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| Aliyah 1948-2000: by numbers and by source. |
'Aliyah' (
Hebrew: עלייה, "ascent" or "going up") is
Jewish
immigration to the
Land of Israel (and since its establishment in 1948, the
State of Israel). The opposite action,
Jewish emigration away from
Israel, is called ''
Yerida'' ("descent").
Term
''Aliyah'' is widely regarded as an important Jewish cultural concept and a fundamental concept of
Zionism that is enshrined in Israel's
Law of Return, which permits any
Jew the
legal right to assisted immigration and settlement in Israel, as well as automatic Israeli citizenship. A Jew who makes ''aliyah'' is called an ''oleh'' (m. singular) or ''olah'' (f. singular), the plural for both is ''olim''. Many Jews espouse ''aliyah'' as a return to the
Promised land, and regard it as the fulfillment of
God's
biblical promise to the descendants of the Hebrew patriarchs
Abraham,
Isaac, and
Jacob. Aliyah is included as a commandment by some opinions on the enumeration of the
613 commandments.
In
Zionist discourse, the term ''aliyah'' (plural ''aliyot'') includes both voluntary immigration for ideological, emotional, or practical reasons and, on the other hand, mass flight of persecuted populations of Jews. The vast majority of Israeli Jews today trace their family's recent roots to outside of the country. While many have actively chosen to settle in Israel rather than some other country, many had little or no choice about leaving their previous home countries. While Israel is commonly recognized as "a country of
immigrants", it is also, in large measure, a country of
refugees.
According to the most common traditional Jewish ordering of books of the
Bible, the very last word of the Bible (i.e. the last word in the original Hebrew of verse 2 Chronicles 36:23) is ''veya`al'', a "jussive" verb form derived from the same
root as aliyah, meaning "let him go up" (to Israel).
Historical background
It should be noted that although mass return to the Land of Israel was a recurring theme among generations of
diaspora Jews, particularly in
Passover and
Yom Kippur prayers which traditionally concluded with, "Next year in Jerusalem", and in the thrice-daily
Amidah (Standing prayer),
[1] this return was specifically conceived in terms associated with the coming of the
Jewish Messiah. Jews prayed for their Messiah to come, who was to redeem the Land of Israel from gentile rule and return world Jewry to the land under a
Halachic theocracy.
Pre-Zionist aliyah (1200-1882)
The number of Jews returning to the Land of Israel from the Jewish diaspora rose significantly between the
13th and
19th centuries, mainly due to a general decline in the status of Jews across Europe and an increase in
religious persecution. The
expulsion of Jews from England (1290), France (1391),
Austria (1421) and
Spain (the
Alhambra decree of 1492) were seen by many as a sign of approaching redemption and contributed greatly to the messianic spirit of the time.
Aliyah was also spurred during this period by the resurgence of messianic fervor among the Jews of
France,
Italy, the
Germanic states,
Russia and
North Africa. The belief in the imminent coming of the
Jewish Messiah, the ingathering of the exiles and the re-establishment of the
kingdom of Israel encouraged many who had few other options to make the perilous journey to
Eretz.
Pre-Zionist resettlement in Palestine met with various degrees of success. For example, little is known of the fate of the 1210 "aliyah of the three hundred rabbis" and their descendants. It is thought that few survived the bloody upheavals caused by the
Crusader invasion in 1229 and their subsequent expulsion by the Muslims in 1291. After the fall of the
Byzantine Empire in 1453 and the expulsion of Jews from Spain (1492) and Portugal (1498), many Jews made their way to the Holy Land. Then the immigration in the
18th and early 19th centuries of thousands of followers of various
Kabbalist and Hassidic rabbis, as well as the disciples of the
Vilna Gaon (see
Perushim) and the disciples of the
Chasam Sofer, added considerably to the Jewish populations in
Jerusalem,
Tiberias,
Hebron, and
Safed.
There were also those who like the British mystic
Laurence Oliphant tried to lease Northern Palestine to settle the Jews there (1879), hastening the
end of the world.
Zionist Aliyah (From 1882)
In Zionist history, the different waves of ''aliyah'', beginning with the arrival of the ''
Biluim'' from
Russia in 1882, are often categorized by date and the country of origin of the immigrants.
