Nadene Goldfoot
I made Aliyah in September 1980 from Portland, Oregon and landed in Tel Aviv's large airport after our plane made an unscheduled landing in Holland. We stayed overnight because our plans went askew. Our destination of the Ulpan was closed due to being on strike. We managed to be able to stay at a hostel in Tel Aviv where only a young man was on duty who spoke no English, and we spoke no Hebrew as yet. Because we had been involved in Little Theater in Eastern Oregon at TVCC, we acted out the need for water. (Oh why hadn't I learned that important word?) We were given one cup for the 2 of us. We went outside and found a grocery store, stocked up a basket of food, went to the counter only to find we could not buy a thing because we had no Israeli money. The next morning I had an interview with the House Mother who gave me a cup of hot tea and cookies, my first food and drink! I was so grateful. I had cried that night and wanted to return to Oregon! I was stuck, had to follow through. Finally we got a sheroot with a Russian driver who did not know how to drive to Haifa, our destination. Somehow, we got there. All this time we had our female German shepherd with us, Blintz, as we wouldn't leave without our "baby."
Making this decision for Aliyah was not easy. We had faced my husband going to work at his high school where he taught in Adrian, Oregon, and having comic books distributed there by some anti-Semites. These comic books were full of lies about Jews, of course. To top it off, skinheads from Idaho were meeting in my husband's favorite coffee shop where he had attended town meetings, and these out-of-towners were carrying guns. They were there on a Friday night. We decided to make Aliyah. It was time.
In 70 CE, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans who had looted the 2nd Temple which had been rebuilt in 538 BCE and burned it and the city down; killing everyone or capturing them to become slaves. Some people managed to escape. Then from 132 to 135 CE, the Jewish General Bar Kokhba took back Jerusalem and held it for those 3 years, killed in battle in 135 CE. Jews had been barred from entering their capital since that had been King David's capital (1010-970 BCE).
By 1121 CE, some 300 Jews went to Palestine as it was then called, named by the Romans for Israel's most hated enemies. They came from France and England. This return to their land was called, making Aliyah, a "calling up" in which they looked forward to read the Scroll of the Law in a synagogue setting during Shabbat.
In 1267 Nahmanides (Rambam-Moses Ben Nahman) went to Palestine. He was followed by a group of disciples. Rabbi of Gerona (Aragon) in Spain.
In 1488, Obadiah of Bertinoro was followed by groups of disciples, while as a result of the Spanish Inquisition of 1492, many Sephardi Jews, including an important kabbalistic circle, entered the country. Born in Italy. His journey to Palestine lasted for 2 1/2 yrs., settled in Jerusalem and founded a Yeshiva. His graphic letters to his father describing his journey and conditions in Palestine are among the classics of Hebrew travel-literature.
By 1564, Joseph Nasi's resettlement attempt brought groups into the land from Italy. Born a Marrano in Portugal as Joao Miguel, went to Antwerp in 1536, in 1554 in Contantinople to embrace Judaism publicly as Joseph Nasi.
In 1700, 1500 Jews arrived from Eastern Europe in response to Rabbi Judah Hasid's call. A Kabbalist, born in Podolia, with 1,500 followers set out for Palestine. Many lost their lives on the way, reached Jerusalem in 1700, but Judah died a few days after his arrival. Followers were persecuted on suspicion of Sabbataianism and many returned to Europe.
In the latter 18th century, there was a considerable influx of both Hasidim and followers of the Vilna Gaon. (Elijah Ben Solomon Zalman) Talmudist, from Lithuania. At age 60 he set out for Palestine but returned before reaching it.
From 1850 to 1880, the 30 years preceding the BILU, it is estimated that 20,000 to 30,000 Jews settled in Palestine.
1882-1903: The 1st Aliyah: Zionism caused an influx who were organized to come in large groups mainly from Russia where Jews were experiencing many pogroms. They were led by the BILU. 300 families and additional smaller groups arrived from Russia; 450 pioneers from Romania, and a few dozen from the Yemen.
In 1884, an attempt by the HOVEVE ZION to coordinate immigration resulted in the KATTOWITZ CONFERENCE OF 1884. The Turkish authorities, part of the Ottoman Empire, made many difficulties for the Jews, but an increasing number of agricultural settlement were founded.
In 1890, further persecutions against Jews were continuing which sent thousands of Russian Jews to Palestine, but the number dwindled during the rest of the decade.
