In the Bible, the Old Testament contains numerous passages predicting the return of the Jewish people to Israel. For instance, in Ezekiel 20:34, God told His people: "I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered—with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath."
This prophecy seems to be seeing its fulfilment in modern times, with more and more Jewish Americans leaving the United States and making Israel their permanent home.
Earlier this week, a group of North American Jews arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv—back in the welcoming arms of their motherland.
The group of new immigrants was made up of almost 30 families with some 75 children. They rode an El Al flight chartered by Nefesh B'Nefesh, an organisation helping North American and British Jews adjust to Israeli life.
Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder of Nefesh B'Nefesh, hopes more and more Jewish Americans will choose to go back to Israel.
"I just think that every Jew should be struggling with the issue of the Jewish homeland, and that's not just a slogan but it's rather an opportunity," Faas said.
"We don't want the immigration from America to be an 'aliyah' (Jewish term for moving to Israel) of necessity, of running away from something, of distress, duress, persecution. You don't want that. The beauty of North American immigration is that people are choosing (to come)," he added.
The Jewish Agency, led by Natan Sharansky, and even some government officials, were at the airport to witness the momentous repatriation of the Jewish Americans.
"Only think for a moment about your fathers, your grandfathers, your great grandfathers, all those generations of your families who were dreaming and praying next year in Jerusalem and you did it," Sharansky said to the new arrivals.