First Aliyah (1882-1903)
Main articles: First Aliyah
Between 1882 and 1903, approximately 35,000 Jews immigrated to Palestine, then a province of the
Ottoman Empire. The majority, belonging to the
Hibbat Zion and
Bilu movements, came from the
Russian Empire with a smaller number arriving from
Yemen. Many established agricultural communities. Among the towns that these individuals established are
Petah Tikva (already in 1878),
Rishon LeZion,
Rosh Pina, and
Zikhron Ya'aqov. In 1882, the
Yemenite Jews established a new suburb of
Jerusalem called the Yemenite Village in
Silwan located south-east of the walls of the Old City on the slopes of the
Mount of Olives.
Second Aliyah (1904-1914)
Main articles: Second Aliyah
Between 1904 and 1914, 40,000 Jews immigrated mainly from
Russia to Palestine following
pogroms and outbreaks of
anti-semitism in that country. This group, many of whom were infused with
socialist ideals, established the first
kibbutz,
Degania, in 1909 and formed self defense organizations, such as
Hashomer, to counter increasing
Arab hostility and to help Jews to protect their communities from Arab bandits. The suburb of
Jaffa, Ahuzat Bayit, established at this time, grew into the city of
Tel Aviv. During this period, some of the underpinnings of an independent nation-state arose: The national language
Hebrew was revived; newspapers and literature written in Hebrew published; political parties and workers organizations were established. The
First World War effectively ended the period of the Second Aliyah.
Third Aliyah (1919-1923)
Main articles: Third Aliyah
Between
1919 and
1923, 40,000 Jews, mainly from the
Russian Empire arrived in the wake of
World War I, the
British conquest of Palestine; the establishment of the
Mandate, and the
Balfour Declaration. Many of these were pioneers, known as ''
halutzim'', trained in agriculture and capable of establishing self sustaining economies. In spite of immigration quotas established by the British administration, the population of Jews reached 90,000 by the end of this period. The
Jezreel Valley and the Hefer Plain marshes were drained and converted to agricultural use. Additional national institutions arose: The
Histadrut (General Labor Federation); an elected assembly; national council; and the
Haganah. Few of these individuals left the country.
Fourth Aliyah (1924-1929)
Main articles: Fourth Aliyah
Between 1924 and 1929, 82,000 Jews arrived, many as a result of anti-semitism in
Poland and
Hungary. The
immigration quotas of the
United States kept Jews out. This group contained many middle class families that moved to the growing towns, establishing small businesses and light industry.
Of these approximately 23,000 left the country.
Fifth Aliyah (1929-1939)
Main articles: Fifth Aliyah
Between 1929 and 1939, with the rise of
Nazism in
Germany, a new wave of 250,000 immigrants arrived, the majority of these, 174,000, arrived between 1933-1936, after which increasing restrictions on immigration by the British made immigration clandestine and illegal, called ''Aliyah Bet''. The Fifth Aliyah was again driven mostly from Eastern Europe as well as professionals, doctors, lawyers and professors, from Germany. Refugee artists introduced
Bauhaus (Tel Aviv has the highest concentration of Bauhaus architecture in the world) and founded the Palestine Philharmonic Orchestra.
With the completion of the port at
Haifa and its
oil refineries, significant industry was added to the predominantly agricultural economy. The Jewish population reached 450,000 by 1940.
At the same time, tensions between Arabs and Jews grew during this period, leading to a series of
Arab riots against the Jews in 1929 that left many dead and resulted in the depopulation of the Jewish community in
Hebron. This was followed by more violence during the "
Great Uprising" of 1936-1939. In response to Arab pressure, the British issued the
White Paper of 1939, which severely restricted Jewish immigration to 75,000 people for five years, just as the
Second World War was about to begin.
Shortly after their rise to power, the Nazis negotiated
The Transfer Agreement with Zionists under which 50,000 Jews and $100 million of their assets would be moved to Palestine.
[1]
Aliyah Bet: Illegal immigration (1933-1948)
July 15, 1945.