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| Ending up after 10 months in Haifa in Safed, Israel. Here's our apartment, car and Blintz, with us all the time. I taught at the junior high across the street. |
Making this decision for Aliyah was not easy. We had faced my husband going to work at his high school where he taught in Adrian, Oregon, and having comic books distributed there by some anti-Semites. These comic books were full of lies about Jews, of course. To top it off, skinheads from Idaho were meeting in my husband's favorite coffee shop where he had attended town meetings, and these out-of-towners were carrying guns. They were there on a Friday night. We decided to make Aliyah. It was time.
In 70 CE, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans who had looted the 2nd Temple which had been rebuilt in 538 BCE and burned it and the city down; killing everyone or capturing them to become slaves. Some people managed to escape. Then from 132 to 135 CE, the Jewish General Bar Kokhba took back Jerusalem and held it for those 3 years, killed in battle in 135 CE. Jews had been barred from entering their capital since that had been King David's capital (1010-970 BCE).
By 1121 CE, some 300 Jews went to Palestine as it was then called, named by the Romans for Israel's most hated enemies. They came from France and England. This return to their land was called, making Aliyah, a "calling up" in which they looked forward to read the Scroll of the Law in a synagogue setting during Shabbat.
In 1267 Nahmanides (Rambam-Moses Ben Nahman) went to Palestine. He was followed by a group of disciples. Rabbi of Gerona (Aragon) in Spain.
In 1488, Obadiah of Bertinoro was followed by groups of disciples, while as a result of the Spanish Inquisition of 1492, many Sephardi Jews, including an important kabbalistic circle, entered the country. Born in Italy. His journey to Palestine lasted for 2 1/2 yrs., settled in Jerusalem and founded a Yeshiva. His graphic letters to his father describing his journey and conditions in Palestine are among the classics of Hebrew travel-literature.
By 1564, Joseph Nasi's resettlement attempt brought groups into the land from Italy. Born a Marrano in Portugal as Joao Miguel, went to Antwerp in 1536, in 1554 in Contantinople to embrace Judaism publicly as Joseph Nasi.
In 1700, 1500 Jews arrived from Eastern Europe in response to Rabbi Judah Hasid's call. A Kabbalist, born in Podolia, with 1,500 followers set out for Palestine. Many lost their lives on the way, reached Jerusalem in 1700, but Judah died a few days after his arrival. Followers were persecuted on suspicion of Sabbataianism and many returned to Europe.
In the latter 18th century, there was a considerable influx of both Hasidim and followers of the Vilna Gaon. (Elijah Ben Solomon Zalman) Talmudist, from Lithuania. At age 60 he set out for Palestine but returned before reaching it.
From 1850 to 1880, the 30 years preceding the BILU, it is estimated that 20,000 to 30,000 Jews settled in Palestine.
1882-1903: The 1st Aliyah: Zionism caused an influx who were organized to come in large groups mainly from Russia where Jews were experiencing many pogroms. They were led by the BILU. 300 families and additional smaller groups arrived from Russia; 450 pioneers from Romania, and a few dozen from the Yemen.
In 1884, an attempt by the HOVEVE ZION to coordinate immigration resulted in the KATTOWITZ CONFERENCE OF 1884. The Turkish authorities, part of the Ottoman Empire, made many difficulties for the Jews, but an increasing number of agricultural settlement were founded.
In 1890, further persecutions against Jews were continuing which sent thousands of Russian Jews to Palestine, but the number dwindled during the rest of the decade.
It is estimated that 25,000 Jews immigrated during this First Aliyah, but a number kept on immigrating.
The 2nd Aliyah from 1904-1914 also was made up of Russians when, during this period, the Kishinev and Homel pogroms and the failure of the 1905 Revolution had been happening. Many of these newcomers were motivated by socialist idealism. 35,000 to 40,000 Jews entered Palestine during this period, many from Eastern Europe and oriental countries. A number left the country after a time, but in 1914, the Jewish population was 90,000, falling to 50,000 by the end of World War I.
The Balfour Declaration gave the impetus to the 3rd Aliyah from 1919-1923 in which the youthful element predominated. Members of the HE-HALUTZ took the lead. By 1920, free immigration was permitted to people with the means of subsistence, craftsmen, those joining their families, and Talmud students whose upkeep was assured, in addition, a quota was fixed for immigrants whose maintenance was guaranteed by the Zionist Organization. These regulations were modified the next year but the principle didn't change. Annual immigration figures for 1920 to 1923 averaged 8,000 and at the end of the period, the country's Jewish population was again about 90,000. (My mother was born in 1913).
