The Miracle of the Return Commemorated!

Today, Israel commemorates Yom ha’Aliyah, the day of the aliyah. The word “aliyah” means literally: “to go up” and is used to designate the emigration of Jews to Israel. Ever since the establishment of the State of Israel millions of Jews from all over the world emigrated to their new Homeland. For example, from the Arab countries, from the former Soviet Union, from Ethiopia and from Europe. For almost twenty-five years Christians for Israel helps with the aliyah, in a very practical way. In Ukraine, Koen Carlier is active with a team from Christians for Israel to actively help Jews with their return home.

History repeats itself
This week’s Torah portion is about Abraham who has to leave everything behind and go up to (make aliyah) to Israel. Today, thousands of years later, exactly the same happens: many “Abrahams” leave with their families for Israel.

Every day “Day of the Aliyah”
In our country, Ukraine, it is “Day of the Aliyah” every day. Our fieldworkers continuously  help with the return in a practical way. Either by transportation to a consulate or the Israeli Embassy, giving financial support for outbound travel documents and passports, or the fare to one of the six Ukrainian airports (Lviv, Vinnitsa, Odessa, Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk and Charkov) from where Jewish emigrants can leave!

On average 2,500 emigrants leave every month from the four points of the compass to Israel. From them seventy per cent comes from the Land of the North (the former Soviet Union).

In our generation
This week we had a lot of transports with olim (Jewish emigrants) and the coming period won’t be different. The miracle of the return predicted by the prophets and written down hundreds of times in the Bible is not something we are not only allowed to see in our generation. We are actually allowed to help as well! We see this as a commission from the Lord to the nations.

This is what the Lord says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord. “They will return from the land of the enemy. (Jeremiah 31:16).

This couple from Lugansk will leave for Israel shortly | Photo credit: Christians for Israel

One-way journey to the Promised Land
Today a family from Lugansk (the war zone in East Ukraine) was taken to our shelter in Kiev. They will stay there for three weeks until all documents are in order to actually make that one-way journey: a one-way journey to the Promised Land of Israel! More than five thousand Jewish men, women and children have stayed for shorter or longer periods of time in our shelter since July 2014, on their way to Israel.

Help the Jews come home! Please support our action ‘Bring the Jews Home’.
It costs 135 euros or 165 US $ to assist one Ukrainian Jew for making aliyah.
Any amount is welcome!

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The overview below provides some facts and figures about the aliyah work of Christians for Israel.