Aliyah

Not to be confused with the singer Aaliyah.
For other uses, see Aliyah (disambiguation).

100 years of Aliyah (immigration) to Mandatory Palestine and Israel, between 1919 and 2020
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Aliyah
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Aliyah (US: /ˌæliˈɑː/, UK: /ˌɑː-/; Hebrew: עֲלִיָּה ʿălīyyā, lit. 'ascent') is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally described as "the act of going up" (towards the Jewish holy city of Jerusalem), moving to the Land of Israel or "making aliyah" is one of the most basic tenets of Zionism. The opposite action – emigration by Jews from the Land of Israel – is referred to in the Hebrew language as yerida (lit. 'descent').[1] The Law of Return that was passed by the Israeli parliament in 1950 gives all diaspora Jews, as well as their children and grandchildren, the right to relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli citizenship on the basis of connecting to their Jewish identity.

For much of their history, most Jews have lived in the diaspora outside of the Land of Israel due to various historical conflicts that led to their persecution alongside multiple instances of expulsions and exoduses. In the late 19th century, 99.7% of the world's Jews lived outside the region, with Jews representing 2–5% of the population of the Palestine region.[2][3] Despite its historical value as a national aspiration for the Jewish people, aliyah was acted upon by few prior to the rise of a national awakening among Jews worldwide and the subsequent development of the Zionist movement in the late 19th century;[4] the large-scale immigration of Jews to Palestine had consequently begun by 1882.[5] Since the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, more than 3 million Jews have made aliyah.[6] As of 2014, Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories contain approximately 42.9 percent of the world's Jewish population.[7]

  1. ^ "'Aliyah': The Word and Its Meaning". 2005-05-15. Archived from the original on 2009-12-19. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference On was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mendel2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Rosenzweig, Rafael N. (1989). The Economic Consequences of Zionism. E. J. Brill. p. 1. ISBN 978-90-04-09147-4. Zionism, the urge of the Jewish people to return to Palestine, is almost as ancient as the Jewish diaspora itself. Some Talmudic statements ... Almost a millennium later, the poet and philosopher Yehuda Halevi ... In the 19th century ...
  5. ^ Schneider, Jan (June 2008). "Israel". Focus Migration. 13. Hamburg Institute of International Economics. ISSN 1864-6220. Archived from the original on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  6. ^ Branovsky, Yael (6 May 2008). "400 olim arrive in Israel ahead of Independence Day". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  7. ^ DellaPergola, Sergio (2014). Dashefsky, Arnold; Sheskin, Ira (eds.). "World Jewish Population, 2014". Current Jewish Population Reports. 11. The American Jewish Year Book (Dordrecht: Springer): 5–9, 16–17. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2016. Israel's Jewish population (not including about 348,000 persons not recorded as Jews in the Population Register and belonging to families initially admitted to the country within the framework of the Law of Return) surpassed six million in 2014 (42.9% of world Jewry).