The 4th Aliyah from 1924-1931 (The Great Majority from 1924-1925) brought in 80,000 more. They came from Poland where Jews suffered from fiscal restrictions. Many of the newcomers were middle-class, some "capitalists"; owners of 500 lbs and later 1,000 lbs. A number couldn't handle the challenge, especially during the 1926 depression, but there were 190,000 Jews in Palestine in 1931.
The 5th Aliyah from 1932-1940 fell into 2 periods:
1932-1935: This was the beginning of the Nazi persecutions when 144,000 immigrants came
1935: 62,000 immigrants came in this year alone and Palestine had economic prosperity. YOUTH ALIYAH was founded.
1936-1940 was the period of Arab riots and economic depression, when aliyah was restricted by the Mandatory government, first for economic reasons and later for political reasons.
1936-1938, there were 53,000 immigrants that entered Palestine.
1939: MacDonald White Paper was issued which recommended that only 75,000 further Jews be allowed admission during the next 5 years and then Aliyah would be dependent on Arab agreement.
During this year, 36,000 Jewish immigrants entered during this 2nd phase of the 5th Aliyah which included 15,000 "illlegal" immigrants who came in without government permits between 1939-1940.
The 6th Aliyah from 1941-1947 was a period of struggle against restrictions on immigration. Many tragic things happened, like the ship, EXODUS; PATRIA; STRUMA). During the latter years, many intending immigrants were interned in Cyprus. 85,000 Jews arrived in this time, of whom 28,000 were "illegal immigrants."
June 1940 Patria, ship carried French Jews from France to Haifa. Despite her new designation Patria remained laid up in Haifa until the beginning of November 1940. In that month the Royal Navy intercepted three chartered ships; the SS Pacific, SS Milos and SS Atlantic, that were carrying Jewish refugees from German-occupied Europe to Palestine. The refugees lacked permits to enter Palestine so the British authorities ordered their deportation to British Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Refugees from Pacific and Milos had been put aboard Patria, and embarkation of refugees from Atlantic had begun, when on 25 November a bomb planted by a Haganah agent blew a hole in the side of Patria's hull. She listed to that side and sank in 16 minutes, settling on the harbour bed with part of her hull and superstructure above water.
The Struma disaster was the sinking on 24 February 1942 of a ship, MV Struma, that had been trying to take nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Axis-allied Romania to Mandatory Palestine. It joined that of SS Patria – sunk after Haganah sabotage while laden with Jewish refugees 15 months earlier – as rallying points for the Irgun and Lehi revisionist Zionist clandestine movements, encouraging their violent revolt against the British presence in Palestine. The deaths were 781 Jewish refugees, 10 crew members (5 Bulgarian, 3 or 4 Jewish, one Hungarian)
April 14, 1948 DECLARATION OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL, 750,000 Jews
Free Jewish immigration was declared. The survivors of Nazi slaughter in Cetral Europe; the internees in Cyprus, the Jews in countries behind the IRON CURTAIN, and Jewish communities under Arab Rule such as Yemen, Iraq were transferred to Israel under the auspices of the Jewish Agency's Immigration Department.
In 1970s and since 1989 with mass Aliyah from the USSR, Total immigration figures for the period 1948-1990 were as follows:
1948-101,819; 1963-64.364; 1978-26,594;
1949-239,076; 1964-54,716; 1979-37,222;
1950-170,215; 1965-30,736; 1980-20,428; me
1951-175,129; 1966-15,730; 1981-12,399;
1952- 24,369; 1967-14,327; 1982-13,723;
1953- 11,326; 1968-20,544; 1983-16,906;
1954- 18,370; 1969-20,544; 1984-19,984;
1955- 37,348; 1970-36,750; 1985-10,642;
1956- 36,324; 1971-41,980; 1986- 9,505;
1957- 71,224; 1972-55,888; 1987-12,965;
1958- 27,082; 1973-54,886; 1988-13,304;
1959- 23,895; 1974-31,979; 1989-24,050;
1960-24,510; 1975-20,028; 1990-199,526;
1961-47,638; 1976-19754; 1991-175,000;
1962-60,328; 1977-21,429;
From 1989 to 2006, 979,000 Russian Jews made Aliyah to Israel. I had many in my Hebrew class in 1980, even then. They could not go back to Russia. Israel helped them financially. They could not practice Judaism in Russia. They were not allowed to learn Hebrew in Russia, either. Many came with Gentile wives. Many in my class were English teachers-with Russian accents, of course! That wasn't the total number of Jews that left Gorbachev's USSR. 1.6 million left. Others probably went to the USA.
