Forty-four of the 47 newcomers at Nitzana on the SELAH Science program became Israeli citizens during Hannuka. SELAH is supported by the Denver/ Boulder Colorado Jewish Federation. Vladimir, 17, immigrated from Zhitomir, Ukraine following in the footsteps of his older sister who came to Israel two years ago.

“Before I made aliyah I was a counselor in a Jewish Agency summer camp,” he said. “I knew a lot about Israel but I’d never been here and seen the country. Now I know a lot more from personal experience. I particularly wanted to take the SELAH science program which I’d heard about in Ukraine because I would like to study medicine.”

“Today as I receive my ID papers I feel part of a larger people. I can live in my country. The country for all Jews. I feel great that I can bear my Jewishness and my nationality in a free way, without fear and with pride.”

Daniella, 18, immigrated to Israel from Kishniev, Moldova. At the end of September her parents also made aliyah and her older brother, also a SELAH graduate, already lives here and is serving in the IDF. "When I received my ID papers," she said. "I really felt that nally I was an Israeli for better or for worse. There are many problems ahead of me although I haven't yet been confronted by any of them. Before I came to Nitzana I felt like a Jew but not an Israeli. Now after living in Israel, getting to know the culture, and experiencing the country, I feel completely and fully Israeli."

Adar Aleph 5763 - February 2003