Web 2.0, The Aliyah Revolution, and Nefesh B'Nefesh

"I told her we were planning on making Aliyah. do you know what she answered? She said, "Oh, people still do that?"..... Fast forward one whole year. Four hundred people just made aliyah with an organization [NBN] that didn't exist one year ago. People who never would have thought of making aliyah are sudden thinking about it. And many people are really doing it." Laura Ben-David, An Aliyah Journal

I truly believe that there is an Aliyah Revolution going on in today's times. I think it started with Nefesh B'Nefesh and was bolstered by Blogs (like the Aliyah Blog) that show that is possible to live and be happy in Israel and other organizations that provide information about making aliyah (like Kehillot Tehilla).

When I first lived in Eretz Yisroel in 2000, only 9 years ago, none of these resources existed. And when I left in 2003, I still felt that there were few resources for the person wishing to live his life in Israel. It was hard to find out about careers, resources, communities, etc. Now, that has all changed.

In today's world in Web 2.0, each community has there own website. One community were are interested in checking out is Kochav Yaakov. I am able to go online, check out there website, and actually see pictures of the community and people living there. I even got to see pictures from their newcomers event.

The information available online is unbelievable. You read about career on NBN's website, you can network in Israel from America with listservices and linkedin, you contact different communities you are interested in by sending emails to people actually living in those places, and this list goes on.

It's totally different now.

Here is a good quote from Laura Ben-David's Aliyah Journal:


Journal Entry 11: Tuesday, July 16 2002

"A day or so before leaving for Israel last summer, I wsa with the kids in a pizza place in Florida. I ran into someone I hadn't seen in a very long time and ww were catching each other up on our lives. I told her we were planning on making Aliyah. do you know what she answered? She said, "Oh, people still do that?".....

Not fast forward one whole year. Four hundred people just made aliyah with an organization [NOTE: NBN] that didn't exist one year ago. People who never would have thought of making aliyah are sudden thinking about it. And many people are really doing it. When I've told people recently that I was making aliyah, the responses have been more along the lines of "Oh, my friends are going too," or "You are living my dream, I want to go [NOTE: NBN's tagline is Living the Dream]."

Its truly amazing how much can change in so little time. At this point, I feel that a lot of the obstables to making aliyah have been removed. All of this is serving to be a great help in our journey to aliyah. May many more find the inspiration to make aliyah also. Any when the do find that inspiration, Web 2.0 is here to help.