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Susan Leibtag: Aliyah Post-Diary: Keeping Olim in Israel

By BJLife/Susan Leibtag

Posted on 07/13/18 | From FB

Parshas HaShavua Divrei Torah sponsored by
Dr. Shapsy Tajerstein, DPM - Podiatry Care.
(410) 788-6633

Just the other day a friend was purchasing something in a store, and conducting the entire transaction in Hebrew. The saleswoman looked at her and said, "How long are you in Israel?" Thinking that she was going to be complimented on her Hebrew skills, my friend replied, "Almost 10 years!"  The saleswoman shook her head sadly, "Tsk, ten years and you still struggle with Hebrew."


It may not seem like much, but for olim who struggle daily with melting into the Israeli culture, it is a slap in the face.


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Today I attended a ceremony at the Knesset. I sat at a table with my nameplate before me, and it hit me that I had reached a new level in my aliyah - I am now helping other olim and facing the problems of olim head-on.


This ceremony was held to honor a 3-year old Facebook-based organization called KeepOlim in Israel. It was started by a selfless, caring man named LiAmi Lawrence, originally from Beverly Hills.  LiAmi made aliyah four years ago and soon found himself without money, food, or a job, and very ill.  He thought seriously about leaving, but instead decided what he needed was support and if he didn't have it, he had to create it.  So he started a Facebook group called "Keep Olim in Israel" and within a month he had 8,000 followers.


To date, KeepOlim has over 40,000 members and provides services including Bikur Cholim, hosting olim for chagim, providing mental health counseling, and others.  The newest program is called "Adopt on Oleh" in which Israeli soldiers adopt young olim.  


This small organization has influenced the Knesset to take the olim situation more seriously.  It's not just "OK, here we are, life is great," it's more like "Ummm, I can't find a job, prices are really high, and it's hard for me to get used to a brand new culture."


To illustrate that fact in a more dramatic and tragic way, there have been close to 200 suicides of olim in the past few years.  


LiAmi Lawrence has tackled this situation, along with attorney Tzvika Graver, who volunteers his expertise for free, and together they have made incredible strides in building awareness of the problems faced by olim.


It was perhaps my proudest moment since we arrived in January 2012 - sitting at the Knesset, being thanked for my administrative support of the group (I handle donation management), and hearing Members of the Knesset praise us for our work. 


So here we go, people, Phase II.