ALIYAH COMMITTEE
AMTON Newsletter
Spring 2004

Tnuat Am Connects

Ezra Wanetik, one of Tnuat AM's more recent olim (see AMTON Fall 2002, "Why Aliyah Now"), has been regaling those of us on his personal email listserve with stories about his life as a new immigrant. He has reported on the reactions he has gotten from veteran Israelis about making aliyah, making the most of his new immigrant rights, his new blue/grey Toyota Corolla, and most recently his 100 days of basic army service. Last year, Ezra got engaged to Rachel Frankel, of Cranford, N.J., an M.A. student at the Rothberg School at Hebrew University, and this past February, they celebrated their wedding at Kibbutz Hulda.

One of the reasons that Ezra's klitah (absorption) has been so successful is because of the connections he has been able to use through Tnuat AM and the Masorti Movement. Last year, Charlie Kalech, a founder of Tnuat AM fifteen years ago and now a veteran oleh in Jerusalem and a leader of Project Reconnect (AMTON March 2003) sent the following note to the AMTON office: " ... I called Ezra who was studying Hebrew at Ulpan Akiva which is walking distance from my family... He joined us at a pot-luck dinner at our shul on Friday night and he sat between me and a friend who works at Ramah Israel... One thing led to another and by the end of dinner it looked like once Ezra finished ulpan, he would be a madrich (leader) for Ramah. Last night I saw him with his Ramah group at our shul..."

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