Buchenwald survivors arrive in
Haifa to be arrested by the British
The British government limited Jewish immigration to Palestine with quotas, and following the rise of
Nazism to power in
Germany, illegal immigration to Palestine commenced. The illegal immigration was known as ''Aliyah Bet'' ("secondary immigration"), or ''Ha'apalah'', and was organized by the
Mossad Le'aliyah Bet, as well as by the
Irgun. Immigration was done mainly by sea, and to a lesser extent overland through
Iraq and
Syria. Beginning in 1939 Jewish immigration was further restricted, limiting it to 75,000 individuals for a period of five years after which immigration was to end completely, as a result many Jews perished in Europe. The British made it illegal to sell land to Jews in 95% of the Mandate. During
World War II and the years that followed until independence, ''Aliyah Bet'' became the main form of Jewish immigration to Palestine.
Following the war,
Berihah ("flight"), an organization of former
partisans and
ghetto fighters was primarily responsible for smuggling Jews from Poland and Eastern Europe to the Italian ports from which they traveled to Palestine.
Despite British efforts to curb the illegal immigration, during the 14 years of its operation, 110,000 Jews immigrated to Palestine.
In 1945 reports of the
Holocaust with its 6 million Jewish dead caused many Jews in Palestine to turn openly against the British Mandate, and illegal immigration escalated rapidly as many Holocaust survivors joined the Aliyah.
Immigration from 1948-1950
After Aliyah Bet, the process of numbering or naming individual aliyot ceased, but immigration did not. A major wave of immigration of over half a million Jews went to Israel between 1948 and 1950, many fleeing renewed persecution in Eastern Europe, and increasingly hostile Arab countries.
This period of immigration is often termed ''kibbutz galuyot'' (literally, ingathering of diaporas), due to the large number of Jewish
diaspora communities that made aliyah. However, ''kibbutz galuyot'' can also refer to aliyah in general.
Middle Eastern Jews
Main articles: Jewish exodus from Arab lands
.jpg)
Yemenite Jews on their way to Israel
In the course of
Operation Magic Carpet (1949-1950), the entire community of
Yemenite Jews (about 49,000) emigrated to Israel. Most of them had never seen an airplane before, but they believed in the Biblical prophecy that according to the
Book of Isaiah (40:31),
God promised to return the
children of Israel to
Zion on "wings".
1952.
Ma'abarah, a tent city for Jewish refugees in Israel
In three and a half years, the Jewish population of Israel had doubled, inflated by nearly 700,000 immigrants, which was one of the causes of the
austerity. Huge numbers of Jewish refugees were temporarily settled in "cities of tents" called ''
Ma'abarot''. Their population was gradually absorbed into Israeli society. The ''Ma'abarot'' existed until 1958.
Many Israeli immigrants were
Sephardi and
Mizrahi Jews who left Arab countries to move to Israel. In many of these cases they had been persecuted and sometimes forced to leave their homes. 114,000 Jews came from
Iraq in 1951 in
Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.
Over 30,000
Iranian Jews immigrated to Israel following the
Islamic Revolution. Most Iranian Jews, however, settled in the United States (especially in
Los Angeles).
Ethiopian Aliyah
Main articles: The Aliyah of the Jewish Ethiopians
The massive airlift known as
Operation Moses began to bring
Ethiopian Jews to Israel on
November 18 1985 and ended on
January 5. During those six weeks, some 6,500-8,000 Ethiopian Jews were flown from
Sudan to Israel. An estimated 2,000-4,000 Jews died en route to Sudan or in Sudanese refugee camps.
In 1991,
Operation Solomon was launched to rescue the
Beta Israel Jews of
Ethiopia. In one day,
May 24, 34 aircraft landed at
Addis Ababa and brought 14,325 Jews from
Ethiopia to
Israel.
Since that time, Ethiopian Jews have continued to immigrate to Israel bringing the number of Ethiopian-Israelis today to over 100,000.
