Welcome Home

After many years of waiting and preparing, we are finally Israeli citizens. We arrived at Ben Gurion International in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning aboard a surprisingly smooth group flight of new "olim" (immigrants) organized by Nefesh b'Nefesh. 

Although I was passed out for much of the first half of the flight (I slept through dinner, but, judging by the breakfast, this may have been for the best), the remainder was long in anticipation. It was extremely interesting to be part of a group of people making this step together, though, and looking around, it all became real very quickly.  It began to sink in that we were finally doing what we set out to. Also on the flight were two or three groups of Taglit Birthright participants, which added a unique dimension. At one point, I struck up a conversation with a few girls on the program and found it difficult to express answers to some of their questions which would in any other context have been so easy to articulate. In this situation, though, here they were on their way to a first experience with an incredible place that I, myself, was on my way to making home. I couldn't really find the words, even, to say why I was doing it - I just felt excited for them, like they were about to have an experience that I knew about and they didn't, and that they couldn't possibly know how life-changing it would be. Better yet was that I wasn't alone in how I felt - a Garin Tzabarnik from the Southwest Garin, and a new friend who will be participating in the same ulpan as us, related to how weird it was to have the two groups combined. It really made it that much more meaningful.

Upon landing, we were given flags, hats, stickers, and who knows what else before being taken to process the rest of our absorption paperwork. We were received by a spokesperson of the Ministry of Absorption, given much-needed refreshments, and were then called in individually into an office to sign documents and receive our "absorption baskets." These packages include items that help to make our initial transition to Israeli life a bit easier. Off we went back to the main arrival terminal where we were greeted by people holding signs and singing "Avinu Shalom Aleichem" before we all boarded taxis to our destinations in our new home. 

            - Darren