Yom HaAliyah

Aliyah means the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to the Land of Israel; the term also conveys “the act of going up,” toward Jerusalem.[4] It is an important Jewish cultural concept and a fundamental component of Zionism.[4] Before the national commemoration was established, individuals and families marked their own aliyah anniversaries privately.[3]

The holiday’s biblical associations encompass both Abraham’s journey and the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan under Joshua.[3][1] The Torah portion Lech Lecha recounts God’s command to Abraham to go to the Land of Israel.[1] Joshua 4:19 supplies the date and setting associated with the Jordan crossing: “The people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.”[5]

The original legislative proposal placed Yom HaAliyah on 10 Nisan, but the date falls near Passover, during the school vacation and the Knesset recess.[3] The observance was instead set for 7 Cheshvan, near the reading of Lech Lecha, allowing schools and the Knesset to participate.[3]

The Knesset approved the Yom HaAliyah Law on June 21, 2016.[1] The bill passed its second and third readings with 21 members voting in favor and five opposed. Robert Ilatov, Avraham Neguise, Hilik Bar, and Micky Zohar were among the lawmakers behind the legislation.[6]

The law established an annual day recognizing aliyah as a basis for Israel’s existence and development and for its character as a multicultural society.[1] The selected date was 7 Cheshvan, while the earlier 10 Nisan proposal remained part of the observance’s biblical framing through the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan.[3][1] The first annual Aliyah Day was celebrated on November 8, 2016.[2]

The observance extended beyond a single ceremony. Events were held in educational institutions, government ministries, the Israel Defense Forces, and the Knesset, while the prime minister and president issued official greetings.[3] In the first year, ceremonies took place at the Prime Minister’s residence, and special Knesset meetings addressed issues facing Israel’s immigrant population.[2]

Subsequent observances included ceremonies in educational institutions, government ministries, the IDF, and the Knesset, accompanied by greetings from the prime minister and president.[3] The national commemoration also gave a public setting to aliyah anniversaries previously celebrated by individuals and families.[3]

Around the holiday in 2018, 33 Americans arrived in Israel on a Nefesh B’Nefesh flight.[7] They came from nine U.S. states and included people working in biotechnology, engineering, education, media, business, and psychology.[7]

In 2021, Yom HaAliyah fell on October 13 and was observed during Aliyah Week.[1] The Ministry of Aliyah and Integration and the Jewish Agency held events highlighting immigrants’ contributions to Israel and Israeli society.[1] On October 12, new immigrants gathered in the Jewish Agency’s Jerusalem courtyard for a dance party combining the Hora with contemporary dances and featuring DJ PNINA.[8] Participants had immigrated from dozens of countries and were involved in Jewish Agency programs operated with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration.[8]

Figures released ahead of the 2021 observance counted 20,360 immigrants arriving since the beginning of that year, compared with 15,598 during the corresponding period in 2020—a reported increase of 31 percent.[9] Aliyah Week material recorded more than 3,340,000 immigrants to Israel since the state’s establishment.[1] Opening that year’s Aliyah Week, Minister of Aliyah and Integration Pnina Tamano-Shata declared, “Aliyah to Israel is the realization of the Zionist dream,” while discussing support for immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns.[9]

Accounts of Yom HaAliyah distinguish imperfectly between its grassroots origins, statutory enactment, and two Hebrew dates. A 2018 JNS report says the observance began as a community movement in 2012 and was added to Israel’s national calendar by law in 2016.[7] A 2020 Mosaic essay instead says the state established the holiday in 2012, places it on 10 Nisan, and notes that it is also celebrated in the fall on 7 Cheshvan.[10]

By contrast, ynet and the Jewish Agency identify the national law with June 21, 2016, and describe 7 Cheshvan as the annual date. They explain 10 Nisan as the date originally proposed because of its association with the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan.[3][1] The sources therefore require a distinction between the earlier community initiative, the 2016 statutory observance, and the biblical date that informed the original proposal.

Educational institutions are among the settings in which Yom HaAliyah is marked, giving the observance a role in public instruction about immigration and immigrants’ contributions.[3] Its stated purpose connects aliyah with Israel’s development as a multicultural society, and Aliyah Week events have highlighted immigrants’ contributions across Israeli society.[1]

The calendar also connects modern immigration with the Jewish tradition of return to the Land of Israel. The 7 Cheshvan observance is near the reading of Lech Lecha and Abraham’s journey, while the original 10 Nisan proposal recalled the Israelites’ entry under Joshua.[3][1] In a 2020 essay, Sarah Rindner interprets the holiday as a celebration of the ingathering of Jewish exiles and immigrants’ contributions to Israeli society. She connects aliyah’s literal meaning, “ascent,” with biblical forms of the Hebrew verb “to go up.”[10]