Israel Matzav: Economic crisis spurs aliya

Economic crisis spurs aliya

The Wall Street Journal reports that the economic crisis in the US has prompted a lot of people to make aliya (immigrate to Israel).

After years of a brain drain from the region, and despite the lack of a peace settlement, by the end of this month about 4,000 North American Jews will have immigrated to Israel this year, an increase of 33% over 2008 and the most in one year since 1973, according to Nefesh B'Nefesh, an organization that oversees and assists with immigration to Israel from North America.

Immigrants to Israel often have a longstanding desire to move, but the economic crisis has pushed them to make the jump this year, said Danny Oberman, executive vice president of Israel operations for Nefesh B'Nefesh. "The economy has a lot to do with it," Mr. Oberman said.

...

Zumi Brody immigrated to Israel with his wife and four young children in August. Mr. Brody, a vice president of a bank, said he had to sell his home in St. Louis for less than what he paid for it to make the move, but paying at least $10,000 per child to attend Jewish day school would have been burdensome. In Israel, his children can attend a state-funded school and still learn Hebrew and Jewish studies.

The increase in immigration from America also shows a change in the image and economy of Israel. The country is in the process of entering the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and has been upgraded from a developing to a developed economy, said Glenn Yago, an economist at the Milken Institute in Jerusalem.

This wave of American immigration suggests that Israel is shifting "from its primary, historical role as a refuge of last resort to a human- and financial-capital destination of first resort," Mr. Yago said.

I wonder if there are still ideologues (as Mrs. Carl and I were) making aliya these days.

It's long been the case that people made aliya from North America (and Europe, albeit mostly from England in those days) as something other than a refuge of last resort. I have no doubt that the economy is pushing people to come, and it is true that the recession here (for most of us anyway) has not been as deep here as it has been in the US. But it has always been true that the two major expenses of raising Jewish children (Jewish education and health care) are much less expensive here in the case of education and much more attainable here in both cases. So why are people suddenly making aliya now to save on their kids' tuition?

I should add that somehow the Journal didn't hear that Nefesh b'Nefesh makes nice loans to help people make aliya. They weren't around in my day.

Israel Matzav: Economic crisis spurs aliya