Published by: ICEJ
Bringing Them Home
If you are Jewish, it is almost certain that you are experiencing the rising tide of antisemitism as it rages around the world. What’s more, your family will likely include Holocaust survivors or escapees of pogroms and persecution. Antisemitism has a forever history.
Where can you go to escape these violations of human rights? Who will protect you from the vitriol and the hate? In spite of war, Aliyah surges in bringing home Jewish sons and daughters! No matter what your circumstances, if you are a doctor, lawyer, farmer, tradesperson, grandmother or young family, there is only one place in the world where you will be welcome – that is Israel.
It is easy to say the word Aliyah but what it encompasses is life-changing for every person who embraces it. Dislocation from their home, to settle into unfamiliar surroundings with a new language, culture, customs and lifestyle.
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem has been ready to assist with the upsurge in Aliyah since October 7 with over 1300 new immigrants this year. ICEJ assistance includes pre-departure camps and information sessions, sponsored flights and integration on arrival.
In total, the Jewish Agency, which oversees the Aliyah process, expects 15,500 Jewish immigrants to arrive from Western nations this year. Despite the war, this is nearly 2.5 times the 2023 numbers.
Russian-speakers comprise up to 80% of those making Aliyah. Nearly 250,000 Jews have come home to Israel since 2014, mainly from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and the Baltic states. ICEJ has been sponsoring special summer camps for the Russian-speaking republics for more than a decade. The Agency has recently approached ICEJ to assist with a special program for Jewish, Russian-speaking, war refugees in Eastern and Western Europe to prepare for the first leg of journey to the home of their forefathers.
“We have numbers we have not seen in decades – from France, South Africa, England and North America.” Avichai Kahana, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, recently told the Jerusalem Post, Israel’s English language newspaper. He added: “This is a miracle. There is no other country in the world where so many people would come in the middle of a war.”
Since the new school year begins in September, this is the busy Aliyah season when families want to settle and prepare their children. In late August the Naale program begins to, prepare high school students who come ahead of their parents. For many years ICEJ has also been supporting this program.
The Biblical Mandate For Gentiles To Assist With Aliyah
When it comes to the prophetic ingathering of God’s people, many Bible passages shed light on the role God has chosen for Gentiles. Isaiah 49:22 says: “Behold I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations and set My standard for the people, they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.”
This picture of great care and tenderness, as a father carrying his children, invites Gentiles to assemble under God’s “standard” or banner, to bring His chosen people home. Isaiah 62:10 encourages Gentile nations to construct a highway, removing all obstacles, so the returning Jewish people can safely and easily find their way home. “Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations.”
During the Holocaust Jews were stripped of all their belongings, even the gold fillings in their teeth. Yet Isaiah repeatedly speaks of the day when the “sons of foreigners” {Gentiles] will not only build up Israel’s walls but – in a divine turn of events – will help Israel with their material wealth. Isaiah 60:11 “Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations… their kings led in triumphal procession.”
What an immense privilege we have to be part of the fulfilment of God’s divinely orchestrated plan to bring his chosen people back to their homeland. As time seems to be collapsing and we are seeing more and more prophesies fulfilled in our lifetime, may we be alert and watchful, in our prayers and, with grateful hearts, do all we can to hasten the day of Jesus’ return.
We invite you to partner with us to bring more Jews home and plant them in the Land. We have already committed to sponsoring flights for 100 Ukrainian Jews in the coming weeks and many other opportunities are opening to us in France, South Africa and elsewhere this summer. But we need your help to make it happen.
