Despite the virulent anti-Israel demonstrations and feelings world-wide, and the horrific murder of a young Israeli couple in the United States a few days prior, an Aliyah Fair was held on June 8 in north London. It was organized by the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency with the theme "Explore your Future in Israel" to offer information and inspiration for those considering this life-changing move.
There were many stalls covering a wide range of relevant areas and programs – from lone soldiers to professional licensing, several informative seminars and, for the first time, ESRA was represented.
Having been a UK-based volunteer English tutor with ESRA for several months, I was delighted to be asked to help with the Fair and appreciated the informative and comprehensive briefing that the ESRA team gave me via an online Zoom chat in preparation.
The turnout was unprecedented - from an expected 400 attendees, numbers eventually surpassed 1000! With frequent queues at our ESRA stall, we met potential olim of all ages, backgrounds and UK locations. We shared with them the wide range of opportunities and support that ESRA could offer in their Aliyah journey and encouraged them to sign up for more information.
It was hugely rewarding to speak with so many different people, to share their stories and concerns and to encourage them on their journeys ahead. The undeniable rise of anti-Semitism in the UK was mentioned many times as a key factor for people in considering leaving the UK. The extremely tight security at the event coupled with the location only being revealed to participants 24 hours in advance served as a sad reminder of this.
Our ESRA stall was so busy that I was unable to join the seminars, of which there were many, however I welcomed the opportunity to speak to other stallholders and was inspired by their stories and their dedication. Many had travelled from Israel to exhibit and were flying back the next day.
It was a privilege to represent ESRA at the Aliyah Fair and I hope to do so again in future!