November 23, 2006 / 2 Kislev 5767
For the first time, the Jewish Agency took part in the International Fair for Higher Education, which was held in Moscow on November 16-18.
The International Fair for Higher Education (http://znanie.info/eng.html) is an exclusive event held annually for the last ten years in Moscow, whose participants include the best universities from around the world. 
Never have Israel's institutions of higher education been represented at the fair.
In a joint effort by the Department of Immigration and the Masa project, an Israeli booth was set up at this year's fair. "Ort-Russia" and Russian Friends of Hebrew University also participated in operating the booth.
The Students' Administration sent to Russia promotional material about the leading institutions for higher education in Israel, and sent a representative to the fair.
The Israeli booth was situated in the best possible location, near the entrance to the fair, in between the American and European Union booths.
Jewish Agency representative Semyon Dovzhik noted that this kind of event attracts a large number of educated youngsters between the ages of 17-30. "Our working assumption," he remarked, "was that a sizeable percentage of the participants were eligible for the Law of Return, and this assumption turned out to be entirely accurate."
According to Dovzhik, the Agency set for itself three objectives with regard to the fair, and all three were fully achieved:
- Registering participants eligible for aliyah in the Jewish Agency's database.
- Marketing higher education in Israel as a means of encouraging aliyah.
- Giving greater exposure to the Global Aliyah Center.
Sure enough:
- Over the course of the fair, over 170 participants eligible for the Law of Return, of whom the Jewish Agency had not been previously aware, were registered in the Agency's database.
- Large amounts of promotional material regarding opportunities for higher education in Israel, and absorption possibilities for young adults, were distributed at the fair.
- Visitors to the booth expressed considerable interest in the Global Aliyah Center.