One hundred fifty-nine North Americans sailed from Pier 97 on the Greek Line’s S.S. Olympia, bound for Israel by way of Lisbon and Piracus. “The significance of this sailing,” said Col. Nachum Golan, director of the Israel Aliyah Center of the World Zionist Organization, “is that this is the first time in American aliyah history that a large group of settlers will be celebrating Rosh Hashanah on the high seas and will be entering Israel with the coming New Year as olim (settlers).” Of the 159 passengers who will arrive in Haifa Oct. 4,108 were under 30 years of age and 26 were professionals. Nine olim in their early 20s had plans for establishing a new agricultural kibbutz called Gezer near Lod, southeast of Tel Aviv. More than 600 North Americans have sailed for Israel so far this month. There were 720 in June. 1,305 in July and 1,544 in August. The two biggest aliyot ever–363 and 440 passengers–departed July 6 and Aug. 24.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
