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Aliyah
Committee, AMTON Newsletter — Spring 2004
Aliyah
Committee Connects
Ezra
Wanetik, one of The Aliyah Committee's more recent olim
(see AMTON Sept. 2002, "Why
Aliyah Now"),
has been regaling those of us on his personal email listserve
with stories about his life as a new immigrant. He has reported
on the reactions he has gotten from veteran Israelis about
making aliyah, making the most of his new immigrant
rights, his new blue/grey Toyota Corolla, and most recently
his 100 days of basic army service. Last year, Ezra got engaged
to Rachel Frankel, of Cranford, N.J., an M.A. student at the
Rothberg School at Hebrew University, and this past February,
they celebrated their wedding at Kibbutz Hulda.
One
of the reasons that Ezra's klitah (absorption) has
been so successful is because of the connections he has been
able to use through The Aliyah Committee and the Masorti Movement.
Last year, Charlie Kalech, a founder of The Aliyah Committee
fifteen years ago and now a veteran oleh in Jerusalem
and a leader of Project
Reconnect (AMTON March 2003) sent the following note to
the AMTON office: " ... I called Ezra who was studying
Hebrew at Ulpan Akiva which is walking distance from my family...
He joined us at a pot-luck dinner at our shul on Friday night
and he sat between me and a friend who works at Ramah Israel...
One thing led to another and by the end of dinner it looked
like once Ezra finished ulpan, he would be a madrich
(leader) for Ramah. Last night I saw him with his Ramah group
at our shul..."
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