My teacher, Sarah,in Haifa, had been writing letters to Natan Sharansky, who was in prison. She tried to teach him Hebrew that way. Her English was perfect, too. He made Aliyah, and became an Israeli politician, human rights activist and author who, as a refusenik in the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s, spent nine years in Soviet prisons. He served as Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency from June 2009 to August 2018.
As of 2020, Israel's population is now 8,655,535 which is 0.11% of the total world population. About 6 million of this number are Jews. The others are Arabs and others. The land of Israel had been pared down from the original size when the majority of it on the eastern side of the Jordan River was given to Abdullah from Saudi Arabia for a state. Out of this number, 6.8 million are Jews. Israel's population is made up of 6.8 million Jews (74%), 1.93 million Arabs (21%), and 454,000 non-Arab Christians or adherents of other faiths (5%), the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said on Sunday. Israel's current population has reached 9.2 million, including over one-quarter Arabs and other non-Jews, according to official new statistics.
As a reminder, Joshua entered Canaan with 603,730 Jews according to their 2nd census. They had lost 3,820 along the way besides having many new-borns. The trek took 40 years.
Right now the world is experiencing another surge of anti-Semitism. There are some rabbis who are urging Jews to make Aliyah now, with the advent of the Moshiach's arrival which they feel is very soon, under the circumstances happening and from reading information from their computer using the Bible Code.
According to official statistics, 28,629 olim arrived in Israel between January and October 2019. Only a decade ago, the number of olim for roughly the same period stood at 17,179.
Resource;
The New Standard Jewish Ecyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s_post-Soviet_aliyah
Letters From Israel, by Nadene Goldfoot; from 1980; letters to my mother, children
The 4th Aliyah from 1924-1931 (The Great Majority from 1924-1925) brought in 80,000 more. They came from Poland where Jews suffered from fiscal restrictions. Many of the newcomers were middle-class, some "capitalists"; owners of 500 lbs and later 1,000 lbs. A number couldn't handle the challenge, especially during the 1926 depression, but there were 190,000 Jews in Palestine in 1931.
The 5th Aliyah from 1932-1940 fell into 2 periods:
1932-1935: This was the beginning of the Nazi persecutions when 144,000 immigrants came
1935: 62,000 immigrants came in this year alone and Palestine had economic prosperity. YOUTH ALIYAH was founded.
1936-1940 was the period of Arab riots and economic depression, when aliyah was restricted by the Mandatory government, first for economic reasons and later for political reasons.
1936-1938, there were 53,000 immigrants that entered Palestine.
1939: MacDonald White Paper was issued which recommended that only 75,000 further Jews be allowed admission during the next 5 years and then Aliyah would be dependent on Arab agreement.
During this year, 36,000 Jewish immigrants entered during this 2nd phase of the 5th Aliyah which included 15,000 "illlegal" immigrants who came in without government permits between 1939-1940.
The 6th Aliyah from 1941-1947 was a period of struggle against restrictions on immigration. Many tragic things happened, like the ship, EXODUS; PATRIA; STRUMA). During the latter years, many intending immigrants were interned in Cyprus. 85,000 Jews arrived in this time, of whom 28,000 were "illegal immigrants."
June 1940 Patria, ship carried French Jews from France to Haifa. Despite her new designation Patria remained laid up in Haifa until the beginning of November 1940. In that month the Royal Navy intercepted three chartered ships; the SS Pacific, SS Milos and SS Atlantic, that were carrying Jewish refugees from German-occupied Europe to Palestine. The refugees lacked permits to enter Palestine so the British authorities ordered their deportation to British Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Refugees from Pacific and Milos had been put aboard Patria, and embarkation of refugees from Atlantic had begun, when on 25 November a bomb planted by a Haganah agent blew a hole in the side of Patria's hull. She listed to that side and sank in 16 minutes, settling on the harbour bed with part of her hull and superstructure above water.
By the time of the attack almost 1,800 refugees had been embarked aboard Patria, along with a crew of 130 and numerous British guards. The majority of those aboard were rescued but 172 were injured and between 260 and 300 were killed. The majority of victims were Jewish refugees but about 50 were crew and British guards; 209 bodies were recovered and buried in Haifa.
