JERUSALEM (JTA) — A bill celebrating immigration to Israel, or aliyah, was submitted to the Knesset.
Yom HaAliyah, or Aliyah Day, would be marked on the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan, five days before Passover.
The national holiday would “affirm Jewish immigration to Israel, known as Aliyah, as a foundational core principle of the state, and will honor the continuing contribution of immigrants who have come to Israel over the years,” according to a statement issued by Jay Shultz, the author of the bill along with Jonathan Javor, a former Londoner. Shultz, an ex-New Yorker, founded an online community for young professional immigrants.
All of Israel’s major parties signed the bill, including Yoel Rozbozov of Yesh Atid, who is chairman of the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora.
According to the bill, Yom HaAliyah would “realize the value and supreme importance of aliyah in the past, present and future to the strengthening of Israel from within, and as the foundation of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and in the creation and development of a multicultural society that shares a common language, with a shared history and united future.”
The 10th of Nissan is the day that the children of Israel under Joshua’s leadership crossed the Jordan River into the land of Israel — the first mass aliyah in history.
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