel, that NBN and the new olim were helping Israel expand in the North, and that Israel was very glad to welcome home the 210 olim on the flight. One of the Ministers was born in Tunisia, and is an oleh himself (I think he was the Deputy Prime Minister.) He mentioned that only in Israel do heads of government wake up at 5am to welcome new immigrants at the airport. There was a ceremony where a couple of the olim were handed their new Israeli identity cards, and the soldiers stood up and looked patriotic. Then there were announcements about how guests were not allowed to accept bags from the new olim before they went through customs, and where olim should go after customs so NBN staff could arrange their free taxi ride to any location in Israel, courtesy of the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption.

Then we all stood up and sang Hatikva. It was one of the most resounding and heartwarming versions that I have ever heard.