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He refuses to bend the knee to BDS, supporting members of Congress
The Mashevskaya family
Personal Testi monies from ICE Lera Fulfills Her Dream of Aliyah
B : A t Goo
J Aliyah
Thanks to the generosity of Christians worldwide, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem has been exceeding its “Rescue250” campaign goal of funding evacuation flights for at least 250 Jews each month while coronavirus is still impacting the world.
With all the negative reports associated with COVID-19, it is exciting to share such good news! Over the past six months, the Christian Embassy has managed to bring 1,429 Jewish immigrants on flights to Israel arranged through the Jewish Agency.
We also would like to share the touching story of the Mashevskaya family, who came to Israel recently on one of the ICEJ’s Aliyah flights from Russia. After Lera Mashevskaya, her husband Ivan, and their three children (Slavik, Adrian, and Alice) made Aliyah, they stayed in a special quarantine hotel for two weeks. This gave them time to reflect on the long journey that took them through a family crisis and into their new beginning here in Israel.
When Lera was 13 years old, she went to a Jewish Agency summer camp for Jewish youths in Russia. It was there that Lera felt like she was really Jewish for the first time and started learning about the history and traditions of her people.
At that moment, a burning desire was kindled in Lera’s heart to go to Israel, but her mother was against it. It would take another 13 years for her dream to start coming true. Her first visit to Israel happened as part of a 10-day Taglit (Birthright) tour of Israel granted to young Diaspora Jews.
“At the time, I had already met my husband Ivan. We soon became the parents of our first son—Slavik,” recounted Lera. “I passionately wanted to make Aliyah, but Ivan would have nothing of it.”
The next time Lera came to Israel was on her twenty-ninth birthday. By this time, she and Ivan had two children. But Ivan still had reservations about moving to Israel. Deeply torn but sensing an undeniable draw to Israel, Lera left the two young ones with her husband and mother and came for another visit.
“It was very hard, but I wanted to give Israel a real try, on my own,” she confided. “I had a deep love in my heart for this country and longed to move here.”
Lera spent four months in Israel as part of the MASA program, which helps young Jews abroad come to Israel to further their university studies. She used the opportunity to receive training in a new profession and was certified as a personal life coach. The skills Lera learned were in high demand back in Russia, so the family’s circumstances improved and her husband began to see Israel differently. Then in the spring of 2019, with Lera six months pregnant with her third child, the whole family came to Israel as tourists. “I showed them my favorite places in my beloved country,” said Lera. “For two weeks, we drove from Acre to Eilat, dipped our legs in the Dead Sea, visited Jerusalem and prayed at the Kotel, and danced on the beaches of Tel Aviv. During this trip, my husband began to really like Israel, but he still was not ready to leave Moscow.” This spring, however, the coronavirus pandemic changed his mind.
“My husband started working online, without visiting the office. Our family spent all our days together, our relationships grew closer and closer,” Lera explained. “My husband realized that he could do his work from anywhere in the world, and he agreed to make Aliyah. Finally, my dream came true—on June 16, we flew to Israel!”
Lera and Ivan have come a long way as a couple and now want to help others overcome their differences. So they created the “Family Coaching Project” to coach other couples. Even during their two weeks of quarantine after arriving in Israel, they were counseling other immigrant families in the quarantine hotel.
“We so want to become a family that will be useful for this State and its wonderful people. In response to the love and care that we received, I want to love, give, and care for others in response, three times over,” Lera concluded.
We are so glad that through the ICEJ, Christians have played a central role in changing the lives of so many Jewish immigrants to Israel, like Lera and her family.
Nina Akselrud A DAU GHTER OF ISRAEL FINALLY COMES HOME
: A t Goo T he Rescue250 campaign is a challenge to Christian supporters of Israel around the globe to partner with the ICEJ in keeping up our current pace of flying at least 250 Jews per month home to Israel while the coronavirus pandemic is still impacting the world.
One of the recent flights out of Russia sponsored by the ICEJ brought Nina Akselrud and her son to Israel. Nina’s arrival meant a family reunion after 30 years of separation. Her parents and younger brother made Aliyah in 1991. Nina was a young girl who made the difficult decision to stay in Russia instead of following her family to Israel. “Now I think that it was a big mistake, and I should have gone,” Nina said this week.
Her family’s history is closely connected to the history of Jews in Russia, including the sad moments like pogroms and wars.
“I always felt myself as a part of the Jewish people thanks to my relatives, grandparents, and their stories about our family,” Nina explained. “All Jews are special, unique people to me, part of my family and my future.”
Even though Nina’s father and brother had been trying to persuade her to make Aliyah for many years, she took her own, long journey. But in the end, she clearly realized that Israel is the country where she wholeheartedly belongs.
“There were a number of things in my life and in my birth country that influenced my decision to come live in Israel,” said Nina. “In 2018, I started to work in public media. And I began to read and write a lot about the news in my birth country. I looked from a new perspective on the economic and political situation in the country. I believe that a person can choose where to live. And I am very glad that my son and I have the opportunity to now live in Israel,” she stated.
By the time Nina decided to move to Israel, she faced being misunderstood by her friends.
“My friends said that I am crazy for wanting to go [to Israel]. Many of them said that I will have to overcome many difficulties while starting a new life,” she shared. “But I’m ready for that. I told them I want to have more opportunities for myself and my son. I want to live in a democratic state.”
In her heart, Nina already has a sense of admiration for this small but very courageous country, with its ancient history and bright prospects for development.
It is amazing to witness how many Jewish people who make Aliyah are thinking not only about how to improve their own lives but also about what they can do to strengthen and build their new nation.
“I want to be there and be useful to this land. I hope that I will succeed,” Nina confided. “I am sure that a happy future waits for me and my son in Israel,” she concluded.
Nina then added: “I was amazed when I learned that Christians who love Israel supported my Aliyah. Indeed, it is the time of miracles!”
