June 11, 2007 / 25 Sivan 5767

Is there a better way to adjust and become comfortable in a new place than being led with outreached arms by someone who knows your language and has gone through it all?

The staff of the Kiryat Yam Absorption Center instinctively knew the answer to this question and recruited a group of women who made aliyah from Ethiopia 20 years ago, to accompany families of new olim from Ethiopia living in the Kiryat Yam Absorption Center.

Professional facilitation in Amharic was available just in case anyone was shy at the initial meeting and didn’t quite know what to do. Before the Passover holiday, the veteran olim showed the newcomers the ins and outs of Passover food shopping, followed by an evening of kosher-for-Passover cooking, with traditional dishes tasted and shared by all.

Leah Moldovski, an Absorption Counselor in the Haifa Bay Community, represented the Ministry of Absorption in greeting the families warmly. All took great pleasure in their new-found friendships and connections.