A few letters I have received lately.....

Yishai,

We spoke in January on your show about my Aliyah. As you can see below, I'm on my way. I'm on the double flight arriving on the 13th of July.

Would be happy to speak on the radio a few more times if you need a guest. I'm moving to Maaleh Adumim.

Your Kumah website has been truly inspirational and a source of good information for me during this Aliyah process.

Shlomo G.
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Dear Yishai

The pictures were interesting, especially the one with Malkah standing outside what must be your karavan. It really compares favorably with the old-style Conestogas. You are braver than I thought.
It is almost like being there when you have those pictures. I was especially interested in the Ethiopians in the picture. It is refreshing that they view "their people" as Jews.

In one picture, there was an arm wrapped in a tight tourniquet of leather. Please explain. The picture was the one having to do with the Torah.

It is good at the beginning to let people know what they will be facing when you show pictures of the heroes from the roadblocking protest.(Hmmm...Road Block vs. Road Map. A little cheesy, but..)
To stop rambling, everything in your site has the aroma of Aliyah. The fragrance is all over this computer. May it bring many here to their real Home.

Mark W.
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Dear Yishai and Malkah,

Thanks for such a wonderful show (Aliyah Revolution) on Thursday May 19th morning (evening - for you). It felt very "responsive" when your seemed to be addressing my "IMs" almost as fast as I could type them... It was especially touching when you ended the show addressing the "guilt" factor of not (always) being able to make Aliyah. Although I can't do so, I try, through my volunteer work, to do as much for Eretz Yisroel as I can.

And it was an added pleasure to speak to you on the phone right after the show's ending, as well.

At the beginning of the show, you were "experimenting" with opening music - so I've given it some thought and let me convey that thought to you with a personal experience... It may be too slow for the lead-in to your Aliyah Revolution show - but think about it for the lead-out!

A little narrative first:
This June 19th will be my 6th time to Eretz Yisroel. When I go, I usually do so for approximately 6 weeks at a time for a very good reason: Academically, yes, I KNOW that I'm am on vacation, but MENTALLY, it's like I am living here for a short time. Being that I have a limited amount of vacation days, I cannot take such "long" vacations every year, since I have save some for the Yomim Tovim.. So, I save as much as I can during the year and come every other year for that time if I can. This means a long wait until I can return "HOME".

The last time I was leaving Eretz Yisroel, I was waiting for my EL-AL flight departure at Ben Gurion Airport for my flight back home to New York. Being plugged in to my MP3 player while ascending the stairway to the plane, the following song sounded through my headphones.

Although this romantic song was (probably) not written for this purpose, it sounded like ISRAEL WAS SINGING THIS MESSAGE TO ME on my departure, and tears were rolling down my cheeks through swollen eyes... (What can I say, I am an emotional kind of guy).

Look at the lyrics and tell me what you think. Enclosed is also an mp3 file of the song (I don't know if you're allowed to play it on-air --- I mean if you need copyright permission, etc... Check with INR.

Your Friend,
Joel


SOMEWHERE DOWN THE ROAD
(Barry Manilow)
We had the right love
At the wrong time
Guess I always knew inside
I wouldn't have you for a long time

Those dreams of yours
Are shining on distant shores
And if they're calling you away
I have no right to make you stay
But

Somewhere down the road
Our roads are gonna cross again
It doesn't really matter when
But somewhere down the road
I know that heart of yours
will come to see
That you belong with me

Sometimes goodbyes are not forever
It doesn't matter if you're gone
I still believe in us together
I understand more than you think I can
You have to go out on your own
So you can find your way back home
And

Somewhere down the road
Our roads are gonna cross again
It doesn't really matter when
But somewhere down the road
I know that heart of yours
will come to see
That you belong with me
Letting go is just another way to say
I'll always love you so

We had the right love
At the wrong time
Maybe we've only just begun
Maybe the best is yet to come
'Cause

Somewhere down the road
Our roads are gonna cross again
It doesn't really matter when
But somewhere down the road
I know that heart of yours
will come to see
That you belong
With me
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Yishai and Malkah,

Listening to your lovely Aliyah program, and the one's who will be coming soon, I enjoyed hearing it, but there again.... I feel that is my home and I miss me so much there. Tell me please, could I have been a Jew in a previous life? Does Judaism, do you , believe in re-incarnation?

One more thing that was so very uncanny, on your Kumah page dated May 23rd, under the caption of the pictures, Jewish moms, there is me!!! I really looked at it and even felt it was me, showed the picture to my son, and he could not believe it. nevertheless, he said its just the profile, and maybe the face itself would be different.
Look at the picture of the woman with straight short hair and wearing glasses, its me... Also I weep because I miss me there, I hear you and Malkah talking of welcoming people, and I wish it could be me too. How I miss Israel, how I miss me there. Maybe i am just plain stupid, I do not know... but I am so lonely for Israel.

What can this be?
stella c.