EZRA INTERNATIONAL
Rescue, Return, Restore – Poor Jewish People to Israel
Stories from the Field
Stories of Jewish people we’ve helped make aliyah (emigrate to Israel).
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Stanislav and Elena N from Samara
Stanislav and Elena are making Aliyah along with their son, Matvei. Stanislav has wanted to make Aliyah for some time, but Elena did not want to leave. It took two years of persuasion before she was ready to move! They see the move as a positive influence also for...
Lela and Paata B from Gori, Georgia
Lela is making Aliyah with her husband Paata and two children – daughter Nato and son Nika. Lela tells their story: “I have been waiting for this for a long time and I know that in this strange time worldwide my family is taking the right steps in going to Israel. ...
Evgenii and Elena P from Tiraspol
“Many families who decide to repatriate to Israel are concerned about the question: where to start? One way or another, in order to successfully assimilate into a new environment, it is important to honestly answer yourself a couple of questions: Do I really want to...
David G from Sumgant (Azerbaijan)
“I decided already a long time ago to make Aliyah but, somehow, I couldn’t leave. I am Jewish. My relatives have always told me that I should move to Israel. To be honest I wasn’t drawn to it and therefore somehow didn’t dare to take that step. I married an...
Tatyana T from Sevastopol
“I thought about Israel from time to time, especially when I again felt a negative attitude towards me because of my Jewishness. I don’t have big problems due to anti-Semitism but sometimes I feel a very strong desire to be in a society where I can feel 100% at ease...
Tinatin and Tengiz P from Tbilisi
Tinatin made Aliyah along with her husband Tengiz and daughter Liza. “All I know about Israel is from my Mom and it became a little dream that my family and I could become a part of that country. We have a small child and as we are young and able to work hard, we...
Stories
Benjamin and Mazal A from Marseille, France
Benjamin and Mazal A from Marseille, France Benjamin and his wife, Mazal, are making Aliyah along with their 3 daughters – Odelia, Neoray and Tali Sarah and their 2 sons – Aviel and Yaniv. Mazal tells their story: We are making Aliyah because it is very important to...
Ekaterina and Sergei T from Bender
Ekaterina and Sergei T from BenderEkaterina and Sergei made Aliyah with their sons Sergei and Artem and their daughter, Eleonora. Ekaterina tells their story:I was born in May 1986, the granddaughter of a Jew – making me entitled to repatriation under Israel’s Law of...
Vladimir and Maria R from St Petersburg
Vladimir and Maria made Aliyah along with their daughter, Maya. Vladimir tells their story: “Aliyah for our family is more than just moving to another country. We consider Israel to be our home – so Aliyah for us is returning home!” “The idea of making Aliyah came...
Felix and Pascale T from Marseille
Felix and Pascale made Aliyah from France with their 3 children – daughters Jessica and Noemie, and son, Yoni. Felix explains their decision:“Making Aliyah is important to us as we want to be surrounded by our family. We decided to make Aliyah for the future of our...
Irma and Tamaz N from Gori
Irma and Tamaz made Aliyah with their son, Temuri and daughter, Elene. Irma tells their story: “If I had known in 2008 that I had the chance to go to Israel I would have done that. But, it’s never too late and after 10 months taking the steps towards this I’m...
Anna P from Kiev
“I always have had the desire to live in my homeland but difficulties in life held me back – including health issues. However, loneliness and health have both worsened. My blindness does not allow me to live a full life. I want now to be near my grandson – a year...
Nani and Mikheil B from Tbilisi
“My husband and I both have health problems and we are making Aliyah hoping to recover in Israel. Many of our relatives and family members are already there. Our daughter and grandchild will join us later”. “At one time we were living quite well in Georgia but as the...
Luiz and Helena L from Rio de Janeiro
“My name is Helena and I’m making Aliyah with my husband, Luiz, daughter, Thayanni, and son, Theo. We are from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil”.“Aliyah, for us, means a fresh start! We have high expectations of improvement in our quality of life. We want to be closer to our...
Ruth P from Sao Paulo
“My name is Ruth, I’m from São Paulo, Brazil.” “Aliyah means my return home. To make aliyah is much more than to live in Israel, it means to be Jewish, in a JEWISH COUNTRY. I am going alone in a new stage of my life; returning to the roots of our patriarchs. I hope to...
Anna K from Melitopol
“I have always wanted to live in Israel. While I was still a student, I wanted to leave on one of the Jewish Agency’s programs but then got married and my son, Nazar, was born. So, the question of aliyah was postponed for a while. Then my husband and I divorced, and...
Maxim and Natalie Z from Marseille
Ezra France helped Maxim and Natalie, along with 9 of their children, to make aliyah! Maxim tells a little of their story. “Making aliyah is important to us because it is part of the process of spiritual elevation by connection to the Holy Land. The decision to make...
Smadar B from Sao Paulo
“My name is Smadar and I am from Sao Paulo in Brazil. I’m a single mother with three teenage children – Hanan 16, Haim 14 and Itai 14. I have decided to make aliyah because this is what my boys want. They want to study and live in Israel in the Naale school. I...
Pavel and Tatyana O from Bendery
Pavel and Tatyana made aliyah along with their children Dmitri and Anastasia. “The seasons come and go, and along with the approaching season our long-held dream of making aliyah is also approaching! No-one in our family, which is living in Moldova, has ever been to...
Antonio P from Porto Alegre, Brazil
“My name is Antonio, I´m from Porto Alegre, Brazil.” “To me, aliyah means returning to my home.” “I decided to make aliyah when I found out that I belonged to the people of Israel. I feel sad about leaving Brazil, but I hope to adapt myself to the new life reality of...
Antonella M from Manta in Ecuador
Antonella made aliyah with her daughter Santa Lucia and son, Jose. Antonella is originally from Venezuela, following her divorce, she decided that there are better opportunities in Israel for herself and her children. Ezra helped pay for documents and extra...
Laurent and Izabelle F from Marseille, France
Laurent and Izabelle made aliyah with 3 of their children (Samuel, Ethan and Ora) in July 2019 – our first family from France! Laurent and Izabelle heard about Ezra France through an advertisement in the magazine published by the Jewish Community in Marseille. They...
Aleksandr and Irina F from Tiraspol, Moldova
Aleksandr’s surname in Yiddish means ‘the sparkling, shining, stone’. Aleksandr was born in December 1978 and made aliyah with his wife, Irina. Aleksandr didn’t know his grandparents, but he knows that the family comes from his great-grandmother Chai-Sura and...
Tamara and Esther L from Sao Paulo
Sisters Tamara and Esther from Sao Paulo made Aliyah together. Tamara tells their story: “Aliyah for us means to have a new opportunity in life, to grow and to develop.” “My sister and I made the decision to make Aliyah as life in Brazil is not easy and also because...
Sergei and Snezhana Y from Krivoi Rog
Sergei and Snezhana made Aliyah along with their daughters, Anastasia and Valeria. Sergei tells their story: “It is our dream to go to Israel. My wife has relatives who have been in Israel for more than 20 years. Our eldest daughter has already graduated from school...