1947: Exodus, ship carried 4,500 Jews from France. They were turned back to France by the British with the Mandate. The British concluded that the only option was send the Jews to camps in the British-controlled zone of post-war Germany, They realized that returning them to camps in Germany would elicit a public outcry, but Germany was the only territory under their control that could immediately accommodate so many people"Of the 4,500 would-be immigrants to Palestine. There were only 1,800 remaining in the two Exodus camps by April 1948. Within a year, over half of the original Exodus 1947 passengers had made other attempts at emigrating to Palestine, which ended in detention in Cyprus. Britain continued to hold the detainees of the Cyprus internment camps until it formally recognized the State of Israel in January 1949, when they were transferred to Israel.The Struma disaster was the sinking on 24 February 1942 of a ship, MV Struma, that had been trying to take nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Axis-allied Romania to Mandatory Palestine. It joined that of SS Patria – sunk after Haganah sabotage while laden with Jewish refugees 15 months earlier – as rallying points for the Irgun and Lehi revisionist Zionist clandestine movements, encouraging their violent revolt against the British presence in Palestine. The deaths were 781 Jewish refugees, 10 crew members (5 Bulgarian, 3 or 4 Jewish, one Hungarian)
April 14, 1948 DECLARATION OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL, 750,000 Jews
Free Jewish immigration was declared. The survivors of Nazi slaughter in Cetral Europe; the internees in Cyprus, the Jews in countries behind the IRON CURTAIN, and Jewish communities under Arab Rule such as Yemen, Iraq were transferred to Israel under the auspices of the Jewish Agency's Immigration Department.
In 1970s and since 1989 with mass Aliyah from the USSR, Total immigration figures for the period 1948-1990 were as follows:
1948-101,819; 1963-64.364; 1978-26,594;
1949-239,076; 1964-54,716; 1979-37,222;
1950-170,215; 1965-30,736; 1980-20,428; me
1951-175,129; 1966-15,730; 1981-12,399;
1952- 24,369; 1967-14,327; 1982-13,723;
1953- 11,326; 1968-20,544; 1983-16,906;
1954- 18,370; 1969-20,544; 1984-19,984;
1955- 37,348; 1970-36,750; 1985-10,642;
1956- 36,324; 1971-41,980; 1986- 9,505;
1957- 71,224; 1972-55,888; 1987-12,965;
1958- 27,082; 1973-54,886; 1988-13,304;
1959- 23,895; 1974-31,979; 1989-24,050;
1960-24,510; 1975-20,028; 1990-199,526;
1961-47,638; 1976-19754; 1991-175,000;
1962-60,328; 1977-21,429;
From 1989 to 2006, 979,000 Russian Jews made Aliyah to Israel. I had many in my Hebrew class in 1980, even then. They could not go back to Russia. Israel helped them financially. They could not practice Judaism in Russia. They were not allowed to learn Hebrew in Russia, either. Many came with Gentile wives. Many in my class were English teachers-with Russian accents, of course! That wasn't the total number of Jews that left Gorbachev's USSR. 1.6 million left. Others probably went to the USA.
My teacher, Sarah,in Haifa, had been writing letters to Natan Sharansky, who was in prison. She tried to teach him Hebrew that way. Her English was perfect, too. He made Aliyah, and became an Israeli politician, human rights activist and author who, as a refusenik in the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s, spent nine years in Soviet prisons. He served as Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency from June 2009 to August 2018.
As of 2020, Israel's population is now 8,655,535 which is 0.11% of the total world population. About 6 million of this number are Jews. The others are Arabs and others. The land of Israel had been pared down from the original size when the majority of it on the eastern side of the Jordan River was given to Abdullah from Saudi Arabia for a state. Out of this number, 6.8 million are Jews. Israel's population is made up of 6.8 million Jews (74%), 1.93 million Arabs (21%), and 454,000 non-Arab Christians or adherents of other faiths (5%), the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said on Sunday. Israel's current population has reached 9.2 million, including over one-quarter Arabs and other non-Jews, according to official new statistics.
As a reminder, Joshua entered Canaan with 603,730 Jews according to their 2nd census. They had lost 3,820 along the way besides having many new-borns. The trek took 40 years.
Right now the world is experiencing another surge of anti-Semitism. There are some rabbis who are urging Jews to make Aliyah now, with the advent of the Moshiach's arrival which they feel is very soon, under the circumstances happening and from reading information from their computer using the Bible Code.
According to official statistics, 28,629 olim arrived in Israel between January and October 2019. Only a decade ago, the number of olim for roughly the same period stood at 17,179.
Date: Sat, Oct 24, 2020 – Sun, Oct 25, 2020
Resource;
The New Standard Jewish Ecyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s_post-Soviet_aliyah
Letters From Israel, by Nadene Goldfoot; from 1980; letters to my mother, children
,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Patria_(1913)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Exodus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struma_disaster
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Exodus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struma_disaster
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