Aliyah from the Soviet Union and post-Soviet states
Main articles: Aliyah from the Soviet Union in the 1970s,
Aliyah from the Soviet Union in the 1990s
| Year | Exit visas
to Israel | Olim from
the USSR[2] |
|---|
| 1968 | 231 | 231 |
| 1969 | 3,033 | 3,033 |
| 1970 | 999 | 999 |
| 1971 | 12,897 | 12,893 |
| 1972 | 31,903 | 31,652 |
| 1973 | 34,733 | 33,277 |
| 1974 | 20,767 | 16,888 |
| 1975 | 13,363 | 8,435 |
| 1976 | 14,254 | 7,250 |
| 1977 | 16,833 | 8,350 |
| 1978 | 28,956 | 12,090 |
| 1979 | 51,331 | 17,278 |
| 1980 | 21,648 | 7,570 |
| 1981 | 9,448 | 1,762 |
| 1982 | 2,692 | 731 |
| 1983 | 1,314 | 861 |
| 1984 | 896 | 340 |
| 1985 | 1,140 | 348 |
| 1986 | 904 | 201 |
A mass emigration was politically undesirable for the Soviet regime. The only acceptable ground was family reunification, and a formal petition ("вызов", ''vyzov'') from a relative from abroad was required for the processing to begin. Often, the result was a
formal refusal. The risks to apply for an exit visa compounded because the entire family had to quit their jobs, which in turn would make them vulnerable to charges of
social parasitism, a criminal offense. Because of these hardships, Israel set up the group
Lishkat Hakesher in the early 1950s to maintain contact and promote aliyah with Jews behind the
Iron Curtain.
In the wake of
Israel's victory in the
Six-Day War in 1967, the USSR broke off the diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
Anti-Zionist propaganda campaign in the state-controlled
mass media and the rise of
Zionology were accompanied by harsher discrimination of the Soviet Jews.
By the end of 1960s, Jewish cultural and religious life in the Soviet Union had become practically impossible, and the majority of Soviet Jews were
assimilated and
non-religious, but this new wave of state-sponsored
anti-Semitism on one hand, and the sense of pride for victorious Jewish nation over Soviet-armed Arab armies on the other, stirred up
Zionist feelings.
After the
Dymshits-Kuznetsov hijacking affair and the crackdown that followed, strong international condemnations caused the Soviet authorities to increase the emigration
quota. In the years 1960-1970, the USSR let only 4,000 people leave; in the following decade, the number rose to 250,000
[3]. Many of those allowed to leave to Israel chose other destinations, most notably the United States. In 1989 a record 71,000 Soviet Jews were granted exodus from the USSR, of whom only 12,117 emigrated to Israel. Since the
dissolution of the USSR, over one million Soviet Jews have emigrated to Israel.
''See
The collapse of the Soviet Union and Jewish emigration to Israel and
Jackson-Vanik amendment.''
Recent trends
Since the mid 1990s, there has been a steady stream of
South African Jews,
American Jews, and
French Jews who have either made aliyah, or purchased property in
Israel for potential future immigration. Specifically, many
French Jews have purchased homes in
Israel as insurance due to the rising rate of
anti-Semitism in
France in recent years
[4].
The
Bnei Menashe Jews from
India, which were only recently discovered and recognised by mainstream Judaism as descendants of the
Ten Lost Tribes, slowly started their Aliyah in the early 1990s and continue arriving in slow numbers.
Organizations such as
Nefesh B'Nefesh and
Shavei Israel help with aliyah by supporting financial aid and guidance on a variety of topics such as finding work, learning
Hebrew, and
assimilation into
Israeli culture.
In early 2007 ''
Haaretz'' reported that aliyah for the year of 2006 was down approximately 9% from 2005. They state that: "Only 19,264 people immigrated to Israel in 2006, down nine percent from 2005. It is the lowest number of immigrants recorded since 1988"
[5].
On 20th April 2007, the Israeli daily ''
Yedioth Ahronoth'' reported that 14,400 immigrants are expected in 2007 while 20,000 are expected to leave the country
[6]. The reports also state that: "...approximately a quarter of the Israeli population was considering emigration" and that "Almost half of the country's young people were thinking of leaving the country."
In 2007 ''
The Jerusalem Post'' reported that: "For the first time in over two decades, it was reported last week, Israel will likely experience a net negative migration rate in 2007"
[7]. The same article the ''The Jerusalem Post'' also wrote:
★ "...it is estimated that more Jews will actually leave Israel than move here this year - something that hasn't happened since 1984."
★ "...a total of just 14,400 new immigrants are expected here [in Israel] this year, or 5,000 less than the number anticipated to relocate abroad."
★ "[This] marks the continuation of an alarming trend that began seven years ago, when the number of people making ''aliya'' began spiraling downward, falling from 61,542 in 2000 to just 19,267 last year."
