| Oleh, Olah, Olim | |
| Terror in Tel Aviv Reminds Us That We Are One | |
Oleh (masuline), Olah (feminine), Olim (plural) are the Hebrew terms for someone who immigrates to Israel. These terms are derived from the word aliyah which means to go up.
Thus, immigrating to Israel, aliyah, is considered "going up" and carries with it many positive connotations. And emigrating from Israel, called yerida, is considered "going down" and carries with it many negative connotations.
While making aliyah to Israel can be spiritually uplifting in many ways, it is almost impossible for one to avoid hitting their head on a few clouds on the way up.
Olim from English speaking countries, called "Anglos" by Sabras (native Israelis), can sometimes be heard airing their frustration over Israeli bureaucracy as well as Israeli chutzpa (aggressive behavior). If you add a language handicap, a lack of protectcia (connections) and support network (as friends and family are often still located abroad), professional compromises, and the financial burden of moving to a new country, it is easy to understand why over 50 percent of American Olim eventually leave Israel and return to live in America.
Ethiopian Olim often describe their shock on their arrival to Israel. They were expecting a Biblical land inhabited by devoutly, religious Jews. They found a Western country in which 80 percent of the population is secular and has limited knowledge about Judaism. These Olim from Ethiopia have felt insulted on several occasions when Israelis questioned the authenticity of their Jewish identity.
Russian Olim have also experienced many absorption difficulties. Like the Anglos, the Russian Olim have had to deal with difficulties such as a new language, the need to retrain for work, little social support and financial stress. Like the Ethiopian Olim, the Jewish identity of Russian Olim has been questioned by Israelis on many occasions.
So, Olim often face a double edged sword on their arrival to the Promised Land. They have to deal with both the difficulties of acclimating to a new country and the obstacle of being accepted in that new country by the natives.
This week, a tragic act of terrorism blurred all boundaries between Olim and Sabras in Israel.
"There was a huge blast, and then I saw people flying through the air," said one eye witness. 20 people were killed and 120 were injured when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated his bomb outside a Tel Aviv disco on June 1, 2001. Most of the victims of the bomb attack were teenage Olim from the former Soviet Union.
- Sisters Yelena Nelimov, 18, and Yulia Nelimov, 16, emigrated from Russia five years ago with their mother, brother and grandmother.
- Ilia Gutman, 19, emigrated from Kazakhstan nine years ago with his parents and brother.
- Gutman's best friend, Roman Dezanshvili, 21, emigrated seven years ago from the Republic of Georgia with his mother and brother.
- Irena Usdachi, 18, from Holon, came with Gutman and Dezanshvili to the club. Usdachi emigrated from the Ukraine four years ago with her mother.
- Caterina Kastaniada, 15, emigrated from Colombia nine years ago with her mother.
- Marina Zhirkovskaya, 17, emigrated from Uzbekistan four and a half years ago with her mother and brother.
- Anya Kachkova, 16, emigrated from Russia two years ago with her mother and brother.
- Kachkova's best friend, Mariana Madbaneko, 16, emigrated from northern Russian two years ago with her parents and three brothers.
- Simona Rodin, 17, emigrated from Russia 12 years ago with her parents.
- Aleksei Lupalu, 16, came to Israel with his family from the Ukraine a year ago as a tourist.
- Raisa Nomrovsky, 15, emigrated from the former Soviet Union seven years ago with her family.
- Her friend and neighbor, Maria Tagilchev, 14, emigrated from the Ural Mountains in Russia a year and a half ago with her mother.
- Liana Skian, 16, emigrated from Russia with her parents and her twin brother two years ago.
- Irena Nafmaniashtsy, 16, emigrated from Uzbekistan five years ago with her parents and brother.
- Yael-Yulia Sklanik, 15, from Holon, emigrated from Georgia 11 years ago with her parents and sister.
- Prv. Diaz Normanov, 21, from Georgia, was serving as a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces.
- Jan Bloom, 25, immigrated to Israel only six months ago and was working as a security guard at the disco.
When the Palestinian suicide bomber chose to detonate his bomb, he did not differentiate between the teenage Olim at the Dolphinarium and the teenage Sabras at the disco a bit further down the Tel Aviv beach. Likewise, the pieces of metal, nails, screws and pellets that flew out of the detonated bomb killed and injured anyone in the vicinity, no matter whether they were Olim or Sabra.
One
of the purposes of the State of Israel is to be a place for the ingathering of
the exiles. Israeli citizens need to help their State realize its purpose. Israelis
should not only accept, but they should also reach out to help Olim integrate
into Israeli society. It should not take an act of terrorism to remind us that
we are one.
~ Lisa
Katz
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