"I ran away from the Soviet rule. This time I'm not running away. I walk with pride and by choosing to live in our land – the State of Israel," says the matriarch of the family, Tamara Shankman.
Four generations of women have recently moved from the United States to Israel two weeks apart.
These include the matriarch of the family – Tamara Shankman, 88, a Holocaust survivor who was born in Ukraine (then the USSR) and immigrated to the US – and her daughter Yana Weiser, 59, who has immigrated with her husband Zachary, and granddaughter Shoshana Sinensky, 27, who has immigrated with her husband Chaim, and great-grandchildren Leah, 3, and Hadassah, 1.
Originally from Philadelphia, the family has moved to Beit Shemesh.
Tamara and Yana arrived on a group immigrant flight, while Shoshana, Chaim, and their children arrived on a Nefesh B'Nefesh charter flight in August in cooperation with the Aliyah and Integration Ministry, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, Jewish National Fund-USA and Tzofim-Garin Tzabar.
Altogether, 215 new immigrants arrived from North America on the flight.
Upon landing in Israel, Tamara recalled her experience of fleeing Ukraine.
"I ran away from the Soviet rule. This time I'm not running away. I walk with pride and by choosing to live in our land – the State of Israel," she said.
Shoshana, in turn, described the move as "a dream come true."
According to data by Nefesh B'Nefesh, around 2,000 people from the United States and Canada have moved to Israel in 2023, with more expected to arrive by the end of the June-September aliyah season.
Co-founder and Executive Director of Nefesh B'Nefesh Rabbi Yehoshua Fass said, "I am proud and happy to see thousands of olim make their way to Israel."
Source - Israel Hayom/X - Image - Gideon Markowicz/Flash90