★ "...various Israeli public figures have been sounding the alarm in recent years, stressing the need to bolster Israel's Jewish population through immigration and absorption by calling on Diaspora Jewry to come home to Israel ... But with the pool of potential immigrants from Russia and the former Soviet states shrinking rapidly, and large-scale aliya from the West not yet at hand, the prospects of this occurring appear marginal at best."
Argentine Aliyah
Main articles: Aliyah from Latin America in the 2000s
In the
1999–2002 Argentine political and economic crisis that caused a run on the banks, wiped out billions of dollars in deposits and decimated the country's
middle class, most of Argentina's estimated 200,000 Jews were directly affected. Some chose to start over and move to Israel, where they saw opportunity.
More than 10,000
Jews from Argentina immigrated to Israel since 2000, joining the thousands of previous olim already there. The crisis in Argentina also affected its neighbour country Uruguay, from which over 500 Jews made aliyah in the same period. During 2002 and 2003 the Jewish Agency launched an intensive public campaign to promote alyah from the region, and offered additional economical aid for immigrants from Argentina. Although the Argentinean economy improved, Jews continue to immigrate to Israel, albeit in smaller numbers than before.
French Aliyah
From 2000 to 2005, 11,148 Jews made Aliyah from France, including a 35-year high in 2005, with 3,300 immigrants. With the start of the
Second Intifada in Israel, anti-Semitic incidents increased in France. In 2002, the
Commission nationale consultative des droits de l'homme (Human Rights Commission) reported six times more anti-Semitic incidents than in 2001 (193 incidents in 2002). The commission's
statistics showed that anti-Semitic acts constituted 62% of all racist acts in the country (compared to 45% in 2001 and 80% in 2000). The report documented 313 violent acts against people or property, including 38 injuries and the murder of someone with
Maghrebin origins by Muslims and
white power skinheads.
[5] Since
2005, the number of acts dropped but is still at a significantly higher level than during the previous decade.
North American Aliyah
There are approximately 110,000 North American immigrants in Israel. There has been a steady flow of olim from
North America since Israel’s inception in 1948. Record numbers arrived in the late 1960s after the
Six-Day War, and in the 1970s. Many immigrants began arriving in Israel after the
Intifada, with a total of 3,052 arriving in 2005 — the highest number since 1983. Like Western European olim, North Americans tend to immigrate to Israel more for religious, ideological and political purposes, and not financial ones. Many of them are relatively well-off to begin with.
Nefesh B'Nefesh, founded in 2002 by Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart, works to encourage Aliyah from North America and the UK by providing free flights, as well as other legal, financial and logistical assistance to potential olim.
Notes
1. "Sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise the banner to gather our exiles and gather us together from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:12) Blessed are you, O Lord, Who gathers in the dispersed of His people Israel."
2. Евреи диаспоры в наши дни (Jews of diaspora today)
3. ''ИСТОРИЯ ИНАКОМЫСЛИЯ В СССР'' (The History of Dissident Movement in the USSR) by Ludmila Alekseyeva. Vilnius, 1992 [2]
4. [3][4]
5. "2002 : le racisme progresse en France, les actes antisémites se multiplient", ''Le Monde'', 28 March, 2003
Further reading
★
Ben-Gurion, David'' From Class to Nation: Reflections on the Vocation and Mission of the Labor Movement'' (Hebrew), Am Oved (1976)
See also
★
Zionism
★
History of the Jews in the Land of Israel
External links
★
NOAM - Informations about Aliya Israel from German spreaking Countries
★
"Aliyah" - the word and its meaning
★
Dispersion and the Longing for Zion, 1240-1840, by Arie Morgenstern
★
Aliyah - Moving to Israel - Resource Directory
★
Nefesh b'Nefesh advocating ''aliyah'' from North America
★
ImpactAliyah advocating Aliyah as a means to make a positive impact.
★
Kumah, a self-described "Neo-Zionist" group, calling for mass ''aliyah'' of American Jews.
★
Podovitz, site, including podcast of Liel Liebovitz, author of ''Aliya.''
★
Aliyah, aliyah website including articles, interviews, blog and information, hosted by Laura Ben-David, author of MOVING UP: An Aliyah Journal
★
Aliyah sees 9% dip from 2005 (''
Haaretz'')
★
Israel tries to increase immigration
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